North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 11/14/1994

The Tonight North Carolinian has made it big in the way you set your mind to it. Nothing is impossible. Happy Monday to you everyone I'm with your kids Ben and I married a hard charge glad to have you with us this evening. Well tonight Billy Barnes has a wonderful report worth about a teacher who greatly influenced his life. Now this is National

Education Week this week and this is our salute to all the teachers who helped us along the way. That's right our newsmaker tonight is Todd Cohen editor of the North Carolina Philanthropy Journal Now this is a wonderful piece of literature and one of its kind in the country so stay tuned for this interview but first we begin a brand new series tonight. All this week reporter Maria Lundberg videographer William Evans and sound technician Mike Mills dead well bring us a series of stories on North Carolinians who have become successful in New York City. Maria begins the series tonight with a look at three talented performers who have made it big in the Big Apple. You point out one of the greatest achievements possible is performing in a Broadway play. Imagine looking up at a marquee and knowing that you are part of that cast some very talented North Carolinians know just exactly how that feel.

Right. Every night actor Terrence Mann takes the stage as the lead in one of the hottest musicals on Broadway. Beauty And The Beast. His sensitive portrayal mesmerizes audiences who are touched by the depth of emotion that man conveys in this role. One which earned him a Tony Award nomination long before this role man got his start in North Carolina Performing in the outdoor drama the last colony. We're going to last call 2006 theater you know outdoors every night. You know you do six shows six shows a week and yeah it prepares you for a lot of things over the past 12 years. His talent has taken him in many directions from film roles including the movie A Chorus Line to the daytime drama another world. But his biggest success has come on stage with leading roles in many Broadway

musicals. Terence Mann says his North Carolina training keeps him grounded. Working in North Carolina training in North Carolina going to school in North Carolina meeting all the people that I met in North Carolina who have been a profound effect on my on my career my life. Have they have certainly made me understand that. You know I put my pants on one leg at a time like everybody else. Keep your ego in check. It really does. You know because you can get caught up in this thing you know you can get caught up in being. Being a star whatever that means. As artistic director of the North Carolina theater man continues his association with the state where his career began. So with all the success. What's his best accomplishment. I guess I'm proudest of the fact that I stated

you know that they keep dragging me out of the closet they come to this show come to this. I guess that's what it is you know. Just a few blocks away is Terry Mansell long time friend from the lost colony. Betsy Friday after graduating from the School of the arts Betsy moved to New York. She credits much of her success to her early training by a very special director. When I went to the last colony and I met a man named Joe late and I knew I mentioned Joe to you all of a sudden the theater became alive for me. And he had such a sense of humor about what he did and was and wanted you to have as many parts of your personality explored not just one that there was no turning back after that Betsy landed roles in the Broadway plays. She loves me and the Secret Garden. She says her North Carolina roots have helped her to succeed.

It's a profession built on rejection so you have to face that so often you have to know how to separate that from who you are and over the years it builds up so you need that foundation. Recently Betsy Friday moved into the producing side of the business. I started a company a year and a half called whistlin Dixie which I thought was very appropriate given my roots and it's for the occasional theatrical investment as the formal title. So it's business but it's fun and we've been really lucky so far we came in with Tommy this year. And you know there can be four productions of it around the world and we're really pleased to be a part of it. Following in the footsteps of Terrence Mann and Betsy Friday is another North Carolina School of the arts graduate. She's an up and coming success story making her mark here at the NBC studios in Brooklyn. Let's take a look. Not long ago Clayton resident Cassandra Creech graduated from college ready to pursue a career in the Big Apple. Two years later she's a

regular on the soap opera another world. There's not a day that goes by when I walk on the set and I I'm in complete complete awe. Because you you know you have dreams and then when it's when it's there. I can't believe it now. I can't believe it because Sandra took me on a backstage tour of the studio showing me some of the sets like the home of tomatoes and Angela and Evan frame's office. He's the bad guy in town. Time for a quick peek in the makeup room to see Robin Christopher getting made up and a brief visit to Stanley. The show's hairdresser then off to watch a rehearsal and progress for Casandra a great place to learn from you.

