North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 07/05/1996

It's Friday July 5th. Tonight the nation's spotlight is on Charlotte as the national one WCP convention gets under way in North Carolina now. Good evening I'm reading it right thanks for tuning into this Friday edition of North Carolina now. Delegates from across the nation arrived in Charlotte today for the start of the weeklong national NWC convention. The National Convention gets underway as the state chapter of the civil rights organization is a worst in controversy. Tonight we'll explore the current status of North Carolina as an WCP. Also tonight the director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will share with us one of the rarest ever archaeological finds.

Then it's off to the North Carolina Museum of Art to view an exhibit that includes some pretty unusual works of art made from some pretty common materials. But now to our top story. Fourteen thousand people are expected in the Queen City for the annual gathering of the nation's oldest civil rights organization. The seven day convention is expected to pump four million dollars into the Charlotte economy. Also it will bring national media attention to the city with the expected convention appearances from President Clinton Senator Bob Dole and in full May the national president of the NWC organization leaders say the convention marks a fresh start for the NWC which has been struggling under millions of dollars in debt and allegations of financial mismanagement. As Michel Louis explains for the past several months the state chapter has suffered from problems of its own with the remover of Kelly Alexander as president and the resignation of the executive director Mary peeler.

For 53 years the North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been taking on the challenges of civil rights for all people. A name which has been synonymous with the state chapter is Alexander beginning with the late Kelly M. Alexander Sr. who was head of the organization for 36 years followed by his son Kelly Alexander Jr.. I have been involved in civil rights since I was about nine years of age. My earliest recollection that involves a voter registration activity here in the community. Alexander a Charlotte native is now involved in a battle of his own. In May of this year the NWC peas national board suspended Alexander a state president a position he has held for 12 years. This is mention is based on a pending audit of the state conferences finances. The complaint alleged a number of things said that didn't give the books to the Treasurer. When the new

treasurer came in books Incidentally I didn't have in the first place. I mean there are a lot of unsupported things that were said. The only thing that had any validity was that we did pay some state conference bills using some checks signed by the former treasury before the new Treasury signature had been effective on the account that didn't state president Melvin Skip Alston would not go into detail about the audit. But since it goes much deeper than check writing the use of the checks by Mr. L. is that it is his least worry. OK that would be something that that would be are my situation. What I know right now I think Mr. Zenda has some other things so that he will have to be concerned with from a major standpoint and the audit will reveal that Alexander believes this suspension is politically motivated.

The problem comes when people within our own organization because they wish to advance politically use the mechanisms that the organization has created. In In In In an attempt to politically harm people to politically replace people and in doing this what you do is harm the effectiveness of the overall organization. Acting President Alston believes that Alexander has tried to develop the NWC peek into his personal civil rights organization. One would seem to think that Kelly in the past few years have thought that this was his organization. That he could run it the way that he saw fit. Any time anything he want to do contrary to the constitutional bylaws and I want to go by the rules and regulations of the National Association for the vast going to color

people and not someone else's personal civil rights organization. Despite the battle raging within the state ranks the North Carolina NWA CPD is one of the strongest chapters in the country with an annual budget ranging from 250 to $300000. It also has a membership of thirty five thousand. And within the past two years membership grows more. North Carolina than any state in the southeast. Alexander's as the chapter has also been one of the leaders in aggressively tackling civil rights issues. We have been at the forefront of responding to and planning in advance for getting things accomplished in the whole area of civil rights I mean we were involved in redistricting in the first place. It's one of the reasons why it's important that we stay involved and that when church fires became an issue we were right in the midst of them on the eve of the end of a Lacie Peet National Convention meeting in Charlotte Alexander believes that the national

leadership of what you see in to me as president and merely Evers-Williams as Executive Director is a start in the right direction to rebuild the NWC. Alexander sense he will be attending the convention to let his concerns be no i will not be slinking around in corners I'll be walking in the bright sunlight. I will have my say from the floor of the convention. Well I think it's appropriate that I have something to say. I'll be speaking out in the regional meetings. Somebody told me that some of this was aimed to try and shut me up at the national convention. Well that's mistake. I'm not going to be quiet. I will not be shut up. We have things that would be a procedure. Mr. Alexander will have his say so I will fight for the right for him to have his say so within those confines but without those confines when he steps out. Out of those confines then we have to take whatever steps I might me might be necessary.

