The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 19

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER 4C FRIDAY MARCH 14 1997 WCNC newscaster Chris Clackum quits Ste53E? (M utenfla fferM) cause of short staffing he also agreed to do general news assignments a situation that did not change as Channel 36 added personnel over a year I was the only male news anchor they said Clackum did that plus the news stories It was exhausting because the station was trying to do more with less against competitors with better Sources at Channel 36 said that since Dallas-based Belo Corp announced it would acquire WCNC and the actual sale in February the atmosphere has been tense Worse WCNC a perennial third-place finisher in news ratings fell even further behind in the February sweeps around Clackum said he instead suggested reporting on whether people in the community were doing Race Day lunches The suggestion was OKd but not before other heated words were exchanged over the nature of assignments Shortly afterward he said he met with Meredith who told Clackum to go home said I really wanted to do the story He said going and I said that case out of here Other issues were involved Clackum was hired by WCNC three years ago as a co-anchor after a long career at WBTV Be our policy not to discuss Meredith said According to Clackum and sources at the NBC affiliate who did not wish to be named the dispute erupted over a Race Day promotion Race Day was suggested last week by Charlotte businessman Joe Martin as a way to promote harmony The goal is to have lunch every Thursday with someone of a racial or ethnic group different from your own WCNC decided it would host such a luncheon Thursday Then according to Clackum his supervisor asked him to do a story on it comfortable with said Clackum was not a real news event it was something the station had just orchestrated By KAY McFADDEN TVIRadio Writer Veteran TV journalist Chris Clackum resigned from WCNC-TV Thursday saying he objected to request to cover a story promoting the participation in is the second major exit from Channel 36 in just over a week On March 5 news anchor Val Holley-Dennis abruptly quit citing family reasons Both departures have taken place from a station struggling desperately in news ratings and under the scrutiny of new owners Thursday neither news director Lee Meredith nor station general manager John Llewellyn would comment on decision is a personnel matter and it is When you advertise in The Charlotte Observer Classifieds you advertise in one of the top 50 newspapers in the United States 717000 potential adult customers read a weekday Charlotte Observer this past week and 857000 read a Sunday Observer this past month Get bonus coverage when you order Sunday ads Source 1 992 KPC Research Study Personality Plus: Except for employment ads the Sunday Observer's line ads also publish in Personality Plus a standard-sized section delivered to nonsubscribers in Mecklenburg County Classified display ads from that day or any day of the previous week can be picked up into Personality Plus for 25 cents per line TO ORDER A CLASSIFIED AD CALL 377-5555 Or Toll-Free: 1-800-532-5348 FAX 704-358-5340 600 Tryon St Charlotte NC 28202 uszJhPSi Pay for your classified ad by cash or check or use MasterCard Visa or Discover Have your card number ready when you call TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 358-6000 Or Toll-Free-1-800-532-5350 OTTgrmnvfii: 1 Word your ad using up to 28 characters (letters numbers punctuation marks and spaces) per line Lines may vary depending upon wording 2 Avoid uncommon confusing or misleading abbreviations 3 Include all vital information and key selling points Geraldine Powe (center) introduces John Kiser (left) to Joe Martin on Thursday at McDonald's Cafeteria in Charlotte Powe was inspired by challenge and invited Kiser to join her and her friends for lunch Response slow to lunchtime exercise These rates are for Carolinas advertisers buying non-contract line ads For display contract and non-Carolinas rates call us NOTE: Some classifications must be paid in advance Person-To-Person Rates For families and individuals selling personally owned merchandise May NOT be used to advertise Garage Sales Pets Real Estate Employment Services Offered Auctions Autos RVs Motorcycles Boats and Trailers RACE DAY Continued from page 1C son and Denise Benson who are black lunched with Bill Miller white The frequent lunch partners all work at First Union know anything about this Race Miller said having lunch with them because nice people and we happen to like each Said Benson: feel sad that people have to make an official effort to go to lunch with someone different from themselves We should all just be friends and like to be Loretta Howze and Becky Gal- Items totaling less than $250 Minimum 2 lines No rebates No substitutions Non-Contract Rates (3 line 10RE EFFECT per ad minimum) 358-5356 358-5355 Includes The charlotte Observe5r Employment Weekly and Career Path Critics of school merger include board members Duke faculty group