I'm learning something every day. It's whenever I'm done with a scene I'll just go to an exit if I'm not in and I'll just sit and watch. You know I learned from watching and you know this is. This is what I've always wanted. You know this is so any opportunity that I can absorb something I'm there. I'm like a sponge. This is where I thrive. You know when I am here it goes to show that I Nothing's impossible. Nothing if you set your mind to it nothing is impossible. Well Cassandra told Maria she feels a great debt to North Carolina and hopes to perform here again. Betsy Friday is currently working as associate producer for an Australian production of The Secret Garden and will co-produced. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. But she continues to work with the school of the arts and the lost colony and comes home often to visit her family. Her dad is public television's own bill Friday. Terence mans involvement with the North Carolina theater remains well have the good fortune to see his work

again in our stay. He plans to direct a production of My Fair Lady in Raleigh next February. Now tomorrow night Maria continues her series with a look at two talented artists who work behind the scenes on Broadway. William Ivey Long and David Lawrence and I was given the great fortune of meeting William Ivey Long and I think you're really going to enjoy it and Ray has done a great job with this series. Looking forward to the entire thing. Well the week of November 13th is National Education Week and thinking back to our own school days each of us probably owes a debt to a teacher who brought out the best in us. Right now TONIGHT producer Billy Bonds walks down memory lane to Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem and remembers a special lady all through school I was the class shrimp for reasons never revealed to me my mother started me in first grade when I was four. That gave me a head start chronologically but it was a dubious advantage for 12 years I was the smallest most immature kid on the playground when the class bully felt like it but

you never picked on a big tough guy. He grabbed me when I tried high school football I was used for a tackling dummy during practice. Then consigned to the bench during games when my classmates started driving cars I was only 14 so I had to double date or suffer the embarrassment of using a bus to get me and my date to the movies. High school teachers understandably treated me with disdain to compensate for being a shrimp. I made myself a loud mouth show off then into my life strode Mrs Detmold. Catherine Detmold was a small sharp featured 30 something woman who directed the school chorus. Her singers included star football players and even a couple of girls who were cheerleaders. Forty two years ago in the same chorus room Mrs. Detmold took me to her heart. My own changed voice had the range of a Westminster choir boy and the added richness of a set of pipes teetering on the edge

of masculine maturity. This is bit more taught me to sing in what she called covered and made me sound less like a braying calf and more like someone with a little voice training. She repeatedly told me that I sounded just like one of her great musical idols the fabled opera star John Charles Thomas. She said this in front of the football players and this is Detmold gave me a choice solo parts no longer mattered that I would never wear a varsity letter jacket with a little gold football sewn onto its left pocket. When our chorus sang in assembly at graduation and at public concerts I was the star. I had found a niche where I could be a show off and be rewarded with instant fame class class credit beneath her enthusiasm for music.

This is that more would carry a burden of melancholy early in that wartime decade she had fallen passionately in love with the Royal Canadian Air Force pilot a few months after their wedding his plane was shot down in flames by the Luftwaffe. Every time Mrs Detmold course the program included what has to be the saddest song ever written and ever French war team called Madame Jeannette about a lady who sits at her window watching for her husband to return from the war. I graduated and moved on. Happy to enter an adult world where a couple of years younger or older is no big deal. Miss is dead mon didn't live to a ripe old age. Did she die of a broken heart. Still sitting at her window. I don't know but Mrs Detmold if you're up there listening I'm still trying to sing in those covered tones. And this one's for you. Madam

Jeanette. When the sun goes down. See her. Why those terrific young singers were members of the Reynolds High School choral ensemble and the missus Detmold is gone. Her legacy continues under the leadership of the group's director Terry Hicks. Teachers are very special and very special. Well in just a moment Michel Louis will be here with a summary of the day's top news stories from around the state. And later in the show I'll have a

conversation with Todd Cohen of The Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina. Don't go away. I'm Michel Louis. Here's a review of what's making news around North Carolina. North Carolina's Republican lawmakers have begun to plan who will take on House leadership roles in the next session of the General Assembly. About 55 Republicans who will be serving in the state house met in Greensboro this weekend. No official business was conducted but the get together gave lawmakers a chance to express their interest in various leadership positions. Representative Michael

Decker of Forsyth County who earlier indicated he would run for speaker of the House announced he was withdrawing his name. That leaves Representatives Harold Rue Baker of Randolph County and Robert Brawley of Iowa Hill County in the race for speaker. Leo Daughtry of Johnston County who had contemplated making a bid for that post has now decided to back brew Baker at least for candidates for speaker pro-tem emerged at the Saturday session to Risa Esposito of Forsyth County Steve Wood of Guilford County Connie Wilson of Mecklenburg County and Carolyn Russell of Wayne County. The post of GOP whip has attracted at least five candidates both wood and Decker are interested as are Robin Hayes of Cabarrus County Gene Arnold of Nash County and John Nichols of Craven County. Even though the State House will now be under GOP control there is still some life left and plans begun by Democrats to implement some sort of state health care reform measure. Governor Jim Hunt and Republicans who will be leading the House have indicated that efforts at health care reform will be considered when the legislature convenes in January.