Alexander Stille contends that fighting within the national ranks is taking its toll on the effectiveness of the NWA CPS lower levels citing last month's resignation of state executive director Mary peeler. Despite the conflicts both Alexander and Alston believe the end of a CPA is still a solid force in the fight for civil rights. If the NWA CPA is having problems all African-Americans I have. Problem because it was the butt end of a sleepy I would not be sitting at this desk in charge of my own bin is when this thing that they're trying to struggle and working for some corporation someplace because of their demand that I am and be unable to be in a position so I can help other African-Americans can have a piece of the pie. I think that any CPA is still one of the best vehicles in the African-Americans hands and it would be a shame for us to do what the Ku Klux Klan couldn't do to do what the White Citizens Council couldn't

do which is to destroy this vehicle. Skip Alston says the audit of Kelly Alexander's handling of NWC finances will be completed in about two months. Alexander's fate with the civil rights organization will not be known until the National Board meets in October. And a reminder on Monday we will bring you a special edition of North Carolina now from the end of the ACP convention in Charlotte. Coming up what weighs several tons is 42 feet long and has a jaw six feet wide and is four million years old. Well we'll find out in our interview segment. But first someone who is not nearly that old or that big for that matter is Shannon Vicary She's filling in for Michel Louis who is currently on assignment in Charlotte. Shannon has our statewide news summary. Welcome Shannon. Thanks Murray and good evening everyone. Fort Bragg is donating the unused church and chapel items to congregations who have lost their churches to fire base officials are making available inventory from base chapels that have been closed on post. The

list of items include pews altars pulpits public address systems and even organs. And an insurer of about fifteen hundred church or churches in North Carolina is restructuring its policies to include a fund for rewarding cases of arson preferred risk. A Greensboro based insurer is winding policies with $10000 of arson reward money built in before and risk is also offering advice on reducing the risk of fire. The adoption of sweeping measures to avoid the spread of rabies epidemic is gaining popularity and many North Carolina counties. But some animal lovers say the laws go too far. The ordinances make it mandatory to collect stray dogs and other pets without proof of vaccinations and put them to death. Opponents say the policy is indiscriminately destroying some and infected animals. The epidemic has been on the rise over the past two years. Raccoons and boxes have been the main victims but there have been other instances of domesticated animals found to

be infected. Violations involving an adequate winter shelter for animals have cost the new Primate Center Twenty two hundred dollars in fines. The U.S. Department of Agriculture levied the fines against the 30 year old center for frostbite injuries and he learned suffered by 27 animals last year can go Under the director of the Primate Center says since last winter a new weather proof structure has been constructed to enclose about 16000 square feet of cages. Well now for a look at tomorrow's weather and not much variation across the state as temperatures range in the mid to high 80s for Saturday. The one exception will be boune where it will barely reach 80 degrees partly to mostly sunny conditions will also very little across the state. Sunny skies predominate. 30 percent chance of afternoon showers may crop up at the coast but it looks to be dry elsewhere. And in business news a spate of complaints from phone customers have prompted state utility regulators to call a special meeting to discuss the way new per

use telephone charges are being handled. Right now callers can instantly access telephone services such as Call Return and repeat dialing for seventy five cents per use charge. But some customers are complaining that even though they never ordered the services their bills are being run up by per use charges accessed by their children. The commissioners will meet next week to reconsider the matter. It was a very rough day on Wall Street today. Here's a look at how the markets closed. Imagine being off the coast of North Carolina and coming face to face with a shark

