S ig aisbigsibh ihc, ne Cate ee Ce eee Bo ee ae te ee ea: es aS an: es gp ncaa an 8. -spbicaasi tm irs sia 5 ts By: Maria: Wright Edelman did we The increasing criminalization of children has become a major crisis. Children are‘being suspended and expelled from school and incarcerated in the juvenile and adult justice system at alarming rates, and at younger and younger ages. This increased incarceration is not due to an increase in serious delinquent or violent criminal behavior by young people. Juvenile arrests for violent crimes grew rapidly in the late 1980s and peaked in 1994, but then began falling. Between 1994 and 2003, the juvenile arrest rate for Violent Crime Index offenses — murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault — fell 48% to its lowest level since 1980. So, if actual crime is not the cause for the rise in incarceration rates, what is? One piece of the puzzle is the rise of “zero tolerance” policies in schools. Schools Ja Rule blasts trial against ‘Gotti’ Bros............0. _ Criminalization of children : How get here? began adopting these policies in the late 1980s, taking the term from the war on drugs. Amidst debate in Congress over “super-predators” and predictions of a coming and dramatic surge in juvenile crime that never materialized, these policies hit the national level when former president Bill Clinton signed the Gun- Free Schools Act of 1994, requiring a one-calendar year expulsion for possession of a firearm and referral of law- violating students to the juvenile or criminal justice systems. Most states and local school districts responded to the new law by broadening the mandate of zero tolerance beyond the federal mandate of weapons to include drugs, alcohol, fighting, threats, or swearing. Many schools boards continue to toughen their ' policies, experimenting with permanent expulsion for certain offenses. Others have begun to apply school suspénsions and expulsions to behavior that occurs outside of school. ieaeeeeieimemenienenaaiousiint, Tae While zero tolerance once applied to serious offenses involving safety, it is now an overarching and catchall disciplinary approach for real, perceived and imaginary weapons and “misbehavior” that is defined by highly subjective terms like “disruption” and “disrespect.” Aspirin, Certs, and Midol are considered drugs. Paper clips, nail files, scissors, and spitballs are considered weapons. Punishment through exclusion is the overwhelming response. From 1974 to 2000, the number of students suspended out of school increased from 1.7 to 3.1 million. While zero tolerance has a place as a response to truly dangerous behavior, it has become a danger to children and a potential way to exclude any student who may need individualized help. Children should not be put out of school for any reason other than posing a real threat to themselves or others, Child behaviors that used to be - ee lee VESLZ | SeTTtaussib NOa aNOUS WANIIONWD : Hip-hop star Ja Rule (in glasses in photo below) and music mogul | Christopher (Chris Gotti) Lorenzo outside Brooklyn Federal Court yesterday for trial of Lorenzo and his brother Irving (Irv Gotti) Lorenzo (above). The Lorenzos are charged with laundering drug baron’s — fortune to start music empire. (right photo) Ja Rule, came to court Hip Hop Star Ja Rule and Murder Inc.’s- Irv Gotti outside the Brooklyn courthouse where Irv Gotti and his brother Christopher are on trial pio | Antonelli NEWS ee eee By John weber “It’s a war on hip hop,” Ja crack kingpin Kenneth ToS NESTLE Rule declared outside a (Supreme) MoGriff ~ Brooklyn Federal Court. laundering his dirty Hip Hop Superstars Ja:Rule Ashanti, his sexy co-star from money to bankroll their and Ashanti showed their the Lorenzo brother’s | businesses and using him props to music moguls Irving ominously named Murder, Inc., for protection. (Irv Gotti) and Christopher music label, also was on hand (Chris Gotti) Lorenzo who for the trail’s explosive _ “This case is about went on trail Wednesday, Nov. _ opening. how the defendants 17, 2005 are being charged helped the drug dealer with building their hip-hop Prosectors told jurors the masquerade as a big shot empire on drug money stuffed Queens brothers forged an executive in the in shopping bags. 4 unholy alliance-swith cutthroat ....-entertainment industry,” ... Continued pg7 ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INC. MAKES CONTRIBUTION TO KATRINA EVACUEES Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., an international service organization, reached out to survivors of Hurricane Katrina all over the United States. lota Kappa Omega, the local chapter, committed to providing relief to evacuees in the Pitt County area. The evacuees were identified through Pitt County Schools where several Students enrolled following the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. While The Milanos have two children, Shelby and Tristan. They are enrolled in Grifton Elementary School. Mr. & Mrs. Milano have been successful in finding housing and employment. some students have left the area, two families remain. The chapter presented Wal- Mart gift cards to each family. One of the evacuees remaining in Pitt County is Shelton D. Northern, a 6th grader at E.B. Aycock. Shelton came to Greenville from Mississippi to live with his father and stepmother who reside in Greenville. The Milano family also evacuated from Mississippi to live with Mr. Milano's sister in Grifton. Both families expressed sincere appreciation to the chapter for the response to their many needs. | The Milano Family , Ist Row L-R Shelby Milano, Tristan Milano 2nd Row L-R Gloria Hines, Mrs Milano; | Helen Harrell, Disater Relief Chairman ou alias ananalinesintiennetahnmeenatimatecamneiin By George E. Curry This is the season to be jolly, but you’d never know it, considering all the attacks on Christmas. In a well-intended but misguided effort to be more inclusive of other religions, some government units, businesses and civic groups are urging everyone to stop saying, “Merry Christmas” and replace it with a bland, and presumably more acceptable, “Happy Holidays.” This is where I part company with many of my liberal friends. The purpose o Christmas — the : commercialization issue not withstanding — is to celebrate _ the birth of Jesus Christ, which is recounted in the first chapter of Matthew, beginning with verse 18. As a Christian, I make no apologies for celebrating my faith. There is no getting around it: Christmas is about the birth of Christ. Period. It would be the ultimate insult to relegate Jesus to the background in an effort not to offend non-Christians. We can celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ while wishing our Jewish... friends, for example, a Happy Hanukkah. The two are not mutually exclusive. Like it or not, the reality is that this nation was founded by Christians and established, at least in principle, on Judeo- Christian values. The Founding Fathers, most of whom owned slaves, did not always exhibit the Christian spirit but they at least held it up as an ideal. So much so that our currency still reads, “IN GOD WE TRUST.” At Christmas, the last people that should be offended are - Christians, But that is exactly what’s been happening in recent years. A controversy erupted in Boston recently over what to call their city’s 48-foot spruce Taking Christ out of Christmas tree in a December 1 ceremony. The city’s Web site called it a “holiday tree” instead of a Christmas tree and that touched off an angry backlash, especially among Christian conservatives, ' Evangelist Jerry Falwell told Fox television, “There has been a concerted effort to steal Christmas.” ” City officials finally relented. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told reporters that he would keep calling the spruce a “Christmas tree.” He explained, “I grew up with a Christmas tree, I’m going to stay with a Christmas tree.” Some of the back-and-forth over what to call the trees, has taken place with less fanfare. Until the late 1990s, the lighted, decorated tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol was called a Christmas tree. Someone came up with, shall we say, the bright idea of referring to it as the Holiday Tree. Now, House Speaker Dennis Haster (R-Ill.) has instructed federal officials to return to the old name — the Capitol Christmas Tree. Last year, California Gov. Amold Schwarzenegger reversed a decision by his, , predecessor, former Gov. -" Gray Davis, and began referring to the state’s Christmas tree, not a Holiday Tree. It’s astounding how far some have gone in recent years to be politically correct — or “incorrect, depending on your point of view. Last year, the Plano, Texas Independent School District banned students from wearing red and green at their winter break parties because they were considered Christmas colors. Students were forbidden from exchanging gifts with religious messages on them, apparently fearing “Merry Christmas” and reindeers might offend others. While that was happening in Texas, the Maplewood and South Orange, N.J. combined school system was banning Christmas carols, even those about Santa Claus. Christmas without “Silent Night” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing?” I can’t even imagine it and I have a pretty lucid imagination. I suppose that - would be tantamount to trying to have an Easter egg hunt without eggs. Ooops, I guess if we’re not suppose to make references to the birth of Christ, then celebrating his resurrection is really off- limits. My