Florida Courier - November 16, 2012

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BOARD CHAIRWOMAN JULIA T. CHERRY WE LOVE YOU!

A preview of Classic football between Rattlers, Wildcats B1 www.flcourier.com

NOVEMBER 16 - NOVEMBER 22, 2012

VOLUME 20 NO. 46

HOVERING OVER ‘THE CLASSIC’

bus while being beaten by fellow band members.

As the state’s largest HBCUs prepare for their annual football showdown in Orlando, last year’s hazing-caused death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion is on the hearts and minds of Rattlers and Wildcats.

BY ASHLEY THOMAS FLORIDA COURIER

I

t’s been nearly a year since Florida A&M University Marching “100” drum major Robert Champion was savagely beaten to death in a hazing ritual during the Florida Classic weekend, the annual Black family reunion in Orlando between FAMU and longtime intrastate rival FLORIDA COURIER FILES Bethune-Cookman University.

The repercussions of FAMU drum major Robert Champion’s As the two teams, their fans and death still reverberate. followers head back to Orlando,

HBCU changes at the top

Pause for prayer

there will be a pall over the weekend extravaganza because of last year’s tragedy that gained international attention.

Champion, 26, died on Nov. 19, 2011 from injuries sustained after being beaten by fellow Marching 100 bandmates in a chartered bus parked outside an Orlando hotel.

The beating occurred the night of the football game during a hazing tradition known as “crossing Bus C.’’ During the ritual, students would walk down the aisle of the

Before boarding their buses on Wednesday to head to Orlando for this weekend’s Classic, members of FAMU’s Student Government Association (SGA) held hands in a circle for prayer. According to a report by WCTV-TV in Tallahassee, SGA Vice President Michael Jefferson says students wanted to give thanks and reflect on how they’ve healed since Champion died, and how the school is moving forward.

Jefferson says there were mixed emotions as his group prepared to travel to the same football game a year later.

“It’s not been the easiest of years. But there’s something to smile about because we made it through and the university’s betSee CHAMPION, Page A2

FLORIDA COURIER / OUT AND ABOUT

Celebrating with seafood

Morehouse, Florida Memorial in transition THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

Two HBCUs – Florida Memorial University in Opa Locka and Morehouse College of Atlanta – both made top leadership changes recently.

Here’s a summary:

Lewis leaves FMU Florida Memorial University (FMU) President Dr. Henry Lewis III left the school’s top leadership post under confusing circumstances.

In a letter dated Oct. 12, 2012 to FMU’s Board of Trustees chairman, Charles George, Lewis tendered his letter Dr. Henry of resignation, which Lewis III was to be effective June 30, 2013 – time enough to give the school a chance to bring in new leadership for the 2013-2014 school year.

The board was evidently not pleased.

Weeks later, George shot back a letter to Lewis dated Nov. 5 that terminated Lewis effective three days later, Nov. 8.

In a press statement, the school announced Lewis’ “release...as the University’s 12th president, effective Nov. 8,” with the immediate appointment See HBCU, Page A2

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

A vendor shows off a big pot of crab rice, a local dish that was sold during the annual St. Maarten Day national celebration last week. The island of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, one of the smallest in the Caribbean, has a population of about 78,000 people and is a three-hour flight from Miami.

Scott, Democrats call for election reform

BY MICHAEL PELTIER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

JOE RIMKUS JR./MIAMI HERALD/MCT)

Three-year-old Kezia Gipson isn’t happy as she waited with her grandparents Doris Ross and Freddie Irvin in a long voting line in Fort Lauderdale on Election Day.

ALSO INSIDE

Criticized again for the state’s election year performance, Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday ordered his top election official to review the way Florida counts votes.

Embarrassed again by long lines and the inability of a handful of counties to tally up the vote quickly, Scott also urged lawmakers to tap local supervisors of elections for a thorough review of regulations and procedures.

Wants ideas “Florida’s election supervisors are experts in their fields and

many of them demonstrated tremendous expertise in running their elections,” Scott said in a statement.

“We want to hear their ideas.”

Scott singled out long lines and botched procedures in MiamiDade, Broward, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, in particular.

The governor’s top elections official, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, was meeting Wednesday with some county elections supervisors, but the discussion was closed to the public and press.

Scott’s comments came as Democrats announced proposals for legislation aimed at making elections smoother.

SNAPSHOTS NATION | A3

Ole Miss protest troubles man who integrated school WORLD | A3

Report: Haiti still facing ‘alarming threats’ FINEST | B5

Meet Kimberly

See REFORM, Page A2

COMMENTARY: THE GANTT REPORT: MONEY DOESN’T GUARANTEE VICTORY AT POLLS | A4 COMMENTARY: MARIAN WRIGHT EDLEMAN: INVEST IN CHILDREN; CREATE JOBS FOR PARENTS | A5

A2

CHAMPION from A1 ter for having gone through this trial. I think the university has turned this corner and it’s about to shine.”

Tough year The year indeed has been tough on FAMU. Twelve former members have pleaded not guilty to charges of felony hazing. Dr. James Ammons abruptly resigned as FAMU’s president in July. The previous month he had received a “no-confidence” vote from the university’s board of trustees.

Florida A&M University Provost Larry Robinson took over the duties of interim president of the school following Ammons’ resignation. Ammons is now teaching at the university.

And the Marching 100’s longtime band director Dr. Julian White retired in May. The band and White were suspended after Champion’s death. White was reinstated about two weeks later.

The band is to be suspended for at least a year.

Criminal cases begin On May, 13 FAMU students were arrested for taking part in the hazing death of Champion, with 11 of the 13 facing thirddegree felony charges and the possibility of spending up to six years behind bars; the remaining suspects received misdemeanor charges.

Brian Jones, 23, a percussionist in the suspended Marching 100, was the first defendant to go to court. He was sentenced Oct. 22 to six months of community supervision – a monitoring arrangement that requires an ankle monitor and frequent check-ins with probation officials – followed by two years of probation. He is also required to do 200 hours of community service.

Trials for the other 11 band members charged in Champion’s death are set for next year.

Two other former band members face a misdemeanor charge for hazing Lissette Sanchez of Orlando and Keon Hollis, another drum major. Those alleged beatings, which resulted in lesser injuries, occurred on the same bus before Champion was beaten.

FOCUS

NOVEMBER 16 - NOVEMBER 22, 2012

THE DEATH OF ROBERT CHAMPION – A PARTIAL TIMELINE Nov. 18, 2011: After the Florida Classic football game, a hazing ritual known as “crossing Bus C” occurs on a chartered bus that typically carries members of the Marching 100’s percussion section. The bus is parked at the Rosen Center hotel’s dimly lit parking lot in Orlando.