rejects grading plan By PAM KELLFY Staff Writer Duke University faculty7 defeated a plan Thursday to change the grading system to help curb grade inflation Members of arts and sciences faculty council voted 19-14 against the plan debate about its grading system has attracted national attention Grades have crept upward at Duke since the as they have at colleges across the nation The cumulative grade point average for Duke undergraduates stands at 33 a Under a proposed system students would have gotten extra points for taking tough courses where grades might not be so high They also would have received credit for taking courses with students done well in other challenging courses Those factors would have been fed into a computer to generate a new adjusted grade point average to be listed next to a unadjusted average A in a tough class would increase a academic rank Some improve the rank at all The proponents hoped it would help curb inflation since professors would have less incentive to give high grades and students would have more incentive to take classes from tough-grading teachers But most students opposed the system In a nonbinding referendum this month 88 percent of the students voted against it Army denies system failed Bragg sniper Associated Press FORT BRAGG The mental health system was not at fault for a shooting rampage by an 82nd Airborne trooper more than two years ago an Army spokesman said Thursday Sgt William Kreutzer Jr of Clinton Md was sentenced to die in a court-martial last year He was convicted of the 1995 sniper attack at Fort Bragg that left one soldier dead and 19 others wounded appellate attorneys have called for an investigation into how the Army handled his mental problems An Army spokesman said a review was unnecessary pulled the said Maj Mark Wiggins spokesman for the 82nd Airborne shot those people play on words and try to divert people from the act There was never an indication that he would ever become a The call for a review appeared to be an effort by defense to point some fingers in another direction to help the appeals Wiggins said The News Observer of Raleigh reported this week that Kreutzer probably would have been discharged from the service long before he went on the rampage if the Army had followed its own mental health guidelines The newspaper cited internal Army documents that showed superiors knew for years that he was mentally unstable and potentially dangerous team of appellate attorneys issued a statement Wednesday saying that they will insist on funding to investigate how the Army handled his mental problems on the limited information we have so far the system as a whole may not have been a problem but individuals involved in the system certainly do what they should (he statement said Kreutzer is imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth Kan while his appeals are pending Blind Box Number $70 to forward replies $50 to hold replies for pick-up 8 a m-5 Monday through Friday at the Observer lobby shop 600 Tryon St If not picked up replies will be destroyed 30 days after the final ad I 4 00 Monday through Friday for next paper 4 30 pm Thursday for Saturday real estate and automotive 630 Friday for Sunday and Monday papers Call-In Hours Fri: 8 a -6 30 Closed Saturday and Sunday CHRISTOPHER A RECORDStaff white think of Alex as a black Dubuclet agreed that he think of his friend in terms of skin color me a human Dubuclet said Madine Fails executive director of the Urban League said a number of blacks on her staff have been deluged with lunch offers lot of people may look at it now and say stupid But so simple that easy enough for most of us to Fails said would really like to see in a couple weeks how much this has caught Media lawyer seeks release of information USAIR Continued from page 1C long told Anderson is something taxpayers are entitled to know Evidence showed the air traffic controllers failed to relay crucial information to USAir pilots and the government apparently believed it was less expensive to admit liability than fight in court Had the jury found USAir committed no negligence the government would have had to pay all the damage claims But because of the verdict any settlement paid to plaintiffs will be jointly funded by the government and USAir The percentage of the split between the two parties is being kept secret Lawyers for both USAir and the plaintiffs Thursday opposed making the dollar amount of settlements public saying that their clients had a right to privacy Lawyers for Sharkey were ready Thursday to argue for massive damages for and They intended to depict Sharkey's agony as she lay injured in her seat after the crash before a fireball from an explosion burned her alive according to lawyers in pretrial statements have to know these were good said Michael Baum a lawyer for the three families including the Sharkey family who settled Thursday have done the see past skin Kimsey wrote we need more people like you I hope your story will encourage heroics come as South Carolina debates removing the Confederate flag