bad. . Speaking of bad, things got so bad that a public school in Wisconsin told students to change religious words in Christmas carols for an upcoming concert. In Jackson County, Ga., they reportedly banned certain jewelry, which would presumably include pins that read, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” Finally, let me address the political aspects of this controversy. Make no mistake about it: the driving force behind reclaiming Christmas is conservatives, through such organizations as the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Counsel, both affiliated with Jerry Falwell. The televangelist and others at the forefront of this movement also aetively-Oppose- =~ - affirmative action and other social programs that I support. But as a free thinker, I don’t take positions only if right- wingers don’t take them. They are not part of my thought process. We should take positions because they are right and not oppose a view simply because it is supported by the Right. And if we get confused, we can always fall back on: What Would Jesus Do? - Merry Christmas! George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSA.com. He appears on National Public Radio (NPR) three times a week as part of “News and Notes with Ed Gordon.” To contact Curry or to book him for a speaking engagement, go to his Web site, www. georgecurry.com A Day to Celebrate — December 06: The ratification of The Thirteenth Amendment Special Commentary by Judge James A. Wynn, Jr. December 06 marks the most significant date in African-American history— the 140" anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the historic proviso that officially ended Slavery in America, On that date in 1865, the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment accomplished something that neither the Emancipation Proclamation nor Juneteenth Day could do; it declared the nonexistence of slavery in the United States as the “sovereign will of the people.” Indeed, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 01, 1863 was no more than a Presidential Proclamation which purported to free only “some” of the slaves — those in states that rebelled against the Union. And, in at least one of those states, Texas, the slaves did not learn of their 1863 granted freedom until the Union Army arrived there on June 19, 1865 - thus, setting off what is now celebrated as Juneteenth Day. The constitutional prohibition of slavery in America did not come about until Congress began the ratification-by-the-states process with a bill passed in January 1865. With Georgia’s approval on December 6, 1865 (North Carolina ratified it on December 04, 1865), two-thirds of the states had ratified this bill, which became the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution with the following text: Sec. 01: Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, nor any place subject to their jurisdiction. Oppose Tookie’s Clemency By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Pacific News Service The small crowd of clergy, — community activists and death penalty opponents that gathered in front of the Los Angeles courthouse recently was no different than other groups that for weeks have kept up the drum beat for California Gov. Arnold - Schwarzenegger to grant Stanley “Tookie” Williams clemency. “Stay There was one very loud exception. A young African- American man shouted that Williams was a thug and a murderer and should die. He was not an agitator or a crank. He represented a body of pro- death penalty sentiment among blacks that has seldom been publicly heard during the great Tookie debate. I was not surprised when | heard this young man’s words, for there are many blacks like him who want Williams dead. The instant I went to bat in my columns for clemency for Williams and against the death penalty in general, the e-mails and . comments I got flew hot and heavy. Black critics bitterly reviled me for advocating clemency. They were adamant that Williams must pay for his crimes, and for the murder and mayhem the Crips gang, which he helped found, has unleashed on impoverished black communities. Their hardened attitude toward Williams flew in the face of conventional wisdom that says that blacks are passionate opponents of the death penalty. They aren’t. During the past decade, even as more whites have said they are deeply ambivalent about the death penalty or oppose it, many blacks continue to say that murderers, even black ones, must pay with their lives. A Harris Interactive poll in August 2001 found that nearly half of black respondents supported capital punishment. Three years later, a Gallup Poll found that black support for the death penalty still hovered at close to 50 percent. The death penalty debate can no longer be neatly pigeonholed into a black verses white racial divide issue, and with good reason. Whites generally are not at risk from black criminals. Other blacks are. They are more likely to be victims of violent crime or to have friends or relatives who have been crime victims than whites. The Justice Department’s annual crime victim surveys have consistently found that blacks are nearly twice as likely to be victims of murder than whites. The leading cause of death among young black males under age 24 is homicide. In nearly all cases, other blacks will kill them. Blacks are scared stiff and fed up with that continuing surge in murder violence that tears at black communities. A hint of that came in June 1999, A Justice Department survey that year found that blacks in a dozen cities generally applauded the police. This confounded some black leaders who, like many others, assumed that blacks are inveterate cop haters, They aren’t. They are against racist and abusive police officers, and expect and demand efficient, fair policing in their communities. In Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and other cities, community activists have staged anti-murder marches, held vigils and have lobbied city and state officials for tougher gun laws. They have also taken a step that once would have been considered racial treason: They have repeatedly demanded that blacks break their code of silence toward the police and help them identify the young shooters. Then there’s the myth of the “soft” black juror. It goes like this: Black jurors are so hateful of white authority that they will gleefully nullify the law and let a black | lawbreaker waltz out of court a free man or woman, even if that person is a killer. This is nonsense. In most big cities, blacks make up a majority or a significant percent of those who sit on juries, and they routinely convict other blacks ~ of crimes, including murder, every day. It’s true that in past years, blacks were the staunchest opponents of capital punishment. They had good cause to be. The death penalty was a blatantly racist weapon wielded by prosecutors, particularly in the South, against blacks convicted of rape and murder on the flimsiest of evidence, as long - as their alleged victims were white. The death penalty is still used and handed down in a racist fashion. However, crime fears and rampaging murder rates in many black communities have partially trumped that, and made more blacks than ever regard capital punishment not as a weapon to hammer blacks, but to hartimer violent. criminals. ~ Tookie certainly no longer fits the label of the violent predator. He has tirelessly worked to redeem his life, and those of countless other angry, violence-prone youths. But many blacks have lost friends and loved ones to those gun-toting youths. They © are unforgiving and unsparing in their rage at them, and they blame Williams for helping to | spawn them. It’s unfair to blame one man for the sins of some in the youth generation. But when the body count rises, people look to place blame on someone, and Williams is that someone. It’s only a short step from there for them to loudly say that Tookie must die. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of ‘The Crisis in Black and Black’ (Middle Passage Press). How are you? “Your day goes the way the corners of your mouth turn.” — Unknown When someone asks ._, how you are? What do you say? Your answers are usually no more than a few words. And yet, that short response tells a lot about you and your attitude. Let’s examine these three categories and some common responses under each one. Negative Responses: Lousy, terrible, I’m tired, It’s not my day; Thank God it’s Friday; A day older and a dollar broken, and Don’t ask. Hanging in there, and fine. Do you want to spend a lot of time with someone who thinks that life is not too bad? Is that the person you want to do business with? Positive Reponses: dU hs Utibde tye These are the enthusiastic, wo people who say: Terrific, Fantastic, Great, Excellent, Super, I’m on top of the world, and It doesn’t get any better. Those who use positive words like these have a bounce in their step and you feel a little better just by being around them. Be honest. How did you feel as you read the positive list? “Say you are well, or all is well with you, and God shall hear your words and make them come true.” (Ella Wheeler Wilcox) Ten of the Worst Foods for Children 1. Soda or pop 2. Whole milk ( over two years of age) 3. Hamburgers 4. American cheese . Hot dogs: , 6.. French fries and tater tots - 7.- Ice cream 8. Bologna 9. Pizza loaded with cheese & meat 10. Chocolate bars Ten of the Best Foods for Children 1. Fresh fruits and vegetables (especially carrot sticks, cantaloupe, and Strawberries. 