Robert Champion, a band drum major, boards the bus to take part in the ritual beating. During the hazing process, he vomits then complains of difficulty breathing. He collapses in the back of the bus; percussionist Henry Nesbitt makes a 9-1-1 call to Orange County Fire Rescue as percussionist Darryl Cearnel administers CPR. Halfway into the call, Nesbitt hands the phone to drum major Jonathan Boyce and heads to the hotel for help. By 9:55 p.m., ambulance and emergency responders arrive at the hotel parking lot. Band director Dr. Julian White, who was at dinner, goes to the bus. Ten minutes later, the ambulance leaves for a hospital that is four miles away.

Approximately 10:15 p.m.: Champion’s parents receive a call from their daughter Brittany alerting them that Robert had collapsed.

10:36 p.m.: Robert Champion, age 26, is pronounced dead at the hospital.

Approximately 11:30 p.m.: White calls Champion’s parents, telling them their son has died.

Three other FAMU officials call to offer condolences: President James Ammons; Vice President for Student Affairs William Hudson and Assistant Band Director Shelby Chipman. No one mentions hazing as a possible cause.

Nov. 20, shortly after midnight: Band members receive a text advising them to meet in a secondfloor conference room at the hotel. White tells them Champion is dead. Band chaplain Thaddeus Stegall leads a prayer.

Nov. 22: Calls begin for Gov. Rick Scott and FAMU board of trustees to take action against President Ammons and the leadership of the Marching 100 band. Bethune-Cookman President Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed and Marching Wildcats Band Director Donovan Wells publicly offer condolences and apologize for inappropriate comments about the FAMU band made over the public announcement system during the Florida Classic halftime show. Ammons announces that the Marching 100 is suspended indefinitely as law enforcement begins to investigate Champion’s death.

Nov. 23: Ammons sends White a letter saying he will be terminated as director of bands and chairman of FAMU’s department of music effective Dec. 22. Gov. Scott writes Florida Department of Law

‘Insulting’ offer

Hazing conference

In the latest twist and turn with regard to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Champion’s parents, Pam and Robert Champion, they refused to take $300,000 from FAMU to settle the case and are preparing to sue the state.

Chris Chestnut, an attorney for the family, said that a $300,000 settlement offer from the school is “insulting.”

The amount offered is the maximum amount the university can pay without seeking approval by the Florida Legislature.

Chestnut said it showed that the university wasn’t serious about resolving the case with Champion’s family. Chestnut wouldn’t say what amount the family would consider acceptable.

“It is our hope that this settlement will be accepted and can in some way help in the healing process for the Champion family and the entire FAMU community,” Richard Mitchell, an attorney for FAMU, stated.

The school’s settlement offer was made less than a week after an all-day mediation session failed on Nov. 9 in Orlando.

This year’s Classic was to include an anti-bullying and antihazing symposium on Nov. 16.

The three-part event titled “Band Together” will include signs of bullying and hazing, the effects of social media and proper online etiquette, concluding with a celebrity town hall meeting. It’s scheduled to include a keynote address by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and closing remarks by FAMU’s and B-CU’s athletic directors.

B-CU’s “Marching Wildcats” will perform a halftime show as usual at the Nov. 17 game – without competing against its musical archrival from FAMU. Popular recording artist Charlie Wilson also is scheduled to sing.

HBCU from A1 of Dr. Mary A. O’Banner, a senior academic administrator and chief of staff at FMU, as acting president.

The school’s designated spokesperson, Bernadette Morris of Sonshine Communications, did not return attempts to contact her before the Florida Courier’s press time Wednesday night to clarify the circumstances surrounding Lewis’ early release.

Takes the high road In a letter written on his last day at FMU, Lewis cited his accomplishments during his two-year tenure – multiple academic accreditations, new and improved buildings, a new airplane for the school’s aviation department – then cited Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s “Last Will and Testament” before wishing FMU “peace and prosperity.”

Wells reacts Director of Bands Donovan Wells said his thoughts are for Champion’s family.

“It was just a great sadness. I don’t look at it as a band director.

I look at it as, ‘What are his parents going through even now?’

“Imagine being excited that your son is a drum major for Lewis, before he moved to South Florida to head FMU, was a longtime Tallahassee-based educator, university administrator, politician and business leader.

He served 15 years as dean of the Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Lewis also served as an interim president at FAMU and was previously shortlisted for the presidency of Daytona Beach’s Bethune-Cookman University.

A FAMU alum, he’s expected to be on the short list of candidates to permanently replace former FAMU President James Ammons, who resigned under pressure in the wake of FAMU Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion’s hazing-related death.

Wilson takes over Morehouse On Tuesday, Morehouse College announced that Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr. has been named the college’s 11th president. Wilson replaces Dr. Robert M. Franklin, who resigned effective Dec. 31.

Enforcement (FDLE) commissioner Gerald Bailey, asking that the agency be involved in the investigation, along with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Chestnut, attorney for the Champion family, says the family intends to file suit against FAMU.

REFORM from A1 Crist, Rouson out front

Oct 1-5, 2012: Robinson puts new policies, including minimum grade requirements, in place for the still-suspended band. A compliance officer will be hired to monitor academic eligibility requirements, travel procedures and the collection of fees.

Band participants will also be full-time students, limit their practice hours to 20 per week and limit their participation in the band to their first four years at FAMU.

Rep. Daryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, called for additional early voting at a news conference where he was joined by former Gov. Charlie Crist, who relaxed voter registration requirements during his tenure and has emerged during the recently concluded presidential campaign as a potential Dem- Rep. Daryl ocratic guber- Rouson natorial candidate in 2014.

Crist supported Obama in the presidential election.

Rouson’s bill, which has yet to be filed, would restore to 14 Charlie days the ear- Crist ly voting period that was reduced to eight for the 2012 election. The proposal would eliminate restrictions and allow non-government buildings to be used Gov. Rick for early vot- Scott ing efforts. It also would restore voting on the Sunday before Election Day, a weekend traditionally used by churches to get out the vote.

Rouson also called on lawmakers to repeal registration restrictions put in place by the Republican-led Legislature last year. The courts already have thrown many of those out.

“The effectiveness and fairness of the laws governing our elections have been brought into question by the past election,” Rouson said in a statement. “Our Legislature should not be a prisoner to its own laws.”

Nov. 2, 2012: The Champion family rejects a $300,000 settlement offer.

Agrees with review

Nov. 30: Champion’s funeral service is held at Beulah Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. Band members who were involved in the hazing that caused Champion’s death are in attendance.

Champion’s body is dressed in his white drum major uniform with his baton/mace at his side in his casket.

Dec. 7: FAMU’s board of trustees rescinds White’s termination, pending the FDLE’s criminal investigation, which expands to include allegations of financial mismanagement by FAMU regarding band finances. White is put on administrative leave.

Dec. 16: After an autopsy, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia rules Champion’s death a homicide. Homicide investigators have interviewed the “vast majority of the individuals present during the incident.’’

Dec. 27, 2011: The Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation, Inc. www.drummajorforchange.com, is launched. It is run by the drum major’s parents, and calls itself “a haze ending (sic) foundation deeply rooted in God.”

May 10, 2012: White announces his retirement.

July 16, 2012: Ammons resigns. FAMU trustees appoint longtime FAMU administrator Dr Larry Robinson interim president while FAMU seeks a permanent replacement.