so big its teeth are five inches high. Fortunately the shark's been dead for 4 million years. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has recently reeled in this most prestigious catch twenty five teeth from the largest marine predator in fossil record. Joining me now is the museum's director Betsy Bennett. Ms Bennett thanks and welcome to the program Well thank you. My pleasure. What an exciting opportunity for your museum and we have the teeth here so our viewers can take a look that look at them they are so exciting and they're huge. It really is exciting for the people of North Carolina to to have this in the collection of the Museum of Natural Sciences. Well well tell me about these teeth I understand that they're very rare because they come from a single shark. Correct. Right we have donated to the museum 20 teeth from the same giant shark that lived over 4 million years ago and there as you can see here about

five inches. Wow. And what's right here is that we have 25 all from the same shark. Now I understand that these were found a couple of years ago in a phosphate mine in a roar all by an amateur fossil hunter II. And how did your museum come about getting these teeth. Well Becky Hani the woman that found the teeth she is the field associate of the museum and she's been a fossil hunter for over 20 years and she really felt that these were important for the people of North Carolina at this. And so she arranged for them to come to the museum. And we're real grateful for that. In fact this is such a spectacular find that even the Smithsonian Institute wanted to get their hands on this. They were interested. But Becky Hani really wanted to keep them in North Carolina as did the museum and so we made arrangements for them to come to the museum and be displayed in the new museum that we're building right now.

Well you had talked a little bit about why these were so rare and it's the fact that you you find basically almost a full mouth full of teeth and they all came from the same shark. But looking at something like this this this large tooth. What do we know about the shark that it came from. Well the scientists the researches on staff tell us that the shark was probably 42 feet long that it weighed several tons that it was large enough to whales. So we because we have an associated set of teeth we can learn more about this giant shark which was the ancestor or the predecessor of our great white shark. And the mouth was something like six feet wide open seven feet six feet in it this is a feeling it is a very heavy tooth I mean when I picked it up I was surprised by the weight of this. But it's also very sharp and we have a little demonstration here I actually would be able

to where they are sharp in fact that they're right. If we do this right you can get. That's just the place. They are very sharp in fact when she was. Finding the cut her hand but she was so excited about the fact that that didn't matter and that's four million years old so that is still short for four million euro. Well once you have these teeth in your possession now but you're not certain if they're going to go on display in your current museum but you know for certain that they will be a key part of the new museum that's going to be opening up in 1999. That's right that's right we will display these T in the treasures of North Carolina Hall which is the introductory hall of the new the new museum we have a picture up on the screen right there and the introductory Hall is going to be in that round part of the well actually when you walk in the front door the rampart is off to the right. But we hope when you walk in the front door you'll see a lot of the

treasures of North Carolina including the sharks. You'll be able to see a variety of things like a giant. They are that we have in North Carolina all the way to a tiny tarantula that is found in the mountains of North Carolina. But when you see the shark's teeth we'll have an interactive display where you could go up and push a button and get somewhat of a hologram effect of how large the shark was. And that's just the introduction to the museum in the many exhibit halls that we all have in new facilities. So you'll basically be looking into the shark's mouth. Right it's just right away and then you press a button and then you'll see the rest of the show right we're going to try to do that with the new technology that museums have nails so that you can get a real sense of how giant this creature really was. Well of course the shark's teeth are fascinating and worth a visit to the museum in itself but you're also going to have some very other interesting exhibits there won't you just touch on a couple of them just to the right of the treasures will be the

marine gallery which is two stories and you will be able to go from the deepwater habitats off of North Carolina. Across the barrier island beaches to the salt marshes in that Marine hall and then you can take the escalator up to the second floor and come to the mountains to the sea exhibit and you'll be able to see the mountain sky with the waterfall going through trailing on down through the Piedmont in the coastal plain habitats of North Carolina. So and there will be a lot of hands on activities such as your fun in the arthropods zoo and you'll learn about all the many things and the different kinds of species that are in arthropod groups and all the way from the spatters to millipedes so that they'll be a lot of really exciting things for school children as well as families in this does to the museum to learn about North Carolina.