2. Chicken breasts and drumsticksw/o skin or breading. 3. Cheerios,wheaties, or other whole- grain, low sugar cereals. 4. Extra lean ground beef, or vegetarian burgers (Garden Burgers or Green Grant Harvest Burgers ). Skim or 2% milk 6. Low fat hot dogs (Yves Veggie Cuisines, fat free wieners or Nightlife Fat free Smart dogs.) 7. Nonfat ice cream or frozen yogurt. 8. Seasoned air- popped popcorn. 9. Whole-wheat crackers or Small World Animal Crackers. The Survey says: Because fairness is our goal, here, according to our surveys of parents, are 40 Rude Things Teenagers Say to parents: 1. “Leave me alone.” 2. “Mind your own business.” 3. “Get out of my face.” 4. “Get out of my life.” tn “Stay out of my room.” 6. “Shut up.” 7. “@S#!%&! You.” 8.“ You’re the worlds worst parents.” s© “I wish you. weren’t my mother/father.” 10. “I wish I was never born.” 11. “I wish you were dead.” 12. “I hate being part of this family.” 13.<“I don’t need one.” 14. “You don’t have to.” 15. “I don’t have to. “ 16. “I don’t care.” 17. “You can’t tell me what to do.” 18. “What about you?” 19. “You do it.” 20. “Forget you.” 21. “I'll do what I want.” 22. “I'll do it when I feel like doing it.” 23. “I don’t need your help.” 24. “You never do anything for me.” 25. “You’re so unfair. 26. “You're a nag.” 27. “You're too old to . understand.” 28. “I don’t want to be seen with you in public.” 29. “Don’t buy me clothes. You have horrible tastes.” 30. “Give me money.” 31. “It’s my life.” 32. “So?” 33. “Who says?” 34. “Fine!” 35. “Yeah, right.” 36. “Big deal.” 37. “Do I have to eat that?” 38. “This dinner is gross.” 39. “TI hate you.” 40. “You don’t care about me at all.” Neighborhood schools not an option Letter: Neighborhood schools not an option During the 1970s, I had an opportunity to serve as a member and chairman of the Greenville City Board of Education. The projected racial student population was extremely accurate and it was reflected that the student racial population would become increasingly black. It was known at that time where the greatest growth would take place in Greenville and Pitt County, and that the racial population would be'very close to what it actually is. In spite of the availability of this valuable planning information, the Pitt County Board of Education continuously failed to use this information to initiate long-range plans to build - schools in areas equally accessible by black and while students in the various school districts. The preponderance of schools has been built in the south and southeast areas of Pitt County. No public schools have been built in or adjacent to black neighborhoods since the racial integratign of our schools in the late 1960s, Naturally, such overt discrimination has placed the e ~ preponderance of busing on those black students and those white students who live in areas remotely located from the schools being constructed. Neighborhood schools in Pitt County mean segregated schools in Pitt County. I am a product of segregated schools in eastern North Carolina. No one will ever be able to imagine what it is like ” to have to walk miles to school while white students rode in nice heated buses and shouted vulgarities at us. No one could imagine what it is like to have to wait for used books from white schools in order to have books to use. No, no one should ever have to stay in school all day without having anything to eat or drink. To have a school facility with no indoor toilets, drinking water, etc, No, neighborhood schools should never be an option. EDCARTER Greenville Suejette Jones Licking the Whites—Only Christmas Stamp | As Black Santa Clauses make special appearances at inner city elementary schools, supermarkets, neighborhoods and parades, the United States Postal Service has been distributing | a white-only line of Santa postage customers, received in your mail the opportunity to order stamps through the local postmaster. I, too, get this offer from time to time. Recently, the offer to order your Christmas stamps featured various scenes. There were scenes of several types of snowmen, the Madonna, the Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Among other scenes was the white Santa Claus ornament stamp that was issued last year and again this year-———. At one o’clock in the morning, five days before Christmas last December, Jennifer Sneed was jolted awake by full-blown labor pains. Her due date was still three weeks away, but the contractions were already coming two minutes apart. There was no time to spare. The hospital was in Greenville, North Carolina, 20 miles from home. And it was snowing. As Jennifer scrambled to get ready, her husband, Jerry, called to her with further bad news: The snow was coming down hard. “T just looked out the window. — There’s already four inches on the ground.” It barely ever snowed in eastern North Carolina. But here was an eerie reminder of another freak snowstorm, almost exactly a year earlier. Two inches had covered the ground when the Sneeds buried their blond, blue-eyed five-year-old son Derek, following a horrific car crash. Late New Year’s Eve morning, while the family was returning from grocery Shopping, a car careened across the center line on U.S. 264 and slammed head-on in to their Ford Explorer. The car struck with such force that the SUV’s passenger side wheels ended up on the curb. The entire family was rushed to the hospital. Jennifer suffered multiple injuries eight broken ribs, a broken sternum, a bruised kidney), mill ~ Subsequently stirring much objection and controversy among the African American world. White-only images can damage the self-esteem of _ black children, says a _ psychologist. “Too many children already believe that ‘there is a white Jesus and white angels —— anything that we hold in high esteem.” She says. “These children are later going to grow out of the Santa Claus phase, but after they grow out of it and they’ve only seen a white Santa Claus, they internalize that. It would not have hurt the post Office if they were going to put out a Santa Claus stamp to put both out or not to put out at all. We do know that a white Santa Claus would be scared to go into the ‘hood’ where most of these kids are anyway. He wouldn’t get caught there.” Avices . ; - Asians reject culturally insensitive images of Santa. "In most Chinatowns, the Asians have quietly put nothing in there but Asian. - Santa Claus. By doing that, they’re subtly teaching the - children. One spokesperson asserts that Saint Nicholas, on whom the character, Santa Claus is based, was of Northern European descent, but was not intended to _ Slight anyone. Many people every day petition the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee. They are the deciding body as to which stamp do get issued. She says she believes the Postal Service’s White Santa _ images are offset by A frican- American stamp images sold throughout the year and Black History Month stamp. She says the public can influence what stamps are created and the stamp subjects must be submitted at least three years in advance of the expected issuance ——according to guidelines publicized by the Postal Service. Perhaps more petitions should be _ submitted for a Black Santa Claus for the sake of the imagecthnfrolacknthi kiveated pordéedesr Sujette Jones ) ° Real-Life Miracles th by Faith May and Jerry fractured his right "atm, jaw and eye socket, Eighteen-month-old Kayla, who was snugly belted into her car seat, emerged with arrvrsnereyia, Olly a Scratch.’ But Derek’ Faith May called DJ, suffered a severe — brain stem injury. He was:put on life support and died six — days later. The Sneeds were devastated. In the months that followed, Jennifer, a kindergarten teacher, had nearly swallowed up by grief. “DJ had started kindergarten that year and his room was down the hall from mine at school,” she says. “Every day, I would look at all the-little boys his age and I couldn’t help but ask: ‘Why DJ?” His father had called him Monkey because he was such a sunny, giggling little boy. The Sneeds thought they would never recover. Then, in the spring, came some good news: Jennifer was pregnant again. ‘ Now the baby was coming. As the Sneeds piled into their Ford Expedition at 1:15 a.m., visibility was approaching zero. “It was a total whiteout,” says Jennifer. “You couldn’t see five feet.” When they got to U.S. 264— the same highway where they had tragically lost their son— theirs was the only car on the road. “The snow was coming down, and the wind was blowing,” Jerry recalls. “I had the fog lights on and my head right up to the steering wheel, trying to peer out.” Next to him Jennifer was screaming. The pains were coming faster. Finally, without being sure where he even was, Jerry stopped in the middle of the highway and called 911 on his:cell phone. The operator urged him to keep driving until he reached the light at Greenville Blvd. “NO!” shrieked Jennifer, when he told her. “There’s no time! The baby’s coming!’ti«: onindeys lege Dropping the phone, Jerry raced around to the passenger side. Reaching down , he could feel the-baby’s head. “O’kay, push!” he urged Jennifer. Two pushes later, he -was able to get his hands around his daughter’s tiny neck. “On the third push, I pulled her out,’ hésays. Then things got scarier. The baby was not moving but not crying, “She looked white and purple, sort of,” Jerry remembers. “The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.” Gently untangling it—he’d seen the doctor do it when DJ was born—he took his pinkie and swiped her throat to remove any obstruction. When his