Sept. 12, 2012: FAMU attorneys defend the school against the Champions’ lawsuit by alleging that Robert Champion was responsible for his own death. The FDLE investigation reveals lack of internal financial controls, including improper payments made to non-band members. A FAMU employee is charged with eight misdemeanors for allegedly padding her expense account.

a well-recognized band in the country. He has just performed his biggest performance of the year, which is the Classic, and within three hours of that performance he is gone. That has to be tough,” Wells remarked.

“Participation in a Black college marching band is supposed to be good, wholesome and without fear of death,” he said.

they will eradicate crime – so I will never do that.

“In 17 years, we’ve had one complaint of an alleged hazing complaint filed with campus security. Other cities with bands have files upon files on incidents with the marching band,” he added.

Black eye on bands

Wells said he is quick to hand out fines to enforce the non-hazing policy adopted nationwide.

“In times when any wrongdoing was even suspected, we levied heavy financial fines and it hits home like nothing else. Students really get the message,” he explained.

“Furthermore, I will sacrifice one student to save the entire band if it comes to that. I will not hesitate to put out anyone who disrupts the chemistry of this band.”

Wells said Champion’s death “was tough to swallow and has put a black eye on HBCUs and a blacker eye on HBCU marching bands.

“Each time something unfolded, it made the national news on most media outlets – from the president’s resignation to the band director retiring. Those were tough blows for everyone, but the toughest blow was to the Champion family and to the institution of FAMU – not just the band, but the school,” Wells said.

B-CU’s band director added that “No band director can sit up here and say they will never have a hazing problem. Just as no mayor or police chief can say Wilson, a 1979 Morehouse grad, also has graduate degrees from Harvard University, including his master of theology and both a master’s and a Dr. John doctoral degree Silvanus in administration, Wilson, Jr. planning and social policy.

Wilson spent the first 16 years of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ultimately becoming the director of foundation relations and assistant provost, where he managed an annual revenue stream of more than $50 million. While working at MIT, he served as a teaching fellow in Harvard University’s Afro-American Studies Department in its Graduate School of Education.

GWU, then White House He also has extensive expertise in defining and advancing the interests of Black colleges through

Strict enforcement

Florida Courier staff writer James Harper, Daytona Beach freelancer Karsceal Turner and Associated Press writers Gary Fineout and Mike Schneider contributed to this report. his research at George Washington University (GWU), where he was an associate professor of higher education in the Graduate School of Education there before serving as executive dean. While at GWU, the focus of his research and teaching included advancement and finance in higher education and the role of Black colleges and universities.

Wilson also served on the Spelman College Board of Trustees and as executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, according to a press release from the school.

As executive director of the White House Initiative, Wilson worked to strengthen the capacity of 105 HBCUs and led his team to work with the White House, 32 federal agencies, and the private corporate and philanthropic sectors in securing capital.

“John has been a trusted voice, helping my administration follow through on our commitment to strengthen Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” the

Despite the fact that Republican leaders supported the 2011 law that put in place many of the changes the Democrats allege led to long lines and confusion, incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford joined Scott in saying that a review of current voting procedures is needed.

Weatherford said any revision should not be made until after a thorough review is completed regarding what went wrong in 2012 and what changes should be made.

“It’s not a good thing when it’s Friday, three days after the election, and every state in the country is either red or blue, (but) there is one that is yellow because they haven’t counted the votes,” Weatherford said this week. “That is something we should be embarrassed by.”

Democrats, who fought most of the changes passed in 2011, also believe the next “fix” should come only after thoughtful consideration, said Mark Hollis, spokesman for House Democrats.

“Our members by and large would agree with Speaker Weatherford on that,” Hollis said.

release quotes President Obama as saying. “I wish John the best as he takes on this important new role as the president of Morehouse College and as he continues to inspire more of our nation’s youth to pursue higher education.”

For 10 years, Wilson served as the president of the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association. In that role, he led an effort to raise more than $500,000 toward scholarships and another $500,000 toward community outreach for his alumni chapter.

Starts in 2013 Wilson will officially assume the role of president at the end of January 2013. Willis B. Sheftall Jr., interim provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, will serve as acting president from Jan. 1, 2013, until Wilson officially takes office.

Wilson is married to Dr. Carol Espy-Wilson, an engineering professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. They have twin daughters and a son.

november 16 - november 22, 2012

NATION & WORLD

A3 Residents find higher ground as the water level rises in Leogane, Haiti, on Oct. 26. Leogane had endured consecutive days of rain due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Report: Haiti still facing ‘alarming threats’ Documentary scrutinizes international humanitarian aid and reaction of Haitian authorities

Two girls shield themselves from the rain as a home is deconstructed to salvage it after several homes washed into the river in Grand Goave, Haiti, on Oct. 26. The rural community, south of Port-au-Prince, had suffered days of consecutive rain from Hurricane Sandy.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES MIAMI HERALD (MCT)

MIAMI — Despite foreign assistance after their country’s devastating 2010 earthquake, Haitians continue to face “alarming threats” from deplorable living conditions, a broken justice system and the United Nations’ refusal to take responsibility for its role in the outbreak of a deadly cholera epidemic, according to a report issued Monday by Haitian and international human rights advocates.

“For the roughly 370,000 victims of the earthquake still living in displaced per-

PHOTOS BY CARL JUSTE/ MIAMI HERALD/MCT

son camps, the situation deteriorates by the day,” the International Federation of Human Rights said upon releasing “Haiti: Human Security in Danger.”

“The exceptional inflow of international humanitarian aid averted an even

worse disaster and served to protect the lives of thousands of people who survived the catastrophe, but lost everything they possessed. … It has sadly not resulted in strengthening the capacity of the Haitian people themselves to take

charge of rebuilding the country.”

The blame, the report said, can be shared by Haitian authorities, who have failed to respond to the needs of the masses through sound policies and reforms, and other nations

“who have imposed their ‘solutions’ in a confused and incoherent manner.”

Critical look The report follows a new documentary, “Fatal Assistance,” by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck. The film provides a critical look at the role of the international community in Haiti’s post-quake reconstruction by taking viewers into the inner workings and discussions of the defunct Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission.

Peck, who edited more than 500 hours of film into 100 minutes, recently hosted a private screening of the film in Port-au-Prince.

The film’s message, Peck said” “Stop aid, now. And let’s go back to the drawing table. Or let’s just follow the rules that the [Western] actors themselves have established and never follow and blame Haitians...for their own failures.”

Recommendations The findings and recommendations in “Haiti: Human Security in Danger” were based on a visit this year to five camps, two relocation sites and a prison.

The federation and Haiti’s National Network for the Defense of Human Rights called on decision-makers in Haiti to press for policies aimed at improving and protecting Haitians’ lives.

Among the recommendations: a national housing program; a moratorium on forced camp evictions; reducing prison overcrowding; and improving management of the cholera epidemic, which has killed more than 7,000 people and sickened more than half million.

