The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 31

0 0 ME NEWS Sz OBSERVER SUNDAY AUGUST 24 1997 Newspapers vie for growing Latino market Spanish publications carve out own niches NORTH CAROLINA Week in Review 2B Under the Dome 3B Obituaries 6B-7B ORTH THE NEWS Sz OBSERVER Week in Review Under the Dom 2B 3B SUNDAY AUGUST 24 1997 Obituaries 6B-7B glwffirit14- Newspapers vie for growing Latino market A7 ------(: --ti'4) 7 el 'fs' lit Spanish publications dr it 1 rt I dg carve out own niches '14 4 1N1 V' -10 'Wkatt 0 1-- c' -1---tatt47) )- ike! 1 7 r4 11! 5 1 '''4441! 7 14c '-4 4- i41 1 LI 4 1 11'4 1 li difregion's fr more middle-class crowd One seems to fancy itself the traditional New York Times of its market the other comes closer to the flashier spirit of the New York Post a tabloid "We need them both" said Katie Pomerans the state's Hispanic ombudsman and president of El Pueblo Inc a Latino advocacy group "They are very different and cater to different segments of the Latino population Together they give you a well-rounded view of what the community is like There's a good competition between them" Both publishers downplay the notion of a newspaper war "I'm not at war with anybody" Cruz-Watko said "If somebody is at war with me that's a different story" La publisher Mike Leary 35 thinks there's room for both of them "We're not really more middle-class crowd One seems to fancy itself the traditional New York Times of its mar- ket the other comes closer to the flashier spir- it of the New York Post a tabloid "We need them both" said Katie Pomerans th states Hispanic ombudsman and president of El Pueblo Inc a Latino advocacy group They are very different and cater to different segments of the Latino population Together they give you a well-rounded view of what the community is like There's a good competition between them" Both publishers downplay the notion of a news- paper war "I'm not at war with anybody" Cruz-Watko said "If somebody is at war with me that's a ferent story" I Cnticsviin nithlichor Mika I anru qc thinire fisher of La Voz de Carolina which is more likely to print photos of people in black ties and party dresses Both papers are based in the Triangle and both serve up a steady diet of local national and international news of interest to Latinos Their growth has been fueled by ads from the Latino-owned businesses that are springing up across the state as well as from Anglo-owned enterprises that want to tap the Hispanic market So strong is the growth of that market that three other papers have been started in an effort to capitalize on it: La Noticia and El Progreso Hispano in Charlotte and Que Pasa Carolina in Winston-Salem All five papers have begun publishing in the past three years or so Both Triangle-based papers are striving to reach the broadest audience possible But La seems geared toward working-class readers while La Voz appears to be aimed at a fisher of La Voz de Carolina which is more like- ly to print photos of people in black ties and party dresses papers are based in the Triangle and both serve up a steady diet of local national and international news of interest to Latinos Their growth has been fueled by ads from the Latino- owned businesses that are springing up across the state as well as from Anglo-owned enter- prises that want to tap the Hispanic market So strong is the growth of that market that three other papers have been started in an effort to capitalize on it: La Noticia and El Progreso Hispano in Charlotte and Que Pasa Carolina in Winston-Salem All five papers have begun pub- lishing in the past three years or so Both Triangle-hased naners are striving to BY BEN STOCKING STAFF WRITER The first time Angel Robles met Lizette CruzWatko she was decked out in a formal dress attending the annual ball of a Latin American cultural organization Robles who wasn't wearing a tie couldn't get into the party That encounter set the tone for the newspaper war that the two editors have waged for nearly two years as they attempt to win the loyalty of the region's booming Latino population Robles 28 is editor and co-founder of La ConexiOn the scruffy tabloid-style paper that occasionally prints photos of women clad in bikinis or lingerie Cruz-Watko 30 is editor and pub By BEN STOCKING STAFF WRITER The first time Angel Robles met Lizette Cruz- Watko she was decked out in a formal dress attending the annual ball of a Latin American cul- tural organization Robles who wasn't wearing a tie couldn't get into the party That encounter set the tone for the newspaper war that the two editors have waged for nearly two years as they attempt to win the loyalty of the booming Latino population Robles 28 is editor and co-founder of La The pioneering publisher of La Voz de Carolina Lizette CruzWatko says she is turning La Voz into a nonprofit organization STAFF PHOTO BY COREY LOWENSTEIN Cruztization SEE NEWSPAPERS PAGE 7B It's all part of the glorious opportunity