daughter cried, he laid her on her mother’s chest and: covered them with his coat. Both doors were open and snow was fast covering the car. It was 1:42 a.m. . When Jerry picked up his discarded cell phone, the 911 operator was still on the line. Like many operators, she had been through medical protocols training. She told him to tie off the cord with a shoelace. He was reaching down to untie his sneaker when, in the distance, he heard a glorious sound: an ambulance siren. “Ordinarily it would have taken a good half-hour,” says . Jennifer, “but they were out on a call that had been canceled and were only three minutes away. There were alotof miracles that night—and I felt that DJ, looking down, had a hand in them all.” Jennifer and Jerry took their 6- pound, 12-ounce daughter, Perey eee enieetli naar tne eter ree DECEMBER 1 - 16, 2005 pag 4_ Dr Andrew Best answers a question presented to ° him on the advice he would give to a young person who would pursue a medical carrer, Dr. Best: I would speak in terms of the realities of medical service, of producing medical service, giving ‘Medical, the realities as it is today, not the realities like when I came through because in the day of all these - sophisticated tests and the computers and all the other things that go along with it, my advice would be to get a good, well-grounded and well-founded education in medicine; keep your focus on the delivery of quality care: don’t be afraid to call for consultant help; and above all, be sure that you are in the branch of medicine or in the specialty of medicine that you yourself enjoy. If you enjoy people than the practice of internal medicine with all of its aspects-sometimes you will find some internists who will go off in cardiology and some confine themselves to.a certain narrow branch of what the internists used to see but be true to yourself. If for example, if you like research, if you like the technicalities of finding out why this or that in the other and you hate being bothered with people, don’t go in to enter the primary care specialties, pediatrics, internal medicine - or family practice. If you want to be in medicine and you hate people, get yourself a job somewhere like in pathology or somewhere in research or something. That would be my basic advice and to be true to yourself and lie to somebody else if you have to but don’t tell yourself a lie. If you are not going to be happy in doing what you are doing and feeling a sense of Satisfaction from the results you get then you are in the wrong place. As an aside, I hope I have answered that part of the question. I don’t know if I had a son or a daughter who wanted to go into medicine right now or today, I would also advise them that if you are looking for millions right now, retiring at thirty-five as a millionaire, don’t go into medicine. Don’t go into medicine for that reason, find yourself another job whatever it may be, one that you are happy in and enjoy. Expect to live for the lives of the people that you Serve and it is in that way when you die a pauper like I am you will die happy. Prominent Greenville physician dies at 89 By Corey G Johnson, The Daily Reflector . X Friday, December 09, 2005 A local physician who advocated social fairness and played a key role in the creation of ECU’s medical school died Wednesday at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, friends and family said. _ Dr. Andrew A. Best, 89, was a Kinston native. He received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Amny during World War II. Funeral services will be held at 1] a.m. Tuesday at Hull Road Free Will Baptist Church in Kinston. Officiating will be the Rev. Amold Coley of Jericho AME Zion Church in Kinston. Delivering the eulogy will be the Rev. George E. Battle Jr, presiding Prelate of the Northeast Episcopal District. A wake will be held from 6-8 p.m. Monday at Jericho AME Zion Church. Best established his medical practice in Greenville in 1954, serving several generations of patients until his retirement in 2004. The Greenville Human Relations Council established a yearly banquet in 1990 — the Best-lrons Humanitarian Awards — in honor of the joint efforts of Best and Dr. Malene G Irons to desegregate Pitt County Memorial Hospital in the 1960s. Irons, a white woman, and Best, who was the hospital’s only black physician at the time, persuaded officials to integrate the hospital dining and nursery areas and to address minority patients with the same titles as white patients. “They really were a good team and loved each other very much,” Ben Irons, the 56-year- old son of Malene Irons, said. “Our family was very close to _ Dr. Best and will miss him dearly.” Best earned his medical degree in 1951 from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn, His willingness to deliver much-needed h poor and work behind the to the _ THE MINORITY VOICE | - HONORS THE LEGACY OF DR> ANDREW BEST »& scenes to advance racial justice will be sorely missed, said Calvin Henderson, president of the Pitt County chapter of the NAACP. “Dr. Best delivered my only child in 1960 and was a dear family friend,” Henderson said. “He was one of the greatest men to have ever worked in: this community.” : Best served as a member of a number of organizations. He was past president of the Pitt County Interracial Committee and past chairman of the Human Relations Council. ' Best also was known for securing scholarships to help scores of minority students He wag appointed to the iversity of North Carolina Board of Governors in 1971. It was during Best’s tenure on the Board of Governors that then chancellor Leo Jenkins, and others lobbied the state legislature for the creation of a medical school at East Carolina University. Best is credited for being vital in persuading six minority members on the medical education subcommittee to vote in favor of the school. The close vote created momentum for school’s eventual approval. “There was a significant minority contribution to the creation of the School of Medicine at ECU,” Best told interviewer Marion Blackburn in September 2000. Best at the time he was pleased the interview would record the work minorities put toward the medical school. **... Without us, it would not have been, I am telling you,” he said. Pitt County Commissioner Dave Hammond said Best, who was godfather to his three children, will be especially moumed in his home. “History will record him to be one of the greatest local leaders ever known,” he said. Corey G Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@coxnc.com or 329- 9565. J nd forget it. If your home hasa heat pump — iliary electric heat “strips”, do not e thermostat daily. Set it at the lowest able setting (The Department of Energy ends 68 degrees), and don’t adjust the miostat. Weatherize your home. Caulking, sealing and weather-stripping around all of your windows, outside doors, or where plumbing, duct work and electrical wiring penetrate exterior walls, floors or ceilings can add up to big savings on your heating bill. 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Las propiedades de la co energy.com. IN THE NATION......... a By JOEL BRINKLEY WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chastised Europe leaders today, saying that before they complain about secret jails for terror Suspects in European nations, they should realize that interrogations of these suspects have produced information that helped “save European lives.” In her remarks, the Bush Administration’s official response to the reports of a network of secret detention centers, Ms. Rice repeatedly emphasized that the United States does not countenance the torture of terrorism suspects, at the hands of either American or foreign captors, She offered her remarks to reporters early this morning, in a departure lounge at Andrews Air Force Base, just before setting off for a trip to Europe, where she was certain to be asked about the growing controversy over the secret Central Intelligence Agency prisons believed to be located in at least eight European nations. Her Statement is also to serve as the basis for the government’s response to an official inquiry from the European Union over the secret prisons. Noting that half-a-dozen international investigations are underway, Ms. Rice did not explicitly confirm the existence of the detentions center. But that was implicit in her remarks. “We must bring terrorists to Justice wherever possible,” she said. “But there have been many cases where the local government cannot detain or prosecute a suspect, and traditional extradition is not a good option.” “In those cases,” she added, “the local government can make the sovereign choice to cooperate in the transfer of a suspect to a third country, which is known as a rendition. “Sometimes, these efforts are misunderstood,” she said. News reports starting early last month said the Central Intelligence Agency began holding dozens of terror suspects in secret prisons in as many as eight European nations shortly after Sept. 11. The Administration has not confirmed the reports but has repeatedly maintained that it is abiding by American law and international agreements. Officials have also repeatedly Rice Chides Europeans on Detention Center | Complaints said that the United States and the European states share a common concern about terrorism. _ “The terror threatens all of us,” Stephen Hadley, the National Security Advisor, said on CNN on Sunday. “You had seen terror attacks in Britain, in Spain, in Italy, in Turkey, in Russia, in Egypt, in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia. This is a threat, really, to the civilized world. We need to cooperate together to deal with this terror threat that threatens all of us. We are cooperating with a number of countries.” The administration’s secret _ detention policy has come under attack from the United Nations, the European Union and Democrats in Washington. Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, wrote Ms, Rice the letter from the European Union last Tuesday, demanding an explanation. In Congress, Democrats are calling for an investigation of the prisons and the treatment of suspects held there, while Republicans are pushing for an investigation to determine ..who in the government leaked the information to the news media. _ The Bush Administration began drafting Ms. Rice’s statement last week. - Consultations between agencies including the White House, the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency continued through the weekend and culminated with a conference call Sunday night. Ms. Rice insisted that the United States had done nothing wrong. Many of the imprisoned suspects “are effectively stateless,” she maintained, “owing allegiance only to the extremist cause of transnational terrorism. Many are extremely dangerous.” She made an effort to frame the debate as one over the effectiveness of terror enforcement and not over the propriety of holding suspects indefinitely in secret prisons. “We consider the captured members of Al Qaeda and its allies to be unlawful combatants who may be held, in accordance with the law of war, to keep them from killing innocents,” she said. “We must bring terrorists to justice wherever possible,” » The European nations must decide, she added, whether they “wish to work with us to prevent terrorist attacks against their own country or other countries.” York Times Company Nigeria Plane Crash Kills 103; Most Were Children _By LYDIAPOLGREEN Published: December 11, 2005 ELMINA, Ghana, Dec. 10-A plane carrying 110 passengers and crew members crashed Saturday in Nigeria’s main oil _ city, Port Harcourt, killing all but 7 of them. It was the second deadly airline crash in Nigeria in less than two months. Most of the passengers were schoolchildren on their way home for the Christmas holiday, according to family members at the airport interviewed on African Independent Television, a private television network in Nigeria. “All of them are gone,” one distraught woman waiting at the Port Harcourt airport screamed _ before the television cameras. Femi Fani-Kayode, a spokesman for Nigeria’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo, said, “It is a day of mouming for us.” - “There are a few survivors,” Mr. Fani-Kayode added. Bereaved relatives awaiting the arrival of the flight, operated by Sosoliso Airlines and coming from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, told The Associated Press that 75 of the 110 passengers on board were students at a Jesuit school on their way home. Mr. Fani-Kayode said he had not seen the passenger manifest and could not say who was on the flight DECEMBER | - 16, 2005 page 5 Merry Christmas ..... pictured above is Charl in Chief, Roanoke Consistory and Kimble Willi servants of the people overseeing the d The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, said the plarie crashed at 2:08 p.m. while in the course of landing, hitting the ground about 1,300 yards from the runway. He said the seven survivors had been taken to the hospital for treatment, but he did not specify their condition. Earlier, Mr. Adurogboye had told The Associated Press that the weather in Port Harcourt at the time of the crash had been stormy, and that witnesses reported seeing lightning flashes as the plane approached the runway. The crash on Saturday comes less than two months after the crash of a jet in October while it was headed from Lagos, the commercial capital, to Abuja. That crash involved a plane operated by Bellview Airlines and killed 117 people, including several high-ranking government officials. It caused both constemation and embarrassment as the authorities scrambled to locate the wreckage. RESPONSIBIL Lg f | &, f f-2 j fa J ic Barrett, Jr Warden of Mt Calvery 669.James Atkinson, Commander ams, Worshipful Master, Mt Hermon Lodge 35 Greenville honorable onations given to the Red Cross to help those in need in this season of giving. One state govemor had told With its long-neglected, battered reporters that the wreckage , Nigeria’s economy is from that crash had been far to highly dependent on air travel to the north, close to Abuja, and move people between Abuja, that nearly half the passengers —_the political capital, Lagos, the had survived. He had also commercial capital, and Port issued a frantic call forahuge Harcourt, the center of the oil rescue operation. But the industry that makes Nigeria the wreckage was later found in a second-largest economy in sub- village near Lagos, and all the Saharan A frica. passengers were dead. The black boxes for the plane were The flights linking the three never found. major cities are often packed with politicians and The episode prompted Mr. businessmen. Driving between Obasanjo to say thathe would —_ any of the three cities could take push for reform of the aviation a day or more. By air the industry and the government Journey is less than an hour. agencies responsible for air safety. To respond to the huge demand, half‘a dozen airlines have Mr. Fani-Kayode said that sprung up in the past decade. several steps had been taken in Most of them use second-hand the wake of the Bellview crash, _ planes that are two decades old but he acknowledged that yet or older, and runways are . another crash could undermine frequently in disrepair. confidence in Nigeria’s aviation safety record. Tony Iyare contributed reporting from Lagos, Nigeria, “We will do everything inour _for this article, power to ensure it stops happening,” he said. “It is critical people feel safe.” ITY MATTERS DECEMBER | - 16, 2005 page 6 * - J Nettie ‘gy iS Surprise Surprise ees pictured above in front of the studio of WOOW Radio Staon and The Minority Voice newspaper is Brenda Rouse alon prised Bro Rouse ,CEO of Jim Rouse Communicati ment wish you many more Bro Rouse g with her Mother Elsie as they sur- ons on his birthday. Staff and manage- Photo by Bro Adams CEREMONIES AT NCCU ACKNOWLEDGE THE PAST NCCU honored photo journalist Alex Rivera with the naming of the Alex M. Rivera Athletic Hall of Fame housed in the McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium on campus. Next, the assembled crowd moved to the historic Alexander-Dunn Building to _take part in celebrating the completion of renovations totaling $1.69 million. In 1939, Founder Dr. James E. Shepard brought Rivera from Howard University where he was a student and from the Washington Tribune where he was a part time photo journalist to NCCU to establish the news bureau for the university. Later, as a journalist for the Pittsburhg Courier Rivera became famous for his coverage of the last lynchings in South Carolina and Alabama, the legal challenges to school segregation, and the aftermath of the landmark Brown v. The Topeka Board of Education decision that garnered him a Global Syndicate Award in 1955. “In our memories we hold a number of remarkable photographs that captured the truth in the victories and tragedies of our modern history and culture,” said Chancellor James H. Ammons. “The men and women who recorded those moments, sometimes at risk their own lives, are unseen and largely forgotten. . North Carolina Centra | University’s former Director of Public Relations Alex M. Rivera and Chancellor James H. Ammons at the naming of the Alex M, Rivera NOCU's Chair of the Board of Trustees, Attorney Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr., | Naming the hall in honor of Alex Rivera seems a natural choice.” Rivera’s passion was athletics and at NCCU, he photographed some of the world’s greatest men in sport including basketball coach John B. McLendon whose mentor had been none other than the architect of basketball, Dr. james Naismith. McLendon had a winning collegiate coaching record of 523 wins to 165 losses and invented the full court press, the zone press, the open center offense including the “four corners,” the rotating pivot, and the double-pivot. Thanks to Rivera, images of McLendon with his players, including five-time NBA All-Star Sam Jones, have been preserved for the historical record. Similarly, Rivera captured former United States Olympic Committee President and NCCU Coach and Chancellor, Dr. LeRoy T. Walker with his gold medal- winning hurdler, Lee Calhoun. “What good is it to have the fastest hurdler in the world if no one knows about it or can see that Lee Calhoun was a black man?” asked Ammons. “The publicizing of the accomplishments of A frican- American should be considered as important as the victories themselves in making the case for equality.” Athletic Hall of Fame. Provost Beverly Washington Jones, and Chancellor James H, Ammons cut the ribh OnCAan u.. ‘he newly renovated and historic Alexander-Dunn Building Rivera was instrumental in establishing the Athletic Hall of Fame at NCCU and managed the annual induction ceremony for 15 years. It is housed in the upper corridor of McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium and offers an impressive display of larger- scale photographs from NCCU’s athletic history that are predominantly the work of Rivera himself. Surprised and visibly moved at