In particular, advocates say, the U.N. Stabilization Mission “should formally acknowledge its responsibility for negligence in the cholera epidemic scandal.”

Report: US to become world’s largest oil producer by 2020

BY RONALD D. WHITE AND TIFFANY HSU LOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

Step back, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The U.S. will become the world’s top producer of oil by 2020, a net exporter of oil around 2030 and nearly self-sufficient in energy by 2035, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.

It’s a bold set of predictions for a nation that currently imports some 20 percent of its energy needs.

Recently, however, an “energy renaissance” has begun in the U.S., marked by a boost in oil, shale gas and bioenergy production made possible by new technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling, said the report by the Paris agency, which acts as an energy watchdog for industrialized nations.

“North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that

The fuel race

The U.S. will be the world’s largest oil producer by 2020, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia, the current No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, although it will drop behind Saudi Arabia later.

Annual oil production

In millions of barrels per day U.S.

Russia

Saudi Arabia

12.3

11.1 10.6

11

9.2 9

7

5

’90

’11

’20

’15

’25

’35

’30

NOTE: All data after 2011 are projections Source: International Energy Agency

Graphic: Los Angeles Times

will affect all regions of the world,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said.

The organization Van der Hoeven heads was formed after the oil crisis of the early 1970s and serves as an energy research arm

and advisor to its 28 member nations.

Technological developments U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 at slightly more than 9.63 million

Man who integrated Ole Miss troubled by election protest ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. – The man who integrated the University of Mississippi says he’s troubled and confused by the protest there against President Barack

© 2012 MCT

Obama’s re-election.

But James Meredith, 79, says students shouldn’t get distracted by what he calls nonsense and foolishness.

“I’m advising all of the students at Ole Miss, White and

barrels a day.

Except for a modest recovery to fewer than 9 million barrels a day in 1985, U.S. crude production had been on a precipitous decline until 2008, when it bottomed out at 5 million barrels a day, seeming to validate the “peak oil” theory that output would continue falling. That was also the year that oil reached a record price of $147.27 a barrel.

But those oil prices spurred important technological developments that enabled those looking for oil to essentially see through the bottom of rock as though it were transparent, said Philip K. Verleger Jr., a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

‘A huge change’ High prices also spurred important advances in how to extract the oil that had been found. Spurred by drilling booms in North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and a few other loca-

Black, that the Bible says there will be wars and rumors of wars, so you know there is going to be bad talk,’’ Meredith told WLOXTV on Nov. 10. “Anybody that lets themselves be sidetracked by foolishness, it’s not only something wrong with what they’re mad about, it’s something wrong with them.’’

The protest on Election Night grew into a crowd of about 400 people as rumors of a riot spread on social media. Some peo-

tions, production has been climbing.

“It’s been a huge change,” said Verleger, who noted that many smaller companies with relatively few employees, and not the major oil firms, have been the driving force behind America’s oil spring.

“The major oil companies abandoned the U.S. and went looking for oil overseas,” Verleger said, “but they left behind a lot of smart engineers who found the oil and natural gas, and they figured out how to extract it at relatively low costs.”

By 2015, U.S. oil production is expected to rise to 10 million barrels per day and increase to 11.1 million barrels per day by 2020, overtaking secondplace Russia and frontrunner Saudi Arabia, according to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook. The U.S. will export more oil than it brings into the country in 2030, the report said.

“Just a few years ago, people were still talking

ple shouted racial slurs. Others yelled the school cheer, “hotty toddy.’’ Two students were arrested on minor charges.

Meredith’s adJames mission in 1962 Meredith sparked riots that had to be quelled by the military and police.

Meredith was in Bay St. Louis

about peak oil. Now we’re talking about the U.S. becoming the new Saudi Arabia,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst with the Price Futures Group. “They said we couldn’t drill our way out of this mess, but we are drilling our way out of this mess.”

2030 prediction Around 2030, however, Saudi Arabia is expected to be producing some 11.4 million barrels of oil per day, outpacing the 10.2 million from the U.S., the IEA report said.

In 2035, U.S. production will slip to 9.2 million barrels per day, far behind the Middle Eastern nation’s 12.3 million daily barrels.

And by 2035 Iraq will have exceeded Russia to become the world’s secondlargest oil exporter.

At that point, inflationadjusted oil prices will reach $125 a barrel. By then, however, the U.S. won’t be relying much on foreign energy, according to the IEA report.

last Saturday to sign “A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America,’’ said he was cursed every day he attended Ole Miss, but paid it no attention.

If he had a fight, he said, it was with state leaders who created unjust policies. “None of them were up there cussing me, so I didn’t hear nothing nobody else was saying,’’ he said.

EDITORIAL

A4

NOVEMBER 16 - NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Obamas’ Black friends party hard, live large Superstorm Sandy caused the Obamas to cancel their 2012 White House Halloween party. There’s been a Halloween party and trickor-treating at the White House every year since 2009, when the First Couple threw a star-studded, “Alice in Wonderland” themed-party and Michelle wore a cute leopard costume.

From their initial year in the executive mansion, the First Couple set a pace of fun and frolic. While Barack has avoided racial issues throughout his presidency, there’s no question that the Obamas have the culture and creativity to throw some cool parties.

President Obama spent more on White House events and dinners than any previous chief executive. Domestic affairs, or foreign dignitaries, the First Couple “entertained” at 1600 Pennsyl-

WILLIAM REED BUSINESS EXCHANGE

vania Avenue.

The White House celebration of the blues, during which Obama sang and he, his wife and guests boogied in the East Room to some of America’s greatest musical legends, is just one of the command performances and swinging parties they’ve thrown. The Obamas have also enjoyed a rendition by rap artist Common and were treated to an “ole time” review by Motown-era surviving stars.

Taxpayers footing bill The Obamas have “done

it on the good foot” while they have been at the White House and have left American taxpayers with some pretty big tabs. But, among the many who attended events there, “a good time was had by all.” The Obamas hosted congressional leaders, honored Stevie Wonder with a glitzy tribute concert, and invited the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock to perform.

On Obama’s 50th birthday, Aug. 4, Charles Barkley, Chris Rock, Jay-Z and Tom Hanks honored the POTUS in the Rose Garden.

Performances the Obamas have held over the years at the White House include salutes to Broadway, music of the Civil Rights movement, and a dance tribute to dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison.

The White House got some mainstream media criticism

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 158 HBCU prezes – Man, it seems like our HBCUs change presidents as often as some European friends of mine change their draws. Anyway, congrats to my Morehouse College schoolmate Dr. John S. Wilson, Jr. on finally landing his dream job – the presidency of Morehouse College. He’ll do fabulously well in a position he’s been conscientiously and consistently preparing for all his life.

To my knowledge, there was little drama when Morehouse’s previous president, Dr. Robert Franklin, submitted his resignation the typical way – to be effective in six months to a year so that Morehouse could search for a new leader with minimal transitional drama.

