North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 06/16/1997

It's Monday June 16th. Tonight a bid to the coastal town of Southport in North Carolina now. Good evening everyone I'm Marina mature I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. Thanks for joining us as we start a new week of North Carolina now. As you settle into

your work week we have a couple of recreational ideas for you on this evening's program that will get you thinking about your plans for next weekend. First of all golf we'll meet the author of a book called The Soul of golf which explores why golf is so much more than a sport to the people who play it. Also if you're planning a trip out to Southport Bob Garner will take us there. But up first tonight financial concerns surrounding a unique educational institution for 93 years the Lawrenceburg Institute has carried out its mission of educating African-Americans as well as other ethnic groups. But the Scotland county schools fallen on hard financial times and needs assistance to keep afloat. Michel Louis takes us to Lauren Burk to find out more about the history as well as the hardships of the Institute which is considered the last black owned and operated private preparatory boarding school in the country. They all back you know I know you read that and yet I am right here. You should meet for more back

as these students at a Lauren Berg Institute are going through the process of problem solving in chemistry class in the school itself is trying to solve a financial equation to stay open. For most being in a classroom with missing floor tiles and waste baskets lined up to catch water from a leaky roof could be quite distracting. But many of the Lawrenceburg Institute look at the situation with the eye of the tiger. The school's mascot which represents the institute's tenacity for survival. That trait holds true now more than ever before because the Lawrenceburg Institute is the last black owned and operated private preparatory school in the United States. The challenges have been part of the Lawrenceburg Institute's curriculum since the manual Monte and tiny McDuffie left Alabama in 1994 at the request of prominent black educator Booker T Washington. He wanted them to start a school for blacks in the Tar Heel State. Frank Bishop McDuffie the grandson of the

school's founders who now serves as the institute's president talks about the struggles his grandparents faced. Just to get to North Carolina. Five day journey they walked for a while and rode on the back of a wagon. You know when you put it into context black folks moving around in the Deep South was a very dangerous proposition. But in one thousand all four September the 15th they arrived in law in Bergen off Carolina. There was nothing. They existed not so with the last 75 since they had their pocket. They decided that they would start an open school. Emanuel McDuffie decided to approach Scotland county's ex Confederate captain Billy McLaurin for help. McClaren sold the McDuffie is this area of swamp land. According to Bishop McDuffie his grandparents got trees from the swamp land and constructed a building. From there the McDuffie start people of color from southeast North Carolina and parts of South Carolina free for 50 years.

The first classes that were told here Lauren bird will class isn't. Believe it or not copper tree brick masonry all the things that we needed to build a campus. Then once the campus was built then they could go back to teaching reading writing and arithmetic. The things that would make people competitive the Lawrenceburg Institute became a magnet for students. One of the school's most famous alum came from to raw South Carolina Dizzy Gillespie. He came here because he wanted to be on the football team. My aunt had trained herself a Julian School of Music in New York City was well trained 1030 so dizzy was too small to play football but he was so mean they couldn't get the football Quitman away from him. So they had to let him be on a football team. But she saw in him. So music talent. So a night he didn't want to appear to be soft. So at night time he will slip up the back steps and she taught him theory and harmony.

The Lawrenceburg Institute hit a major hurdle in 1954 after the Brown versus the Board of Education case in which the Supreme Court ordered equal opportunity for blacks in public schools. Dr. Frank McDuffie Bishop's father was then president of the Institute of Education officials felt instead of building a new public school for blacks that the senior McDuffie should get control of the Institute through the public sector. He refused. So all within a six week period inspectors came from Raleigh wherever they came from and decided that the property was condemned. A father mother and rest of my family members and the students got together and made a decision that they were going try to keep a school going. And that decision evolved itself into the building of a new campus. But it was so simplistic that literally they took the bricks off of the whole campus took the buildings apart handed the bricks to students and rock them across this area here and came and put them

down and formed his new campus which is this today. But now the campus is in dire need of repairs estimated at 5 million dollars. There is also the challenge of keeping teachers because the institute can't match salaries with public schools the school was on the verge of closing right before Christmas of 1996 because it didn't have the money to pay staff but help came through a person who saw an HBO special called rebound. A story about Earl Mann a gold alarm Berg Institute grad who now runs a popular street basketball tournament in Harlem. A call out I got to meet him and know him I said oh I need some money to close and I need some help. Well Martin made some phone calls and $10000 AP and we were able to close our school for that close of last year and to be in a position to reopen in January and I just simply want to say thanks how martens for for the help and for all of the Al Martins that have come to the rescue.

