A proposal for a new undergraduate “Studies in Western Civilization” program at UNC-Chapel Hill got a skeptical hearing last week before a select group of faculty. Organizers of the Sept. 28 meeting say it wasn’t so much the proposal’s academic merit that raised concern as the source of potential funding: the John William Pope Foundation […]
Barbara Solow
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Will CCB’s new owners help low-income borrowers?
Across the street from the landmark Central Carolina Bank building in downtown Durham, a mural on the wall of a vacant edifice asks, “Where is the Love?” It’s a question fair-lending watchdogs have been posing for months as federal regulators considered the merger of CCB’s parent company, National Commerce Financial, and SunTrust Banks of Atlanta. […]
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Fighting words on the Currituck lighthouse
The speaker described a “travesty of justice,” cited “bullying” tactics, and warned of a PR scandal at the Department of Homeland Security. Nope, it wasn’t Michael Moore on George W. Bush. It was Indiana Congressman Mark Souder on fellow Republican Walter B. Jones of North Carolina. Souder launched his tirade in a House committee hearing […]
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In North Carolina, no emergency power and an end to a program that saved millions
After ice storms in 2002 and 2003 shut down power to more than 2 million North Carolinians, state emergency management leaders asked police, fire and other front-line personnel what they needed most to prepare for the next disaster. The number one response: backup generators for shelters, fire stations and other emergency outposts–many of which had […]
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Civic duty
The most powerful lesson I ever learned about voting came from a college classmate, one of several young women I shared a house with in Georgia during the summer of 1980. A group of us recent graduates of Antioch College had moved to Atlanta to work on a radio documentary for a listener-supported station in […]
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Stepping back
The Warner Foundation’s recent decision to close its office and stop taking unsolicited grant requests has raised concerns about the fate of small, social-change nonprofits that had been the focus of its philanthropy. by barbara solow From the start, the Warner Foundation did things differently. When its founders set up the Durham-based family foundation in […]
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The Committee is losing touch–Kenney
When the Rev. Carl Kenney looked at the results of last week’s primary election in Durham, he came to this conclusion: The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People–arguably the most powerful black political organization in the region–“is in trouble.” That’s why Kenney, a pastor who writes a column for the Durham Herald-Sun, says […]
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Prevention gets the short end of the stick
Bob Parker was searching for the right word to describe the scenario facing smoking prevention activists late last week, as lawmakers went into final negotiations over the state budget. He finally found it: “ironic.” Parker, a member of the board of the state Health and Wellness Trust Fund–one of two trusts created with money from […]
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Audit dominates Durham commisioners’ race
Campaign controversy Audit dominates Durham commissioners’ race Any doubts that the flap over an internal audit of Durham County’s Human Resources Department would become a political issue were put to rest at a June 5 forum for candidates for the board of county commissioners. The forum, organized by the Durham Voter Coalition, drew only a […]
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The “patient” is regressing
A conversation with Dr. Vamik Volkan covers a lot of ground. Napoleon comes up, as does Mikhail Gorbachev, the Internet and the Koran. Humor is also in the mix and a sprinkling of old world charm (Volkan still speaks in the accents of the Turkish Cypriot community where he was born). Volkan–who did his psychiatric […]