That doesn’t seem to be the case at Florida Memorial University. Dr. Henry Lewis submitted his resignation to FMU just as Franklin did to Morehouse. Evidently FMU’s board acted like a spurned lover – “I’ll quit you before you quit me” – transition time be damned.

That kind of emotional overreaction is a reflection of the lack of professionalism we see all too often on boards of HBCUs and Black nonprofits, as I’ve previously written here. It’s that kind of foolishness that make many highly qualified people run away

Influencing elections First, you should know the United States Supreme Court decided to allow wealthy individuals and corporations to spend as much money as they wanted to influence elections. Even though registered voters were limit-

New ‘Step and Fetch It’ Others in the league with Sharpton are disc jockeys Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner. Ardent Obama defenders, both Harvey and Joyner, are enthralled with the proximity to power the Obamas afforded them and will use all of their clout to keep Barry and Michelle, First Family forever.

“The Tom Joyner Morning Show” airs in more than 100 markets and reaches an audience of more than 8 million, and Steve Harvey has shows on radio and network TV. With the assistance of the Obama White House, Joyner and Harvey have been transformed from mere entertainers to thoughtful political pundits.

Joyner joined the Obamas to greet Tuskegee Airmen at a screening of “Red Tails” in the family theater at the White House. On the day of their 20th anniversary, Michelle shared the story of her first kiss with Barack on Steve Harvey’s show.

As Black audiences celebrate their “Step-N-FetchIt” syndicated radio shows, consider that Joyner, Harvey and Michael Baisden, epitomize what is wrong with our insight and our information.

Their programming has

the power to make their Black adult audiences stay in tune with syndicated radio programs’ “group think.”

Obama and friends may have “partied with a purpose” while in the White House, but their four years in office must be considered a disappointment for Blacks.

All that glittered in the White House between Obama and friends wasn’t exactly gold for all.

Fess up, having a Black family in the White House has enhanced racial inequities rather than challenging them.

William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects through the Bailey Group. org. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

visual viewpoint: PETRAEUS – POOR JUDGMENT

quick takes from #2: straight, no chaser

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq. PUBLISHER

from leading Black organizations. And if I’m wrong about FMU, I’m sure some board member will let me know...

Florida Classic – Me and mine will be there; holler if you see us. Of course it won’t be the same, with the death of Robert Champion so fresh in everyone’s mind, and with the “100” still on suspension. But I’m not just going for the festivities; I go to support our Black cultural organizations, especially in their time of need...

‘She got that bomb diggity’ – What is it with men like David Petraeus, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, and others putting their long careers and marriages on the line chasing “that crazy cat?" Columnist Lucius Gantt has his say next week.

Contact me at ccherry2@gmail.com; holler at me at www.facebook.com/ccherry2; follow me on Twitter @ccherry2.

Money doesn’t guarantee victory at polls Have you ever tried to garner someone’s affection?

No matter how many cards you buy, flowers you buy, no matter how much jewelry or clothing you buy and no matter how many romantic vacations you finance, if a person doesn’t want you, they just don’t want you.

When a bitch gets in heat, every dog in the neighborhood knows it. But no matter what breed of dog is sniffing around for a chance to tap that thing, the female dog will only allow the dog she desires to have sex with her.

In politics, if you didn’t learn anything from the 2012 elections, you should have learned that Super PAC money can’t buy you love!

For years and years, The Gantt Report has told candidates that anybody can tell you that you need some money to run for office, but the person that spends the most is not necessarily guaranteed a victory.

I haven’t counted, but it appears that more money was spent in the 2012 election cycle than during any other election period in history. Don’t worry about the billions spent by the candidates. Sit down and take a deep breath while I report about some of the money spent by independent Republican-leaning groups in their effort to elect Mitt Romney and to defeat President Barack Obama.

for their decision to invite the Rev. Al Sharpton to the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, while excluding top leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

What the mainstream media misses is that the Rev. Al is on the White House’s Black “A” list. He’s a strong Obama supporter and a “frequent Black visitor.”

Lucius Gantt THE GANTT REPORT

to Black voters in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states, would that have influenced some Blacks to vote Republican?

No, don’t wonder about that. Rich political devils could have given a million unemployed Blacks minimum wage jobs and many of those African-Americans would have felt that the GOP did more to address Black unemployment than the president and the Democratic Party did.

What if $380 million had been spent with Blackowned media? Would that have gotten more Blacks to vote Republican? Maybe.

The 2012 election was influenced much more by Black and other non-White voters far more than the election was influenced by devilish rich people with racist and malicious intentions.

The moral of this column is obvious. TV ads don’t vote, robocalls don’t vote and endless direct mail pieces don’t vote. People who are registered voters vote!

Anybody can tell a candidate to spend money during a political campaign, but only an expert that is in touch with both the people and the process can tell you when, where and how much money to spend to achieve your political goals.

As I said earlier, romance is a lot like politics. No mater how much you have or how much you spend, money can’t buy you love!

ed in the amount of money they could contribute to candidates, so-called “Super PACs” could spend millions on political races with little or no restrictions or regulations. Even foreigners and other countries could spend huge sums of money to determine American political outcomes.

Idiots that wasted millions trying to influence 2012 elections include Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, which spent $180 million on their losing presidential effort and another $76 million on ads for seven GOP Senate candidates (five of those candidates lost); the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which spent $33 million on ads for losing Senate candidates; Restore Our Future, which spent $91 million on ads to elect loser Romney; Charles and David Koch, who spent $66 million on ads for loser Romney; casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who spent $53 million trying to help Romney win; and Harold Simmons and his wife, who contributed $24 million to losing Republican candidate campaigns.

At least $380 million was spent by GOP groups to beat President Obama and other Democrats in 2012 elections.

Now, I’m no math major, You can buy Lucius but it seems that the money Gantt’s book “Beast Too: spent on helping Mitt Rom- Dead Man Writing” and ney was terribly wasted. contact him at www.allworl dcon sultant s .net .

Buying off Blacks Click on this story at www.

Hmmm. I wonder if $380 flcourier.com to write your million was handed out own response.

Christopher Weyant, The Hill

The power of shopping online Last year, when my favorite bookstore closed its doors forever, I actually sat CHERYL in the car and shed a tear. Not as many PEARSONtears when the record store closed. And MCNEIL I haven’t even stepped foot into a brick and mortar travel agency in more than 10 years. These bastions of enterprise are NNPA COLUMNIST now but all obsolete. Thanks in large part to e-commerce. percent non-food.

How do you feel about that?

Online power

E-commerce growing According to Nielsen, online shopping for consumer packaged goods (CPG) – grocery related products, such as food, or staples like diapers, cotton balls and coffee, and health and beauty products – is the fastest-growing e-commerce option, and expected to grow 25 percent annually through 2015.

Now that’s fast, especially considering digital shopping accounted for just 2 percent of total CPG sales in 2011, with less than 4 percent of Americans buying CPG products online in any given month. But, not to worry, while CPG e-commerce is growing fast, according to the findings of Nielsen’s newest in-depth analysis, Digital Shopping, What You Need to Consider, “clicks will not be replacing bricks” anytime soon, making it more of an evolution than a revolution.