Well in an ounce great unfortunately we have to wait three years but it sounds like it's going to be worth the wait. Right it will be very much a showcase for North Carolina to really talk about the natural treasures that we have all across the state. In the many habitats that we have. All right wonderful Ms Bennett thank you for being here today. Well thank you it's math pleasure. This holiday weekend you may be looking for something interesting to do. Well Maria Lundberg found a

brand new art exhibit in Raleigh which introduces visitors to some of the state's best contemporary artists. What do Post-it notes Eminem's barbed wire and satin pillows have been common. They're just some of the materials used in creating works for the 1996 North Carolina artists exhibition currently on display at the North Carolina Museum of Art. For nearly 600 artists who submitted work for consideration 23 were selected to participate in the show. The exhibition includes 100 works in various media from paintings and photographs to this multimedia installation by Brett Ingram which uses film and video to explore social issues. Durham artist Jeffrey gall exhibits a procession of wheeled sculptures made from materials full of meaning in our everyday lives. His library font is a wood and metal basin lined with rows of books repositories for human thought connecting

threads run through this exhibition. One is the use of found objects by many of the artists. Austin Lowry recreates the house as a museum with items from flea markets and antique stores arranged in groups with common themes. Consumer products are also transformed into art in this show. What appears to be an ancient Egyptian palette of rich colors and textures takes a humorous turn as Martha bends in places in candies on a pedestal like her Arthur reef takes a common object and changes the way we view it. His choice. The Post-it note. There's something about it. That new novelty of using it and also that most people who aren't familiar with art are familiar with the material. So it's kind of you know it has a magic to it because people know exactly what it is more. If you transform something that people are very familiar with and it's something else that they're unfamiliar with and they get excited they see things in it and

a new way. So this exhibit is not unusual because of the many varied art forms that are represented. But what makes it really special is the fact that it celebrates the work of so many talented artists who all live right here in North Carolina. Artists like Harborough quilt maker Sherry Wood who uses provocative techniques incog and the love in her quilt called manna is a visual interpretation of a text from the Bible. There's Dot Cotton you see through here it's almost like a salt. There's a lot of advances and one thing that's nice is the stitching is done with strips of organza that are torn off it gives it a real soft little this man is about. And also the appetite that's why it's so full of things. Andrea Lech Berg of Durham focuses her work on superheroes in a pop art

style. I decided to work with oils to help kind of give an organic feel to the superhero images which traditionally are more graphic a little bit more hard and I was trying to soften it up by using the oils mixing it with a little bit of bronzer hotter in the middle a bit more texture to the paintings. I was also trying to create figures that were both masculine and feminine. Most comic book images are very masculine very machismo and I was trying to create those images kind of how I would like to see them and a little bit more of a balance with the feminine ideas. This is the second time Kimberly Russell has been included in this prestige as exhibit. Her pieces use materials like glass and satin to express emotions about marriage and relationships. With this idea of. To have to hold when you get married you are giving your heart to someone and they're giving it back to you. And there's a sense of trust that it's almost a physical kind of

giving and taking. And that when you're not in that situation you might be saving yourself again waiting putting those hopes those dreams your heart up on the shelf. Very often people will remember my pieces because there's striking in their imagery. And I think that's important because then that image lives on in the memory and the pieces with them so that they can use these issues for themselves. The works in this exhibition are reflection of our changing society and an opportunity to explore new avenues an art museum director Lawrence Wheeler visitors to the exhibit will gain a lot from the experience you'll find in each of these little rooms which are devoted to individual artists you'll find you'll find messages you'll find their interpretation of some part of the lives we lead in the contemporary world which is what is the mission of the

artist who today sing anyway. So a lot of powerful messages assembled in this music for the course of this exhibition. The North Carolina artist exhibit will be on display at the North Carolina Museum of Art through September 1st. The museum is located at 21 10 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. Hours are from 9:00 to 5:00 on Tuesday through Saturday from 9 to 9 on Friday and Sunday from 11 to 6 Admission is free. And for more information call 9 1 9 8 3 9 6 2 6 2. That's all we have time for tonight have a great weekend. We'll see you from Charlotte on Monday. Goodnight everyone.