Lauren for us too despite the obstacles facing Lauren Berg Institute since 1954 83 percent of its grants have received a college degree. Most of the students there believe regardless of the environment education is the major thrust at the Institute announced that it does the gravity get on and find to people about my son in a good mood. They were little but basically they do. They do give us your roots and go on to the next grade. You know your future. When I was over the high school I have to admit one day when I was now at the point you know I mean you know I'm doing a lot better in my class the Lawrenceburg Institute is also preparing students to lead as well as learn the school has a president's council which along with the student body helps find solutions to problems they may face on campus. Not all of the events at the institute or academic athletics also play an important role. Members of the basketball team meet with their coach prior to class. And these students are

learning some of the finer points of golf. But when it comes to the serious competition that will determine the Lawrenceburg Institute's financial aid. He is the consummate optimist. I'm facing some challenges and I need help I need financial help. But the challenges I'm facing the nothing that the challenges that these giants who showed as I'm standing alone today face so I think we can overcome our struggles but I think the Lord gives a struggle to give us strength. So I look forward to the struggle. Think Duffy says the Lauren Berg Institute can benefit from equipment such as computers or people who can volunteer their time. In addition a movie script is being written about the institute that may be directed by Spike Lee. Donations can be sent to Lauren Berg Institute at Post Office Box seventeen eighty seven Lauren Burk North Carolina 2 8 3 5 2. Or you can call the institute at 9 1 0 2 7 6 0 6 8 for the North Carolina

Community Foundation in Raleigh is also accepting donations for the Institute. That number is 9 1 9 8 2 8 4 3 8 7. Well still ahead why are so many Americans addicted to golf will pose that question to the author of a book on the subject. Right now though we turn to Robin Miniato who is filling in for Michel Louis at the North Carolina now news desk. Good evening Robin. Thanks Marina. Good evening everyone. Topping our news local communities are holding hearings on state water quality management plans. Residents living near river basins across the state are conducting public meetings to discuss ways to protect local waterways. The community is a husky and Elizabeth City met today and others are expected to follow. State officials are developing management plans for all of North Carolina's river basins. Homeowners along the North Carolina coast may be in for a major insurance rate increases this year. A Wilmington State Farm insurance agent says every company's rates will likely rise influence influencing the decision

of the seven hurricanes predicted for 1997 coupled with the amount of damage sustained last year from hurricanes Fran and Bertha. By comparison rates in Florida have increased by an average of 88 percent since Hurricane Andrew ripped through that state in 1992. The North Carolina rape bureau has not yet posed an increase. State Representative Richard Morgan says he's had enough of high pressure lobbying tactics. The leader of the House Rules Committee is sponsoring legislation that would make it a felony to economically threaten a person in an attempt to influence legislation. Morgan's lobbyist reform bill comes on the heels of a measure he authored calling for stricter regulations on a new large scale hog farms. Morgan says he's been under pressure from the pork industry lobbyist. A North Carolina congressman is getting a hand from a top Republican U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is in Greenville tonight. Gingrich is helping kick off the re-election campaign. A fellow Republican Congressman Walter Jones

Jones is campaigning to represent North Carolina's third district for a third term. It's the same seat once held by his father. A University of North Carolina researcher believes he's about to make a breakthrough in genetic science. Jude small ski is experimenting with a new method of using gene therapy to cure a disease. The head of U.N. sees gene therapy center says he's seeing success and hemophilia research where restructure genes are injected into the muscles of a dog. If successful the research may mean possible cures for human genetic related diseases like sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis similar studies are under way at the University of Pennsylvania. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather. Eighty degree temperatures will spread across most of the state should stay in the upper 70s. While some coastal areas will approach 90 partly cloudy skies are on tap across North Carolina. There's a chance of showers and possible thunderstorms everywhere for Tuesday. In today's business news the president of Hardy's is stepping down. Stephen