Personally, other than buying books, I love shopping online because it requires minimal time and effort; and can be done in the comfort of my own home, car (while waiting for my son’s basketball practice to end) or wherever I might be.

It’s interesting to note that based on the analysis of 18 product categories, the mix of product sales in e-commerce is 60 percent non-food to 40 percent food; while the exact reverse is true of the total CPG picture, which is 60 percent food and 40

The opportunities for brick-and-mortar retailers to reach out to consumers online are rich, barely-mined territory.

Many, who might have been skeptical of e-commerce, are now making it a strategic goal.

For instance, some retailers are appealing to shoppers who don’t have time to make grocery trips and aren’t crazy about long lines or crowded parking lots.

In some instances, consumers can order online or from an app on connected devices; then pick up the item(s) in-store at a convenient time. (Don’t you love it?)

With our community’s projected purchasing power approaching $1.1 trillion by 2015, we are critical contributors to this growing shopping trend and marketers are responding accordingly.

So, as you prepare to purchase items for your Thanksgiving dinner and other CPG items to make your holidays bright, remember you have the power – either online or in-person. Use it wisely.

Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Nielsen. For more information and studies, go to www. nielsenwire.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

W W W.FLCOURIER.COM Central Florida Communications Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-3524455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

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However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication. The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Chief Executive Officer Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Lynnette Garcia, Marketing Consultant/Sales Linda Fructuoso, Marketing Consultant/Sales, Circulation Angela VanEmmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation James Harper, Andreas Butler, Ashley Thomas, Staff Writers Delroy Cole, Kim Gibson, Photojournalists MEMBER National Newspaper Publishers Association Society of Professional Journalists Florida Press Association Associated Press National Newspaper Association

NOVEMBER 16 - NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Time to invest in children, create jobs for parents Americans committed to keep moving forward turned out in record numbers to vote in the battleground states. But we won’t be able to go forward until Congress sits down and makes the hard decisions to create a just budget that invests in children, our poorest group of Americans, and creates jobs for their struggling parents while making sure those who have benefited from huge tax cuts pull their weight.

Exit polls have made clear that the majority of Americans – Democrats, Independents, and many Republicans alike – agree that the richest Americans and corporations need to pay their fair share.

Cannot afford cuts For all those who voted, our work and duty is not done. We need to make sure to tell the president and Congress to “be very careful what you cut” and make our voices heard now and for as long as necessary. Children, the poor and the middle class cannot afford more devastating cuts and instability as they continue to struggle against hunger, homelessness, joblessness, and loss of summer school and regular school days as a result of this long economic downturn.

To move forward, America’s security and prosperity depend on our children’s ability to drive the economy of the future. If a majority of them cannot read and compute at grade level in fourth, eighth and 12th grade, we will not have a strong economy.

The leaders now facing crucial budget decisions must craft budget solutions that will protect the already porous safety nets on which so many children and families rely, and invest in the health, early childhood development and education of our children.

To achieve long term growth for America, any solution must: (1) protect investments serving children and low income families; (2) invest in children which will create desperately needed jobs; and (3) ensure that the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share.

Marian Wright Edelman NNPA COLUMNIST

Protect children The fundamental principle of protecting children and other vulnerable populations has been a cornerstone of deficit reduction since the bipartisan Balanced Budget Act of 1985.

Every automatic budget cut mechanism of the past quarter century has exempted core low-income assistance programs from any cuts triggered when budget targets or fiscal restraint rules were missed or violated.

The American people still strongly support this principle.

Recent polling conducted by the Pew Research Center showed almost 60 percent of Americans oppose cutting spending for antipoverty programs. A Public Opinion Strategies poll showed even larger numbers of likely voters oppose cuts to Medicaid (73 percent) or education programs (75 percent).

Cutting children in the budget now will cost us all more later. For example: Eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit now would increase child poverty 23 percent in the future. Since poor children are more likely to drop out of high school, they are less likely to find steady work as adults. Paying for each year of high school dropouts cost us more than $125 billion over the course of their lifetimes.

Unwise cuts cost more Eliminating early education investments now would increase a little boy’s chance of going to prison later in life by 39 percent.

Incarcerating that child will cost us nearly three times more a year than it would have cost to provide him a quality early learning experience.

Cutting just $4,000 of Medic-

aid and food stamps from a girl in a low-income family negatively impacts her health and nutrition. This can lead to poor performance in school which increases her chances of getting pregnant as a teenager. And paying for teen pregnancies costs all of us $10 billion a year.

While unwise cuts cost us more in the long run, economists agree that investing in children promotes economic growth. For example, investments in education that raise high school graduation rates have been shown to yield a public benefit of $209,000 per student in higher government revenues and lower government spending, and an economic benefit to the public purse that is 2.5 times greater than the costs.

With more than 16.1 million children in America – more than one in five of all children and more than one in three children of color – living in poverty, special efforts must be made to address the needs of these most vulnerable among us. Poor children lag behind their peers in many ways beyond income: they are less healthy, trail in emotional and intellectual development, are less likely to graduate from high school and to find steady work as adults, and are more likely to head poor families.

Every year we keep these millions of children in poverty costs our nation at least half a trillion dollars in lost productivity, poorer health, and increased crime.

Rather than imposing strict austerity measures without regard for the human consequences, we must invest now in children to prepare them for the future and help create jobs. The Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, supplemental nutrition assistance, work supports like child care and health coverage, and income safety nets like job training are all essential if our children are to escape poverty and be prepared to shoulder America’s economy in the future.

Universal high quality pre-kindergarten and kindergarten systems and out of school quality

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: GOP POINTS BLAME

Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons

summer literacy and enrichment Be careful what’s cut supports will keep children safe, I urge all of our leaders to fight enable parents to work, stop sumfor justice for children and the mer learning loss and better prepoor with urgency and persispare them to succeed in school. tence and to be guided by basic principles of fairness in the negoIncome inequality tiations ahead: Protect children a crime and low income families from Finally, unprecedented and budget cuts that threaten their growing income inequality is rob- survival. bing our children of the equal opInvest in children’s health, earportunity that is their birthright ly childhood development, and and sullying our nation’s pur- quality education, make work pay ported values of fair play. through refundable Earned InSomething is awry when our come and Child Tax Credits, and nation’s 400 wealthiest citizens create jobs, jobs, jobs with decent reported as much income in 2008 pay to help end child poverty and as the combined tax revenue of enable families to better prepare 22 states with almost 42 million children for the future. people. It is time for the richest Demand that the richest AmerAmericans and corporations to icans and corporations contribpay their fair share. They do not ute fairly and tell Congress that need another tax cut. poor children should not be In 2010, the lowest 60 percent of taxpayers took in about the same asked to subsidize tax cuts for share of income as the highest 1 those who do not need them. Inpercent. That same year, General sist that Congress be careful – and Electric (GE) earned $14.2 billion just – about what they cut.