to learn' Beatrice Sheppard ECU student Genetic therapy gets second crack at CF A protest against Faircloth 3t fh About 600 picket the senator's house to object to his role in taking power away from Washington's municipal leaders se to way lmrmpmt00rnt1 Lp 11 to tr 1 4( I 0F 1--- I I 1 N) -''') '''i iL'iNif A' 2'''' tirt41 i lif 11WiPatritilnit-41044 1 rrJepk 118'- 4 7 it1 1 1 1 'JNY-E'VF ''''7 4 Nor i it! l'4 1' 1' 4 404: 1r 4041'4 I 7S' r-' 1' 1 a''4 C- 4Sq 1 440 -t 1 iks-i-r- t- 'i --ki 4 1 -str T' trictr: i 'f 1 I i '-9': 0 1--r 1 1--- 'i I 1 -4y 1 '1' 'sz 4( i )of iv i imx00irA NWPAPI li 2 lk NiVe 144001 VOWAIII 1- 1 1 vi 1 ii i 1 111 i itr i 4 A '1'' 4 V''''' i A 1 'i Legt q1e1Sr i' i t'I 1 0'" 2" li- 114AL4 1 ei- irlk 0 44-N: ----iii-' -1 i 241? -4: 145Cr: t' 4 ergAgf' -rnr --r ADA BY PAW SANDHU STAFF WRITER CHAPEL HILL For years Dr Richard Boucher and his colleagues have been waging war against cystic fibrosis and in 1993 they seemed close to victory At a news conference the researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced a gene therapy trial that held great promise for curing cystic fibrosis a lung disease that afflicts 30000 Americans But soon after the tests began Boucher recognized that their technique successful in animal experiments was causing inflammations in volunteer patients By 1995 he published a paper acknowledging that the trial had failed Now armed with a new weapon Boucher is ready to try again This time there has been no news conference and the researchers are being much more guarded in their comments "This is only a feasibility study" said Dr Michael Knowles the principal investigator for the study Boucher however says his team has learned some key lessons UNC researchers he said are much better prepared to examine whether transferred genes can do the work of medicine and reverse the ravages of cystic fibrosis "We know how to do this study better than anyone" said Boucher who has headed the UNC Cystic Fibrosis Center since 1988 Since the cystic fibrosis gene was identified in 1989 the disease has been a main focus of gene therapists That's because cystic fibrosis caused by a mutation in a single gene is one of the simplest genetic disorders to understand It is also one of the most debilitating More common among Caucasoids than members of other races cys Beatrice Sheppard left walks to class at East Carolina University The 78-year-old junior has attended off-site classes and is now making the commute from New Bern to Greenville three times a week STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT SHARPE BY KNIGHT CHAMBERLAIN CORRESPONDENT CLINTON About 600 protesters 400 of whom journeyed from Washington picketed Sen Lauch Fair-cloth's house Saturday over his involvement in legislation that stripped DC Mayor Marion Barry and other elected officials of much of their power Faircloth wasn't home City and county law enforcement officials as well as members of the state Highway Patrol monitored the protesters' every move from arrival to departure even to the point of designating the road area they were allowed to march along The protest was organized by the Rev Willie Wilson of Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington and radio per- Drtmtels sonality and social activist Mark Thompson A caravan of 10 buses left the DC Jackson area about 3 am and was scheduled to stayed away return about 1 am today Thompson and others including 3B Jesse Jackson blame Faircloth for a miniimmi new law that transferred most of Barry's $5 billion bureaucracy to a Washington financial control board Faircloth inserted language into the DC Revitalization Act that "stripped District residents of any legal voice in the running of their local government" Thompson said He called the protest in Clinton "only the beginning" "We want to repeat history and unseat Lauch Fair-cloth just like we did John McMillan in '72" he said referring to the South Carolina congressman who he said killed all home rule bills until his defeat in a state primary "Lauch Faircloth is securing his place in history alongside McMillan as an enemy of democracy" Thompson said the protest was also designed to draw attention to Faircloth's poor environmental and labor record "He's environmentally and labor unconscious" he said outside First Baptist Church in Clinton where protesters rallied with song prayer and fiery speeches that gave the event a revival atmosphere "We're in unity with Clinton because what's hazardous to the community is hazardous to the workers" he said referring to Faircloth's hog growing and processing interests Bemused neighbors gawked as protesters outside Faircloth's sprawling estate chanted "Hey hey ho ho un-Faircloth has got to go" and other slogans Mary Morris who lives across the street wondered what all the fuss was about "I think they're trying to turn the black residents here against Lauch but I don't think they'll have Thom jourauch Fairent in