McManus says he'll leave his post as president and CEO of the Rocky Mountain based fast food chain next month. Two months ago a California restaurant group acquired the chain McManus says he was offered the opportunity to continue as hearty CEO. But he says this is the right time to leave. McManus has been Harty CEO since September 1995. He began working for the company as a restaurant manager and 970 legislators may change some rules regarding automatic teller machine charges a measure under consideration would not allow banks to charge customers twice for the same transaction when using a machine that doesn't belong to their bank. Bank officials say such a rule would give customers something for nothing. North Carolina has some of the highest teller machine sure surcharges in the country. Nationwide banks pulled in more than 15 billion dollars from fees in 1995. Much of it from bank teller machines. Two North Carolina economist have two very different opinions on the financial benefits of Major League Baseball team would bring to

the triad John connoted an economist at the University of North Carolina Charlotte estimates that a major league team would add one hundred and forty million dollars to the area's economy in its first year. He also says that a team would create over 3000 jobs. But economist Michael Walden of North Carolina State University says those numbers are greatly exaggerated. He believes the team would only boost the economy by about thirty five million dollars a year. Now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. If you love golf if you're obsessed by golf as many North

Carolinians are doing if you're simply curious about the fascination with the sport then you'll be interested in a new book it's called the Soul of golf. In it the author sets out to dissect a vast metaphor that is golf. And joining me now is author William Hallberg. Mr. Hubbard Welcome to North Carolina now. It's nice to be here. So tell me about the format of this book you basically won a big gulf road trip during a big gulf road trip just about describes it. I started it with the intention of just playing golf with regular folks like me and discovering something about why they all played the game and I guess in the process of traveling coast to coast and back again I perhaps discovered more about why I play the game and maybe why they did so. It was an interesting outcome. Were you able to discover the fascination that America has with golf. I discovered that America is totally fascinated with golf and it varies from person to person. One of the things I discovered is that people use it as a means of. Healing themselves sometimes when they're recovering from some traumatic

situation in their own lives or for instance if there was an old gentleman who was just about to be ensconced in a graduated care facility and his father was breaking it to him here at the golf course because he thought it would be a pleasant sort of introduction to the subject. I played with some homeless men at a V.A. hospital in California in Los Angeles and they had never played golf before in their lives but they had been out there in the hot sun for two days doing nothing but playing golf and absolutely loving it although they had the club gripped backward and they had no clue as to terminology or right. But they they looked at each other in the midst of our game and Dave one of the two said to the other you know where do you think we would be if we had discovered golf when we came back from Vietnam. You know in 71 probably in a different place I think. That seemed to be the thrust of

what they were saying to me. So it was a very revelatory stop along the way I thought. I must admit that I happen to be one of those people that just doesn't get it that if you don't I'm probably going to get thrown out of North Carolina for admitting that I don't know you I don't live agent you know there are 8 billion people on this earth and probably only about five hundred thousand of them played or 500 million of them play golf so you're in the vast majority but the people who play golf are obsessed with you know I think it's not just a sport. I think they are. And I had to think about what that meant as I traveled around and one of the things that I concluded is just the very process of walking even if it's to it from an electric cart which is a sad compromise these days but just the process of walking from cart to bar or if you're lucky you can carry your clubs up the fairway or pull a trolley behind you. Just the process of moving through nature Twain called it a good walk spoiled but I think that's kind of a bitter interpretation of the sport I think it's a good rock. Anyway

you. Sometimes a crooked walk or sit for a few of us are good walking over the last. The title of your book The Soul of golf lends itself to the spirituality that's contained in it and you have a couple of different examples and one I found interesting was an encounter with the ghost of a goddess side of your view that's sort of a metaphorical interpretation of what really occurred but I went back there because I missed him I missed my friend David Earle who died suddenly at age 45 and on a golf trip of all things in Paris in France. And the last time I had seen him was at Lynn Ville Ridge a golf course up in the mountains he had flown down from New York and I had gone round with him and we had a wonderful golf orgy of sorts. And when he died I missed him and I went back to the club where we had last played as part of this odyssey. And I didn't exactly see him or didn't have any. Extremely unusual