Be careful what you cut. If our in profits and paid no taxes.

GE’s combined federal tax children are not ready for tomorbreaks of more than $5 billion row, neither is America. in 2010 could have funded Head Marian Wright Edelman is Start for an additional 670,000 preschoolers, creating 67,000 president of the Children’s Denew jobs. Allowing the Bush tax fense Fund whose Leave No cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent Child Behind. For more inforof Americans to expire on sched- mation, go to www.childrensule is critical to meeting child defense.org. Click on this story needs and achieving a more just at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. society.

‘People power’ overcomes billions of dollars On the morning of Nov. 7, I woke up in the glow of the reelection victory of President Barack Obama. I was thrilled with the realization that “people power” had overcome all the anticipated advantages of the billions of dollars donated by wealthy Republicans.

I soon began to realize the real work had just begun – again.

By expending large amounts of physical and financial resources, we successfully overcame a vicious, vigorous onslaught to defeat and discredit our president.

We deserve credit for that effort, but recent history tells us we must be ever vigilant.

The politically naïve might say we’ve met the immediate challenge by voting the president a second term, but don’t forget the success of 2008 and our electoral disaster in 2010. Let’s not ignore the fact that only those enthusiastic about the historic nature of President Obama’s election have maintained support throughout his first term, and there’re still

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. TRICE EDNEY WIRE

many who’d love nothing more than to maneuver him into failure.

Don’t bow down Senator Mitch McConnell greeted the president’s second term with the admonishment that he must still acquiesce to the will of the Republican leaders.

Those who study the nuances of politics understand that our support of the president includes voting him into office, and voting for Congressional leaders who want to break the chains of legislative gridlock that condemn us to cultural and economic stagnation.

While it’s unreasonable to expect total compliance to the will

created lines of minority voters waiting hours to vote and stretched far distances from polling places – while similarly situated White voters were completing voting in 20-30 minutes or less. Although it is obvious the source of these problems is external to our communities, the success of these scams is indicative that we have to take better care of our own “business.”

We must engage in civics reeducation. The more informed about the electoral process we become, the less susceptible we are to confusion and deceit about the process. The more engaged we are in the political process, the less likely we are to allow the type of local administration of elections that create the lines witnessed outside polling places.

We must challenge local election officials and demand outcomes that increase access to Take care of own voting opportunities instead of I was disturbed by the wide- limiting them. With our involvespread suppression efforts that ment in the election process, we

of the president, it is reasonable to expect legislators to participate in good-faith considerations of legislative approaches to resolving problems facing our nation. We must be firm in our resolve to use our vote to reward those who demonstrate an active and on-going willingness to work in the national interest and dismiss those who allow partisan politics to prevent progress.

While we hold the feet of our legislators “to the fire,” we must be equitable in our requirement for responsibility from them. I was disturbed by reports that members of “minority” communities were being fooled by dirty tricks that included being told voting was being conducted by phone; or, because of high-volume voting, Democrats were being scheduled to vote on the Wednesday after election day.

can elect state and local officials who value the principles of democracy and extending the vote to as many eligible citizens as possible.

Voting counts Of all the good news from the 2012 election is a heightened awareness of the empowerment of voting is the best. One of the earliest civic lessons I learned was, “If you don’t vote, you don’t count!”

I have found that lesson to stand firm to the test of time. The more we understand and embrace this lesson, the brighter our collective futures will become.

We live in a society where there is no value in living outside the political process.

Dr. E. Faye Williams is Chair of the National Congress of Black Women. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Black, Latino Republicans: What are you thinking?

Leading up to Nov. 6, I found myself focused on the matter of voter suppression and electoral shenanigans committed by the Republicans. This concern was not for nothing.

Prior to and on Election Day, there were myriad of attempts to subvert the vote, particularly the vote of people of color.

On Election Day in Pennsylvania, for instance, there was a voting machine that would convert an Obama vote into a Romney vote (and this was captured on film). Frivolous voter challenges started well before Election Day itself, again targeting AfricanAmerican and Latino voters.

What was most striking about the 2012 election, then, was that in the face of this attack on our right to vote, there was something akin to a popular revolt by

BILL FLETCHER, JR. NNPA COLUMNIST

the African-American and Latino electorate. Latinos voted more than 70 percent for Obama and African-Americans 93 percent.

Black turnout significant But those figures do not tell enough. It was the turnout that was so significant. Despite efforts by the political right to dampen African-American enthusiasm for Obama using the issue of same-sex marriage, this tactic failed dismally. And Romney’s cynical anti-Latino approach, as

evidenced during this primary campaign, came back to bite him in the rear.

It was more than this, however.

It was something that you had to feel if you waited in line to vote. I went three times to try to engage in early voting. The first two times the line was out the building and I decided to return at a later date.

On the third time, I thought that I had arrived early enough only to discover that the line started well within the building. I was in line for two hours, and this was early voting. Around the U.S. there were stories like that one. People standing in line for seven hours in order to vote.

In effect what we saw was a counter-attack by the AfricanAmerican and Latino electorate against those who would attempt to disenfranchise us. The

support a party that purged voter lists to eliminate potential Democratic Party supporters, many of who were African-American and Latino? I must ask, what level of self-hatred must one have to actively support a party that regularly used coded language in order to appeal to a racist impulse Level of self-hatred among many white voters?

Get back with me on that, There were many other things about the election which I have okay? reflected upon, but one is a question that I must pose to AfricanBill Fletcher, Jr. is the immeAmerican and Latino Republi- diate past president of TransAcans. It is simple: How can you frica Forum and the author associate with a party that quite of “They’re Bankrupting Us – consciously set out to disenfranchise African-American and La- And Twenty Other Myths about Unions.” Click on this story at tino voters?

I must ask, what level of self- www.flcourier.com to write hatred must one have to actively your own response. obvious intent to eliminate African-American and Latino voters, rather than scaring us into submission and docility, energized us to turn out in record numbers.

There are many lessons there and one is that we can actually overwhelm the other side by sheer numbers and audacity.

TOj A6

NOVEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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HEALTH FOOD || HEALTH TRAVEL | |MONEY SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS LIFE | FAITH | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD November 16 - November 22, 2012

IFE/FAITH

2013 Jazz in the Gardens to include Najee See page B2

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Election on TV: What viewers preferred See page B5

SUN COAST / TAMPA BAY www.flcourier.com

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SECTION

B

FLORIDA CLASSIC 2012 Despite losing some luster, the game goes on Last year’s hazing death, FAMU coach’s sudden resignation will overshadow this year’s game

BY ANDREAS BUTLER FLORIDA COURIER

I

t’s again time for the Florida Classic, the annual football game between Florida’s two largest HBCUs – the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats in Daytona Beach and the Florida A&M University Rattlers in Tallahassee. The game, televised on ESPN Classic, has grown to be the largest in Black college football.

The Classic’s economic impact is $30 million to Orlando and Central Florida.