leg-Barry and ever ils as well monitored to depar road area bttheUeit Jackson stayed away 3B 1111111111111 $5 billion itrol board Revitalmts of any Ternment" inton "only auch Fair2" he said Ian who he at in a state is place in of democEesigned to mental and scious" he ton where "We're dous to the 3" he said processing ers outside hey ho ho ogans wondered residents hey'll have Coming of (college) age BY JERRY ALLEGOOD STAFF WRITER "She's looking for education to help society" he said "She still sees her role as going out and helping someone" Sheppard majoring in English with a minor in theater arts has sold poetry and written some fiction on the side "I want to find out more about how to be better at it" she said "I have a lot of stories to tell" Sheppard a Seattle native was born in 1918 and has lived through many historic events other students will only encounter in classwork She started work during the Depression served in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in World War II and did clerical work as a civilian employee for the Navy In 1952 she moved to North Carolina with her husband Preston SEE GENE PAGE 7B "She's bright and eager just like any other incoming student" said Paul Dowell an associate professor of English who is Sheppard's adviser "The only difference is she's older than most students' grandmothers" In 1979 Sheppard retired from her job as a court reporter at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station She worked part time and began taking college transfer courses at Craven Community College always hoping to earn her degree one day Although she is classified as a junior last week marked the first time she had attended classes on the university campus Marion Sykes ECU's associate director of admissions said he recruited her from the community college because she was serious about earning a degree not just taking courses for personal satisfaction GREENVILLE Sbcty years after high school Beatrice Sheppard is ready to get that college degree A great-grandmother with snow white hair Sheppard sounded like a kid bubbling with back-to-school excitement as she sized up her first taste of life at East Carolina University last week She's excited about her English and Spanish classes the former because she hopes to improve her writing and the latter because she wants to volunteer with Hispanic farm workers in her community She's taking theater arts and may even try out for a part in a play if there's a role for a grandmotherly character Dennis Rogers is on vacation today His column will return oltt a SEE STUDENT PAGE 48 DEIVMS ROGERS SEE RALLY PAGE 7B She runs vast agency with grace wit and missionary zeal 41t1' IN ITC 444 4" A I tfOr -IA AkAii 1 -4 J1 1 titWOP Vu AAP "A' "--04- to-- i 4 '4 sf 004 ')) ''44- ti 1 4 0-7 a -I '1 I i :1 )' ct l' 4" 7 'i i 44" 47: 5'ol I i1 r1 3 "2 -z'- 1 Wake County's Human Services Department is like no other in the state Wake consolidated its public health housing and social service agencies last year after months of controversy and nearly 18 months of planning on an order from county commissioners to reduce costs Spaulding heads the county's largest department overseeing nearly 1350 employees in her $91000-a-year job No one knows for sure how this experiment in providing health care job training and other county services will turn out health mental health and social services The conversation with Black was typical of Spaulding's interactions with her staff county commissioners and members of the citizens board that works with her department Whether it's a manager she has worked with for years or an intern she has just met she engages everyone in an easy backand-forth the words frequently riding waves of laughter Spaulding grabs attention when she walks into a room with people fluttering up to the smiling fast-talking woman in designer glasses and eye-catching suits his face went blank "That's all right" Spaulding said chuckling "Just tell everything you know darling" Black and Spaulding dissolved into laughter and draped their arms TAR HEEL over each other's shoulders OF THE the first direc- tor of Wake's WEEK expansive human services agency Spaulding is using her "personality-driven" management style to merge and reshape what had been three county departments BY LYNN BONNER STAFF WRITER Maria Spaulding was no more than three steps inside the Wake County health clinic on Sunnybrook Road when a man carrying a clipboard rushed up "They told me you were coming" facilities coordinator Richard Black said as he greeted the director of the county's Human Services Department with an explanation of why the building's air was a little sticky The air conditioning went out at 5 the day before and When Black saw a reporter taking notes he stopped giving details and Maria Spaulding supervises what used to be several county agencies merged into one Human Services Department STAFF PHOTO BY ROGER wiNSTEAD SEE TAR HEEL PAGE 48 I.