psychic experience except that I could just feel him there and a lot of the emblems of the initial experience reminded me intensely of him and it was very fulfilling for me to go back in and retrace our steps together and look at some of the same things that we cood an OT about when we were together that time. A few years back you set out on this trip and doing this book to find the answers about why golf is such a fascination does not come up. I wanted my own so I mean I would like to say that I found all the answers that I was looking for and in a curious way all the answers were kind of turned inward. And I discovered more about what golf means to me because I had sort of abandoned it for a few years and and sort of rediscovered it as an excuse to take this trip around America and play the game. And I realized that I'm very very happy on the golf course and some of the concerns of you know my mother hung on while I was on this trip because I'm

afraid she didn't want to disrupt my adventure and she just hung on and hung on and died almost immediately upon my return. And I was thinking about her and I have a sister who is very very ill. You know almost in the same shape that my mother was in. And you know on one hand I felt kind of strange being out there having fun and hitting a golf ball and seeing the sights of America and. Thinking about her on the other. On the other hand but I know she was glad that I was there doing it. It made me feel good. It sort of let me escape some of those worries and concerns. Hallberg thank you very much I was led to the name of the author of the soul of golf and it offers an interesting perspective. Thanks very much for having me on your show. Thank you sir. So you know. At

the mouth of the Cape Fear River south of Wilmington is a quaint little town tailor made to be explored on foot. It's Southport where Bob Gardner takes us for a visit. Southport has spent most of its 200 year history as a sleepy little village. Now it's grown some and has moved up to unhurried even with the increase population only still have a relatively slow pace. Our street still wander off in all directions and we just don't push things too much. Novelist and newspaper man Robert Rue arks spent much of his boyhood here and his novel The old man and the boy is based on the time he spent with his grandfather in Southport the Victorian style Rue are callus was a focal point of the 1986 film crimes of the heart which was filmed almost entirely on location here during the Civil War blockade runners like the daring Thomas Mann Thompson were based in what is now south port but the village have a different name until 1887. As local historian

SUSAN CARSON points out in the book she wrote about her hometown and the original name was Smith. They'll send in a little bit small for their ambitious plans were to have a railroad company and this become the port of the South. But although the name was changed to Southport the plans for rapid growth never materialized and Southport became basically a destination for excursion boats from Wilmington traveling down the Cape Fear River with overnight travelers enjoying places like the old Brunswick in. There are several islands just off shore from Southport the lighthouse of Oak Island is clearly visible from the town's waterfront. While Bald Head Island lies further El Southport is the terminal for the Bald Head Island Ferry. The only means of public transportation to and from the popular vacation destination which allows no auto traffic Hurricane Hazel wreaked havoc in 1054 and in 1906 Hurricane Bertha destroyed a large cedar tree around which was built a

popular gathering spot. The quibblers bench because the man of the dead the Benedicto Are you an acquittal. They mostly will. One time they whittled so much they had to replace the base and yet the idea of what they mean by slow paced around here Southport is best enjoyed at a stroll. Whether you come for the fresh seafood or to enjoy the restored downtown area with its heavy emphasis on antiques. You also want to be sure to include a visit to the town's fine Maritime Museum with its collection of artifacts and mementos of the town seagoing heritage just don't come to Southport in too much of a hurry to do anything. You could reach Southport from Highway 17 south of Wilmington by taking either Highway 87 or route to 11. Well a special ceremony is being held this evening down at the legislature University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball coach Dean Smith and the Carolina basketball program are being honored with a joint

resolution during this evening's Senate session. The resolution is sponsored by Sen. Tony Rand of Cumberland County and honor Smith for becoming the winningest coach in college basketball history. And that brings to a close tonight's edition of North Carolina now. Hope you enjoy it. A place like Lance to be with us tomorrow when the North Carolina science teacher of the year will be our guest. Also tomorrow night a look at how our changing economy has devastated a once vital industry in Rocky Mount. And as our state's cultural makeup becomes more and more diverse we'll profile a man who is working to bridge the communication gap. That's all coming up tomorrow so please make plans to join us then. Good night everyone.