Democratic Governor Jim Hunt told the state health Planning Commission that it must move forward with plans to improve access to medical care and provide affordable insurance for people. GOP Representative Leo Daughtry says Republicans won't reject health care proposals out right. But he says he's not certain how much the state will house rather will be able to do it one time passage of any kind of state health care reform measure depends on support from the Republicans who now control the state house and hold 24 of the Senate's 50 seats. The Republican takeover in the US House of Representatives is forcing Congressman Charlie Rose to change his plans. Rose had planned to run for speaker of the house but now with the GOP in charge Rose has set his sights on becoming the new House minority leader Congressman Dick Gephardt of Missouri is considered a favorite for that post. But Rowles believes that he would get along better with the new speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia then get book Gephardt rather would Rose also says the new GOP clout will force the Democratic Party to take a step

toward the political right if it wants to survive the 7th District Democrat from North Carolina believes he has the best possible leader to move the party in that direction. Several Atlantic Coast Conference coaches are backing an effort to ban beer ads from televised games. The A.S.C. coaches led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball coach Dean Smith believes the ideals of their athletic programs clash with their sponsorship of their games. School administrators at NC State Duke's Mike chefs and Florida State's Bobby Bowden have also come out against airing beer commercials during televised games. A CC Assistant Commissioner Tom ical says the loss of beer ads would cost the league's nine schools as much as six hundred fifty thousand dollars per year. President of the North Carolina beer and wine wholesalers appreciate Dean Smith's opinions but sense he disagrees. Christopher Laurie says the industry is a strong promoter of responsible drinking. The ACS athletic directors are expected to discuss this matter at next month's meeting.

Today it was mostly sunny across North Carolina highs when the 70s almost everywhere. Tonight skies will be partly cloudy statewide. Temperatures will get down into the upper 30s and low 40s in the mountains the Piedmont should see mid 40s and along the coast it'll be in the 50s. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy in the mountains where highs will be in the upper 60s. The actual area may see some rain. The rest of the state will see partly to mostly cloudy skies with highs in the 70s. Georgia-Pacific corporation and the Nature Conservancy have agreed upon a new management plan for twenty one thousand acres of prime timber land in eastern North Carolina. The plan offers environmental protection combined with economic benefits for the acreage along the lower Roanoke River Georgia-Pacific will manage the land with the Nature Conservancy helping the company to protect the environment. The deal involves seven

tracts of land and no logging at all will be done on two of the tracks. The area is a wild turkey habitat spawning ground for striped bass and a breeding ground for rare birds. The stock market pushed higher today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 28 points to close at thirty eight twenty nine point seventy three gainers lead decliners by six to five as about 261 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Standard Poor's 500 index was up over three and a half points while the Nasdaq composite index climbed over six points. And now for some stocks of North Carolina interest. The Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina is a little more than a year old now this unique publication

was started in September of 1993 by the News and Observer foundation as a way to open lines of communication between non-profits organizations foundations volunteers and fundraisers. Our guest this evening is Todd Cohen editor and publisher of The Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina and Todd really nice to have you with us this evening. Thank you. Nice to be here. Tell me about this journal Now some folks may not be too familiar with it I mean you may pick up one here and there but tell me how this all began it was your brainchild I understand. Well yes I was the business editor of The News and Observer in Raleigh and several years ago three and a half years ago I started writing a column every Sunday in our business section about philanthropy about nonprofits and foundations corporate giving volunteerism and fundraising. I realized immediately that this was an area that the media generally did not cover very well and that there was really no way that I could do justice to it. Doing it part time. As business editor I was writing the column pretty much on my lunch break. And there were so there is such