the sight of his name cut in steel, Rivera was magnanimous in his acceptance saying, “If you ever see a turtle on top of a post, you know that he didn’t get there all by himself. He had help.” From the Gymnasium, the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees moved to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Harold W. Alexander/ Wayne M. Dunn Building. Built in 1930, it is on the National Registry of Historic Places and presents the eastern face of the oldest quadrangle on campus. It is named in honor of | Alexander and Dunn, for their services and contributions to the Academic Skills Center, a tutorial program for students whose academic preparation was insufficient for college level work. So it is fitting that the building, which was originally a cafeteria, will now house a range of academic support service programs. The migration of these students services to this facility makes it a center for student activity. “These men were known for their vision that will never die,” said Chancellor Ammons. The ribbon cutting celebrated the most extensive. renovation to date. All interior spaces and infrastructure were renewed as the 17,716 square foot building received new offices and a conference room, window and roof repairs, a fire suppression and notification system and ‘upgraded heating and cooling systems. The upper and lower floors have separate entrances with the addition of a chair lift to meet accessibility standards. “The $1.69 million project came in on time and under budget,” said project manager, Duane Johnson. é Ma blames Ki death..... BY NANCIE L. KATZ, TONY SCLAFANI and ADAM LISBERG DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS A Brooklyn mother who left her two young sons alone in a bathtub in the dark blamed the older boy after the other drowned, it was revealed Tuesday, Nov. 08, that she was ordered held without bail. “Tt’s the baby’s fault!! It’s the baby’s fault!” Tracina (Tracy) Vaughn, 25, blubbered after her 16- month-old son, Dahquay Gillians, died in her filthy Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment Sunday night, sources said. The “baby” she blamed was her 3-year old son, Tramel Vaughn, ho was badly burned in a tub scalding last year. Vaughn was held without bail and put on suicide watch yesterday as prosecutors said they expect to charge her with murder for ignoring the boys for’up to 20 minutes as Dahquay slipped underwater. The lights didn’t work in the bathroom of Vaughn’s basement apartment, sources said. But that didn’t stop her from plopping Tramel and Dahquay in the tuib — ’ telling the older boy to bathe his little brother and walking away, the sources said. As Dahquay struggled to breathe, Vaughn got sanitary pads for herself and even changed the CD on the stero, prosecutors said. And when her boyfriend came back from getting her a soda, she told him the children were safe. ” The unindentified boyfriend even looked in the bathroom — but when he only say Tramel, he assumed Dahquay was hidden by a shower curtain, prosecutors said. “He went out again, “ saying he would get a diaper but instead came back with beer, said Prosecutor Wilfredo Cotto. first home. second family. d in Tot’s -Tracina Vaughn with sons Dahquay Gillians and Tramel Vaughn. . Eventually, Cotto said, Vaughn “went in. The 1- year old was face-down in the water.” Vaughn called 911, but EMTs who tried to resuscitate the helpless boy found his lungs full of water. She was hit with felony reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child raps, but Cotto expects those charges will be upgraded to murder when the medical examiner’s final report in finished. “What can I possibly say that would do any good for her?” her _ defense attorney , Larry Rothstein, said outside court. “There’s already one dead kid.” Aameadl 7 Make it real RE Aa RRS Sar gsi aaa, \ HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE MINORITY VOICE NEWSPAPER ...-War On Hip Hop Assistant US Attomey Sean Haran said in his opening statement. “All of it:was a fraud.” Haran contended that in the mid 1990s, before Irving Lorenzo founded Murder Inc. records, he hitched his star to McGriff, who was powerful and cash rich after wreaking crack havoc in South Queens for years. . Philip (Dahlu) Banks — a former member of McGriff’s so-called Supreme Team — testified that on two occasions ~ around 1994, he delivered bags full of cash to Irving Lorenzo on the drug lord’s orders. The first bag contained $9,000, all in singles, and the second was a $10,000 roll of various denominations, he said, Asked if it was drug money, Banks replied, “That’s the L pnly kind of money we had.” ECU Community recalls Rosa Parks’ legacy... Getting the right people on the bus ........ State President of the SCLC, Mr Bennie Rountree (2nd from the right); was on hand to African Americans here in Pitt County on cam Dr Lathan Turner, director of ECU’s Ledonia Wright Cultural Center, stated “What would she think, if she knew how we can sit by each other, and speak to each other, and walk with each other, almost 50 years after she made that historic decis Turner said. “We hope she would be proud of our acco Banks, 43, identified other Supreme Team members employed as bodyguards or drivers at Murder, Inc. He also claimed the Lorenzos gave him expensive new threads when he was released from Attica last year. But under cross - examination, Banks conceded he would lie about Irving Lorenzo if he thought it would help his own cause. The admission reinforced the Lorenzos’ contentionthat overzeatous prosecutors will ~~ ‘go to any length to “dirty” their reputations. Irving Lorenzo’s lawyer Gerald Lefcourt, evoking the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., said federal agents had their “eyes on the prize”: A young man from a hard-scrabble Queens neighborhood who had achieved “sort of an American dream”. ' . proud of the contribution she has made to this nation.” ~~ O10 West Wilson Stre Farmville, NC 27828 give first hand accounts of the struggle for pus which took place on a bus. ion not to get up from that seat,” mplishments, in as much as we are continued from front page | o _At one point, the courtroom erupted in laughter when _ Chris Lorenzo’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, scribbled “Says Who?” on a poster and asked the jurors to remember those words when they hear the claims the Lorenzos’ acceptéd drug money. The defense lawyers said that their was nothing illegal about the Lorenzos* relationship with McGriff— nor nothing wrong with the gangster Gotti monikers the brothers adopted. ~~ Ja Rule, who came to court with Ashanti\to support the Lorenzos, said/afterward that the government “doesn’t like to see young black men help others who have criminal records.” If convicted, 34-year old Irving and 38 -year old Chris Lorenzo face up to 20 years in prison and the forfeiture of millions. ie (252) 753-9205 a Pb i is ts ee git A % + ¥ on Cell 052) 717-1097 el * DECEMBER I - 16. 2006 pave 7? _Hemby = Muss Tarboro, NC Scotland Neck, NC (252) 823-5120 (252) 826-440 Ohwrrterrs Charles Watts nd Forvnaly enon nanan nnebnnnatineite: What could make our EquityLine even better? Current APR* as low as A special low introductory rate. For a limited time, First Citizens Bank is Offering an EquityLine special. 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Limited time offer that may be withdrawn or changed at any time without notice. Normal credit approval applies. Certain restrictions may apply. ** Consult your tax advisor regarding the deductibility of interest. firstcitizens.com 1-888-FC DIRECT vess day of the previous y Insurance required. Flood insurance may be DECEMBER 1 - 16, 2005 page 8 ESCAP he world of. . iy “ Though now I look back, I’ve K uw’ E Xcerp t: Come to realize The decision Michelle Crandall Little has _\yichelle’s ose for ise. been married for 15 years to ce Seer a a form of Thank You | you made was very wise a wonderful man named healing and release from all But how I’ve since moved on, and I Randy. She livesin emotions. Her main goal is to I am the one you let go wee have found That you were the Greenville, NC. They have 6 have her words reach millions 4" ! blame you, you didn’t one who had me bound. But children and | grandson and and say what they would want ‘now. aa ve ne pride a thank you my friend, for a daughter-in-law they think — g say but couldn’t find the ‘™any laces And they rear Setting me free . words. Through it all: she heads in different places. | | wants you to be blessed. . CELEBRATING W/ BEAUFORT COUNTY SCLC ‘ 3 oF Court rejects suit against Philip Morris The Supreme Court of Illinois threw out a $10 billion class- action lawsuit Thursday that had accused Philip Morris USA of fraudulently misstating the amount of tar and nicotine in “light” Cigarettes. Because the labeling of the cigarettes was specifically authorized by U.S. federal regulators, the court ruled, the claim against Philip Morris could not stand. The 4-to-2 decision overturns a lower court ruling made in 2003, which found Philip Morris liable for $10.1 billion. Carey’s Comeback Comes Full Circle at Grammy Nominations Mariah Carey NEW YORK — Mariah Carey’s comeback came full circle Thursday as she was nominated for eight Grammys, including album of the year for “The Emancipation of Mimi” and song and record of the year for her torch ballad “We Belong Together.” Carey’s eight nominations tied John Legend and Kanye West. Soul crooner Legend’s nominations included best new artist, while his mentor West is up