from the State House and Charlotte wrestles with renewed racial tension sparked by the killing of an unarmed black motorist by a white police officer Gaither appreciates the attention but thinks unwarranted really deserve Gaither said was just happy alive I think anybody would have done the loway been friends at NationsBank for seven years dined at Founders Hall The two thought for a few moments about which of their co-workers eat lunch together and realized they are among the few who routinely eat lunch with people of different ethnicities are different said Howze laughing She is African American At Bistro 100 NationsBank employees Alex Dubuclet and Tad Herrin shared lunch for the third time in six months think it just draws attention to race and I like to think about said Herrin who is may be coming up because the Newton-Conover system has just 2700 students Gaither added just because small we want people to think not vocal on she said Hickory board Chairman Lynn Nash says school officials see the need to change when the schools in all the districts are doing so well still feel like probably better off without he said got a system really working Former county commissioner Gretchen Peed dispute that but she does think some things could be done more efficiently pleased the merger study is starting are several things the schools already cooperate on and I think there are a lot she said are several things they have three of There needs to be a look at overall Hibbitts says sure Pro-Ed will present an unbiased report coming at it with an open mind They have collectively and individually a great deal of he said going to be looking at total merger and be looking at merging any part of the systems want to look at the big picture just to see if it would be to have this positive attitude His attitude will further the feeling of goodwill between the Smith said of Gaither hope this will be the beginning of many conversations between us because I think he has something that is worth John Tabor the president of Middleton McMillan Architects of Charlotte wrote Gaither congratulating him So did Bobbi Kimsey of Fort Mill SC know there are more people like you in this world People who just care and refuse to be influenced by the small minds who Changes Corrections Cancellations CATAWBA Continued from page 1C community from Long Island to Long View to see what the mood of the population Hibbitts said The commissioners expect a report from Pro-Ed by August or September The group already has some basic information a fact that merger has vocal supporters and detractors Supporters say one large system could operate more efficiently than three smaller ones Detractors say a large system necessarily better and merger necessarily improve education School board members from all three districts are skeptical about consolidation Newton-Conover board Chairman Libba Gaither has publicly criticized the idea of combining Catawba County and Newton-Conover schools a thought that has bubbled up in community circles think anything would be beneficial to having two systems in the she said going to look at merger look at the whole thing The idea of merging Newton-Conover and Catawba County CALL IMMEDIATELY Advertisers are responsible for checking ads for accuracy The Charlotte Observer allows one credit for space occupied by an error Saturday Real Estate Automotive Changes corrections or cancellations must be made before 4 30 pm Thursday Other Saturday Classifieds Changes corrections or cancellations must be made before 4 pm Friday Sunday Commercial Real Estate Changes corrections or cancellations must be made before 5 pm Thursday Sunday and Monday Classifieds Changes corrections or cancellations must be made before 5 pm Friday ruesday-Friday Classifieds Changes corrections or cancellations must be made before 4 pm the PLEASEiMOTE advertiser agrees that by placing an advertisement in The Charlotte Ibserver advertiser licenses to The Charlotte Observer on a non-exclu-and other ownership rights in the advertisement Man deflects hero talk: would leuiuill nuvciuoct ouuivntvj I www TW he Charlotte discretion and at The Charlotte Observer ne laiHjue uuoci voi 9 wwivuwi HEROICS Continued from page 1C xpense for any unauthorized use reproduction display distribution or lerformance of the advertisement as it appears in The Charlotte Observer ir for its unauthorized alteration Nothing shall prevent advertiser from ilacing the same or a smaller advertisement in any other media or from ringing suit on its own behalf and at its own expense to enforce its copy- (Ua nti lArtiP Ant Ant Larry Whitten remains in critical condition at Augusta (Ga) Regional Medical Center Annette Whitten has been upgraded to serious Ann Smith of Charlotte asked Gaither to Saturday dinner to honor Joe Martin a NationsBank executive suggested last week that people go to lunch with someone of different ethnicity each Thursday "I want to talk to him to find out what about him enables him at the beginning of each major 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