a large nonprofit community in North Carolina that I went and put suggested to our publisher Frank Daniels Jr. that we consider publishing a newspaper covering basically the same subjects for the entire state. And that's exactly what we ended up doing the News and Observer publishing company supports a five to one C3 Foundation which is called The News Observer Foundation and the foundation actually publishes The Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina. So we are a nonprofit publication. And I understand this is kind of a unique publication that it's one of its kind in the country is that yes North Carolina is the only state that has a newspaper like this that is devoted to coverage of the nonprofit sector. Wow. Well Tom tell me about charities now I mean they were going through a lot of changes now changing times and a lot of skepticism. How is how is it looking for charities right now as far as the nationally and here in North Carolina. Well the nonprofit sector is a huge part of the United States economy. It represents an estimated 6 percent of our economy. There are just tens of

thousands of people who volunteer and work for us professionals for nonprofits and foundations and certainly the business world is involved in philanthropy through corporate giving. A recent study showed however that giving and volunteerism generally are down in the United States. That's probably the result of a number of factors not least of which is concern simply concern about the future and about what the economy may bring. So people tend to give a little less and volunteer a little more. But there is a great deal of philanthropy in the United States in the southeast and in North Carolina. I guess if you don't I mean if you don't have the dollars in your pocket you can't give to another charity if you don't have it at home right. Well that's that's very true there's also a great deal of competition these days for fund raising. Part of the nonprofit sector that's also a function of the fact that there are a lot of nonprofits that are out there trying to do things to improve their communities.

In the southeast for example there's a recent study that shows that the southeast that philanthropy in the Southeast has grown at a much more rapid rate than that of the rest of the you know philanthropy of the rest of the United States. In recent years and in North Carolina in particular particularly the nonprofit sector is very large the Philanthropy Journal in fact recently reviewed tax return data for non-profits in the state and we found that there are thirteen thousand five hundred nonprofit organizations with assets of 18 billion dollars. That's roughly the equivalent of 12 percent of our state's economy. What are some of the challenges then that are faced. Is it is it a matter of showing the public that we are a trustworthy organization for you to give your dollars to. I mean is that one of the biggest challenges of a charitable certainly there have been scandals in recent years about involving the nonprofit sector and that I think has created a lot of questions in the mind of the public which is being asked to support nonprofit organizations but generally

speaking the nonprofit sector is an essential part of our society and of our economy in every community. There are people who I refer to as unsung heroes who simply get the work done in that community who are involved in trying to make a profit and aren't involved in trying to amass political power but they're just simply there to make their communities better places to live and work. There are certainly challenges for the nonprofit sector. Many of the people in the sector are looking to improve their basic skills at running organizations in managing organizations in a businesslike way. There are many challenges and for the sector in terms of working as a closer partner with business and with government and increasingly we're finding that that is what's happening in communities throughout North Carolina. It's really becoming a powerful tool isn't it. It certainly is it's an extremely important part of our society and it involves tens of thousands of people. And just quickly we have a little bit of time left Todd but where do you see the future going then is it. Is it that it is that philanthropy will gain so much more control now it has so much more power

now is that how you think increasingly people in government and people in business and people in the nonprofit sector realize that no one alone can solve the problems that we have. The challenge is how can all of these different groups of people whether they're in government in the public schools and universities in business or in the nonprofit sector do a better job of working together to collectively attack the problems that we have which are quite serious. Well we'll look forward to some of these challenges and perhaps the answers in the philanthropy Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina and Todd Cohen thank you so much for joining us this evening. Well thank you it's been a pleasure to be here. We want to keep in touch with you so simply call our viewer comment line at 9 1 9 5 4 9 7 8 0 8 or write us at P.O. Box 1 4 9 0 0 RTP NC 2 7 7 0 9. You can fax a message to 9 1 9 5 4 9 7 0 4 3.

Or try our Internet address UN 0 0 0 0 dot com and please give us a daytime phone number in case we need to follow up on the first ever state wide philanthropy conference held last month was a huge success the next conference will be held in May of 95 now if you would like a copy of the Philanthropy Journal or would like more information call 9 1 9 8 2 9 8 9 9 1. Now please be sure to join us tomorrow night on our show we'll continue maría series on New York's success stories. This time she'll profile two North Carolina natives who helped create the magic of Broadway and Bob Garner visited with Hugh Webster and Caswell Carey He's the new state senator who defeated longtime incumbent George Daniel chairman of Senate Appropriations Senator Webster will share his thoughts on the legislative future with us and author Jim Grimsley will join us to talk about winter birds his critically acclaimed book about growing up with an abusive parent. Now the book was published in Europe a number of years ago but was until recently cont'd it too graphic to be released in the United States but until then it's often now I want you Bailey And

I'm Mary Lou Hi Char. Good Night Everyone we'll see you tomorrow.