for album of the year for “Late Registration” and song of the year for “Gold Digger.” Other multiple nominees included 50 Cent, Gwen Stefani, U2 and Bruce Springsteen. National News: Ham While many Hampton University students were still asleep or getting ready for an early morning class, about 40 others gathered on Dec. 2 to support seven students who faced disciplinary charges after distributing unapproved fliers last month that advertised an anti-war protest. Some wore strips of dandelicn-yellow cloth tied around their arms, wrists, legs or, for.one young woman, her neck. = That evening, thé seven students received the verdicts: For at least five, it was performing 20 hours of community service, said two of the accused students, Iyabo Ali and John Robinson. Ms. Ali said she received only a warning. The students learned their fate after being called into the office of the Dean of Women to pick up letters revealing the university’s decision. However, one of the women students chose not to come for her letter, Mr. Robinson said, though he assumed she was . asked to do community service as well. Mr. Robinson said that any punishment was unreasonable, but that they didn’t have a problem doing it. “What we did was community service in the first place,” he said. The seven were part of an anti- war protest on Nov. 2 at the Virginia school. The hearing before the board of administrators garnered national attention. An online petition by the World Can’t Wait, an organization that sponsored the nationwide anti-war protest, drew more than 1,000 signatures, many from university professors, and from such well-known writers as Michael Eric Dyson, Jill Nelson and Howard Zinn. Three students from Howard University in Washington, D.C., came to support the students. Mr. Robinson said the group had received words of support from RED TAG 9 $11,500 RED TAG a $19,500 as far away as Spain. Bryan Ogilvie, another accused Student,. appeared on Pacifica Radio’s ee Democracy, Now!” In that forum and others, interviewers referred to the administration’s 2003 seizure of the student newspaper, The Hampton Script, after it did not publish an administration Statement on the front page. On Nov. 18, Mr. Robinson, Brandon King and Aaron Ray, a sophomore History Education major from Columbia, Md., received a summons from the university to attend a hearing over what was called their possible expulsion, because they had not followed proper protest protocol as outlined in the university’s student handbook. Mr. Ogilvie, a sophomore from Long Island, N.Y., called it ridiculous for the administration to attack the students over rules in a handbook that is regularly updated, but given out only to freshmen. Like other students, he said he did not understand why it was acceptable to hand out fliers with half-naked women that advertised parties, but not for students to distribute fliers encouraging activism. “It’s inconsistent as far as the application of the rules,” he said. The hearing was originally scheduled for Nov. 21, but that date gave the accused students little time to seek legal representation. It was moved to Dec. 2 after administrative Officials were pounded with phone calls from outraged students and organization representatives. Four more students faced similar charges. University’6fficials maintained that the students were “cajoling” and “proselytizing,” as well as posting fliers unapproved by university officials. The hearing, closed to the public and news media, began shortly pton University students punished for DECEMBER | - 16. 2005 page 9 protesting war | By Bravetta Hassell stated in the Hampton University - Official Student Handbook (2004 Edition). ... . after 9 a.m. The seven students, along with parents and lawyers, a few faculty members and a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, sat straight-faced before the panel of administrators. ‘ “No students were disciplined for their beliefs. ... Hampton University has always and continues to be a champion of free speech and free expression. _ Hampton University believes in the free flow and sharing of ideas among our faculty, staff and’ students.” Outside, students waited, discussing the-case and handing out yellow strips in support. Inside the glass- enclosed room, the panel explained the rules and regulations before releasing the students and calling them back separately for individual hearings. “The process looks flawed, but we're going to stick with it,” said Folabi Olagbaj, director of the Mid-Atlantic regional field office of Amnesty International. “The students-are not fully aware of what they are being charged with.” L-R): Brandon King, John Robinson and Aaron Ray wait for their disciplinary hearings at Hampton University. Mr. King said students were not able to question panel members or serve as witnesses for each other. « Photo: Bravetta Hassell The hearing involved a lot of fact-finding, said Mr. Olabaju, who informed that he did not see a policé report of the incident or alleged videotape footage showing some of the students posting unapproved fliers in a university building. _ Wilson: (252) “Nobody asked for approval during the Civil Rights Movement,” said Arthur Ray, Aaron Ray’s father, who had arrived in Hampton Dec. 1. A lot of parents objected to the students’ not being able to question panel members or serve as witnesses for each other, said Mr. King, a senior Sociology major who talked with students as he waited his turn to be called inside. The students were allowed only to read their prepared statements. The university issued a statement saying, “The matter was simply an issue of compliance with University policies and procedures. 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Ze ° @ - | f New stand-up act and won an ae tat dive they engaged on a | ace : es . a x Oscar nomination for Best On June a 1980. 9 > — ppPorting nthe Lado Pryor accidentally erg) — we _ stand-up comedy at'a lano Man in “The ings 5, — Richeed rye heey major “Rinrary Praimed 1979 popular black nightclub in the Blues,” a film biography of body wie ae atte one y on i - 1 Pryor Live in Peoria and was regularly Billi Holliday starring Di freebasing cocaine in hi | appearing on the — Oss. He continued to perform heatine it with as saew beans HewonGrammys,Emmys _, Blackbelt” Midwest circuit comedy on “The Tonight ether. He later m raunchy, expletive-laden and an Academy Award by the early 1960s. He Show” and hosted “Saturday entered drug comedy in the 1970s and nomination. Pryor influenced moved to New York in 1963 Night Live” — on five-second rehabilitation. early 1980s, died today. He a generation of black and and debuted on TV the next tape delay — and the Oscars. , . ~ whi ians. includi year, doing stand-up on A He retumed to ve vai Murphy, Chis Roe “The Ed Sullivan Show” Pryor wrote for situation comedy parodying Pryor died of a heart attack Whoopi Gul dberg, Robin and “The Merv Griffin vomnedies aan shows his drug use and this moming at a hospital near Williams and Arsenio Hall. Show.” Pryor emulated accident in the his home in Encino Cosby and Dick Gregory in Guild Award in 1974 for 1982 concert California, spokeswoman Cosby once said, “For his wholesome, inoffensive Melee Saddles" with novie “Richard Karen Finch said in a Richard, the fine between routine. ~ 5o Live on © statement. oon a tragedy be % fine He relocated to Los Angeles ‘Silver Streak’ Pryor a -y He found comedic material in became almost as famous for i the mid-1960s and won In 1976, Pryor wrote and million to playa —_ the often-harsh realities of his six divorces and violent it parts in films. He | appeared in “Car Wash” and comic villain in r | African-American life, when —_ incidents surrounding cocaine “rpped his tame, Cosby- “The Bingo Long Traveling 1983’s “Superman HII,” a Pryor eventually needed a black comedians like Bill ddiction as his comedy. He fluenced act and All-Stars.” He received record salary at the time for a Motorized scooter and spoke in Cosby avoided race and ' ked his illne eee developed a more raw, fave aah ‘ ae first ~ black ee a whisper. polities to appeal to white yaa sil setbacks int oumageous act infused with matic lead in “Greased | cect He published his audiences. He became known _ his act. ord umor and four-letter Lightning,” (1977), about the !n 1986, Pryor wrote, directed autobiography, “Pryor for his rubbery facial | | : first black racecar champion. In Nd starred in the Convictions and Other Life expressions, scathing humor, Pryor was diagnosed with 1978, “Blue Collar,” about autobiographical “JoJo Sentences,” in 1995. Pryor won ae quiet, Sombastic multiple sclerosis in 1986. Detroit autoworkers was a hit, eae ue is ed elivery. In his routines, Pryor oy , While the musical “The Wiz” en corel (ites | Childhood in Brothel flopped. roo ( l " ), ; rita : _ eh De i i 6 : 99 deadbeats and drunks evoked ‘chard Franklin sn He began an on-screen Harlem Nights,” (1989), co- sympathy and ridicule. Pet on Dec. 7 partnership with Gene Wilder _ starring Murphy. “He created a biting, 1940, to an unwed mother. He — ies epee grossed Pryor’s film and stand-up scatological comedy defined Claimed to have been raised in $30 million. Pryor and Wilder ©reer ended due to multiple by the linguistic and stylistic ns eet ie would also team up in 1980’s ie sar pent) hes vs ie tt ino. 66Qg: 99 66 ned Folks” wre ° prostitute and married the . at ne nr boy *s in 1990 and 1991, when he Salon’s Jill Nelson in 1998, madam’s son. At age 11, Won Oscar Nomination “Another You.” underwent a quadruple bypass. “He was often raunchy, Juliette Whittaker, a teacher, honed hi . "sometimes bitter, frequently cast Pryor in a community eee a a Pryor released a 1974 record political and always lionest, theater production to channel __PeTs da follows by th that went platinum, selling times painfully so.” us manic comic skills He Te ins by the ver 1 million copies, ang | AED] EU ED later gave her the 1974 Emmy _ late 1960s, releasing his first won the Grammy for Best the Kennedy Center’s Mark Off stage, Pryor’s personal he won for writing a Lily comedy album in 1969. He Comedy Album tho Twain Prize in 1998 for his problems with women, the Tomlin special. developed a cocaine Grammy -winning albums uniquely American humor. II] Internal Revenue Service and addiction and was accused soon followed Cutie raised health prevented him from drugs — he burned half his He was expelled from high of fighting with managers his 1979 concert film P attending the ceremony. body while freebasing school and fathered his and landlords in Las Vegas. “Richard Pryor Live in 7 cocaine — added to his daughter, Renee, out of C » which also eamed He remarried fourth wife notoriety, £* =i samics »-awedlock at.age.]7.Pryor A wife accused hitn of Satta en ato cats : i nee ee worked in a meat-packing battery and the Intemal 90 million 3 Influenced Eddie Murphy _plant before joining the Army Revenue Service audited Addiction | in 1958, After his 1960 him for not paying taxes Pryor released more than 20 discharge, he married his first ftom 1967 to 1970. Pryor Health and drug addiction comedy records, appeared in _ wife, Patricia Price, andhis _ led to the Berkeley, soon derailed his career. more than 40 films, second child, Richard Pryor California, counterculture Pryor suffered a heart attack performed on numerous TV Jr, was born. lor several years. in 1978. He shot bullets into shows and made several his wife’s car on New Year’s _ Free Financial Aid Information For Students & Parents 2» figure out the financial aid process »> find information about scholarships and grants 2» save money on education loans for students and parents »> talk to a financial aid specialist »> complete aid forms online www.CEN Coorg College # Foundation of North Carolina Helping You Plan, Apply, and Pay for College A service of the State of North Carolina provided by Pathways, CFL and NCSEAA © College Foundation, inc, 2008 866-866-CFNC (toll-free) Servicios en espafiol disponibles DECEMBER I - 16, 2005 page 12 UND SEU nYS COMMERCIAL TV WASHINGTON (NNPA) —In the face of mounting criticism over a plan to do tetdespes nape 300 percent. Al Sharpton says he has now placed his plans on hold until he _ Gan obtain more financial data from the “We're putting everything on hold in aiveriangs rari Aen Were ising and marketing. We put it o until he gets me this data,” Sharpton Says in an interview, referring to an agreement he has been doing for LoanMax. “Out of respect to him, I'm giving him time to show me. But, if he doesn’t have it, then I’m definitely oing to tell the world that he had time and he didn’t come through with nothing. ...If he’s got the facts, then I will make the Suspension permanent.” Keith Corbett, senior vice president of the Durham, N.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending, a non-profit think tank, told Sharpton in a letter that his moming news shows in the Washington, D.C, Virginia and Maryland areas was deeply disappointing. “Over the last few years you have been instrumental in the fight to end predatory lending. Specifically, you lent lending in North Carolina by urging our Black Caucus leaders to work to put an end to these abusive practices within our state.” Caan, Theschive, I was surprised to he you are a spokesperson for car title loans... Car title loans are just as abusive as payday loans in that they charge triple digit interest rates and trap them in a cycle of debt. Moreover, title lenders structure their loans to evade state usury or small loan rate caps, and they are over- secured.” Corbett continues, “Today we have access to credit, but the “terms” are abusive and discrimi . Like we rallied with Rosa Parks, all Black people need to come together to end these practices.” In the commercial, Sharpton stands on a stage by a podium and a United States flag, as if e's still running for president. “Finally, there’s someone in Virginia who will loan money to people the big guys won't loan to!” he declares boisterously as if doing a campaign aoe ane cummnetcal was set to read around the country during the Christmas season. . Corbett said in an interview that in response to his overtures, Sharpton invited him to teleconference on the issue. “They take advantage of poor people who are desperate,” Corbett says. “They charge triple digit interest rates Just like pay day lenders. In fact, it’s worse because the people’s mode of transportation is at risk and their most valuable assets.” After the teleconference, Sharpton said he decided to wait for even more specific information from Corbett, but retains doubts about LoanMax. “You cannot have a country where only people with credit can go to banks. I’ve got busi that can’t get a bank loan and they have lucrative businesses,” Sharpton says. “That's exactly my point. Now, if this company is the Wrong company, we can debate that and I will not go forward. But, I’m not going to back down at all if the banks have driven people with altemative lending services out of business, That ionately hurts our community. We have found nothing on the record against it, nothing to this moment.” Rod Aycox, president of LoanMax, based in Alpharetta, Ga., says he makes loans to a half-million people a year at 200 stores in 21 states, “My product highly competes with Cvery product out there. It’s a very Competitive price and we deal with hundreds of thousands of customers Cvery year who are very satisfied,” he Says. veal aay ave ait toa car, so we ‘t loan to poor people. .. They have to have atte that they have paid in full for.” AYCOx says his interest rates are from 22 cents to 30 cents a month, For example, the average $400 loan would cost $88 for one month, he says. If a kept the money for only two it would cost them $44, he says, However, that same $400 loan becomes a $1600 debt, 300 percent, in just one year if the person is unable to pay it back. Aycox says he does not have stats on how many customers do not pay back their loans on time, but he says ‘sa very small number, He says the actual “The thing about title loan companies is that they don’t take many cars,” Corbett says. “And the reasons why is because they get the people trapped inito debt. _ And they just continue to roll them Over. Aycox says customers who find themselves unable to repay a loan always have an out. “Tf a customer is, by chance, not able to pay back their loan, all they have to do is take their car down, sell it, pay me off and keep the difference,” he says. Even before his presidential race, Sharpton had long advocated against unfair leriding practices. Ina 1999 panel loans to those that seek mortgages ERFIRE, SHARPTON DELAYS “We want faimess; we want equity; we want parity. (Applause) We want to see business loans that are not at rates that _ are unbearable and not set up with clauses that are unachievable.” Aycox declined comment on Sharpton’s decision to end the commercials while awaiting more information. “| hate not to give you any information on that, but if you would, just call Mr. Sharpton on all of those questions,” he says. “I would welcome Mr. Corbett to ° give [Sharpton] any information. | would welcome Mr. Corbett to call me any time and discuss my product.” Sharpton says he has never met Aycox. He says he was recruited todo the commercial by a fellow activist anda personal friend of Aycox’, Lamell McMomnis, a former executive director of the Southem Christian Leadership Conference under theadministration of Martin Luther King, III. “T know his track record of working the movement with me and quote-unquote, ‘the little guy,” says McMornis. “I knew that he would understand the concept of people with bad credit and needing access to cash. I know a great deal about LoanMax because the owner of the company is my best friend. LoanMax is not a predatory lending institution. As far as I’m concemed, they’re greenling a redlined America.” “Corbett says the use of Black spokespersons for predatory lenders is a part of their strategy. “Tf they can divide Black people on this issue, they can win over Democrats who are desympathetic to ruling against them,” hesays, . beleaguered with discrimination lawsuits, after he was criticized by He says he is not surprised that the commercial is controversial. “Thoped it would be because | think that _ itis an outright disgrace that people that own things like cars and homes with no credit cannot get bank loans and there’s nothing that anybody is doing about it,” he says, ‘Sharpton says he is also concemed__ faimess to LoanMax. “You've got banks that repossess thousands of cars. So who decides who’s a predator? A student loan can’ accumulate to 500%. I know people 20 years later paying student loans. That’s not predatory,” he says. Much of it is . wrong, says Corbett: “These are the Jim ._ Crow laws of today — that you charge poor and disenfranchised people triple digit interest rates. These are the Jim Crow laws of the 90’s and 2000.” He says, “Somebody needs to figure out a way that our community has altemative lending. That’s my point.” SALUTE TO “DON DAVIS” MAYOR OF SNOW HILL \ le male (44 Te Norn