The hazing death of Robert Champion at the November 2011 Classic has dampened some of the revelry for the Nov. 17 gridiron game, which begins at 2 p.m. at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

As the Florida Classic weekend prepares to kick off in Orlando, the Florida Courier breaks down this year’s matchup on the gridiron.

FILE PHOTOS

Above: The Wildcats (in black) defeated the Rattlers last year 26-16.

Taylor’s gone

Left: Not just a football game: The Classic draws speakers and performers from around the country.

Florida A&M head coach Joe Taylor retired abruptly on Nov. 7. Taylor is one of the MEAC’s all-time winningest coach. In 31 seasons, Taylor had a 233-96-4 record, including 35-19 in five seasons at FAMU. He has won four Black College National Championships.

Taylor won’t coach the game this weekend and didn’t coach FAMU’s Homecoming last weekend. Defensive coordinator Earl Homes is acting head coach of the team until further notice.

Taylor, 62, said last he wanted to retire immediately because he did not want his retirement to be a distraction to the team in its last two games.

“With the enormous amount of coverage that my retirement has been receiving, I felt it was best to step aside and let the team focus on the last two games,” Taylor stated in a FAMU press release.

Taylor is to take on an advising role in the athletic department until his contract expires Jan. 4.

Below: The Florida Classic attracts thousands to the Citrus Bowl.

Florida Classic History The Florida Classic is a result of the two schools needing a bigger venue to for the game. Both of their stadiums were too small then and still are today. The game was played at venues such as Daytona International Speedway and Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee in the mid 1970s. The Classic began in 1978 with FAMU winning 14-7 in front of 42,061 fans in Tampa.

The Rattlers lead the series 21-11.

Bethune-Cookman won last year’s game 26-16 in front of 60,218 fans. The largest attendance was 73, 358 fans in 2003 when the Wildcats won 39-35. The game has been in Orlando since 1997. Since its inception the Florida Classic has attracted 1,560,893 spectators. The two teams have been playing each other since 1925 with FAMU leading the all-time series 48-16-1.

Wildcats at a glance The Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats are 8-2 overall, 7-0 in MEAC, and have been named MEAC Champs for 2012.

Head Coach Brian Jenkins is in his third year with a record of 26-7 overall, 20-3 in the MEAC and two MEAC titles.

Top players: Quarterback Quentin Williams (839 passing yards, nine touchdowns, 363 rushing yards, three TDs); QB Broderick Waters (315 passing yards, four TDs, 479 rushing yards, five TDs); running back Isidore Jackson (915 rushing yards, 10 total TDs); running back Rodney Scott (565 rushing yards, five TDs); wide receiver Eddie Poole (23 receiving, 290 yards, four TDs); wide receiver K.J. Stroud (24 receiving, 265 yards, one TD); offensive lineman Terrance Hackney; defensive lineman LaBrandon Richardson (44 total tackles, 12.5 for loss, 8.5 sacks, one TD); defensive lineman Harold Love III (41 total tackles, six for loss, 2.5 sacks); linebacker Jarkevis Fields (77 total tackles, one sack); linebacker Duwad Lane (44 total tackles, three interceptions); defensive back D.J. Howard (48 total tackles, one sack, three interceptions); and defensive back Nick Addison (55 total tackles, three interceptions, one TD).

Rattlers at a glance The Florida A&M University Rattlers are 4-6 overall and 4-3 in MEAC this year.

Earl Holmes became the interim coach last week.

Top players: Quarterback Damien Fleming (1,991 passing yards, 15 TDs); running back Eddie Rocker (625 yards rushing, one TD); running back James Owens (1,277 all-purpose yards, six total TDs); wide receive Travis Harvey (61 receiving, 783 yards, seven TDs); wide receiver Lenworth Lennon (65 receiving, 658 yards, four TDs); offensive lineman Steve Robinson; K. Chase Varnadore (14-17 field goals, 46 long); linebacker Brandon Hepburn (80 total tackles, 5.5 sacks); linebacker Brandon Denmark (47 total tackles, 4.5 sacks); defensive lineman Padric Scott (23 total tackles, 2.5 sacks); linebacker Johnathan Pillow (58 total tackles, two interceptions); defensive back Dovontae Johnson (23 total tackles, two interceptions); defensive back Devan Roberts (54 total tackles, three sacks, two interceptions).

B-CU Wildcats 8-2 overall, 7-0 in MEAC, and have been named MEAC Champs for 2012

FAMU Rattlers 4-6 overall and 4-3 in MEAC this year

THE GAME

When: Saturday, Nov. 17 Time: 2 pm kickoff Where: Citrus BowL, Orlando TV: ESPN Classic

B-CU offense vs. FAMU defense Running the ball and stopping the run is the key to this matchup. The Wildcats like to run and have the MEAC’s leading rusher in yardage with Jackson. Their quarterbacks can run too and their receiving corps is solid. FAMU boasts some playmakers at linebacker.

B-CU has been able to run on just about anybody.

They don’t pass a lot but when they do they are efficient. FAMU has been pretty good against the run. The Wildcats are ranked ninth nationally in rushing yardage and leads the MEAC. They also lead the MEAC in scoring, total offense and red zone offense. The Rattlers are ranked 24th nationally in total defense. Advantage: Even.

FAMU offense vs. B-CU Defense The Rattlers have a playmaker with Fleming under

center and have a talented receiving corps. Rocker has been solid in the backfield. FAMU has to be balanced and must take care of the football.

The team has the second-ranked offense in the MEAC. B-CU leads the nation in takeaways and turnover differential. The Wildcats are second in turnover margin and turnover differential and eight in total defense nationally. The Wildcats also have intercepted a pass in 17 straight games and boasts the MEAC’s sack leader in Richardson. Advantage: B-CU.

Special teams This area of the game can make or break you. Neither team has returned a kick for a score but FAMU has done better with Owens (824 kick-return yards).

The Rattlers also have been more solid in their kicking game with Varnadore. Special teams is B-CU’s area of weakness. Hurd (six-12 field goals) and Kowalski (37.4 yard per punt) both have been inconsistent in the kicking game. Advantage: FAMU.

Coaches: Holmes vs. Jenkins Holmes is the Rattlers’ defensive coordinator and was named interim coach last week. He may become a great head coach one day. Holmes led FAMU to an impressive win over North Carolina Central. The North Carolina team was a contender for the MEAC crown.

In three seasons, Jenkins has become a hot commodity and has had tremendous success. He has won an HBCU national title, two MEAC titles and two FCS playoff appearances, so he gets the nod. Advantage: BCU.

Prediction: B-CU Bethune-Cookman already has won the MEAC title but still has much incentive to win this game. The Wildcats are looking to go 8-0 in MEAC for the first time and can still earn a first round bye and host a playoff game.

FAMU will be hyped, passionate and inspired but BCU has the better team. B-CU is ranked No. 22 in the FCS Coaches poll and No. 24 in the FCS media poll.

The Wildcats also are ranked first or second in each of the HBCU polls.

The Wildcats have the old fashioned remedy (though not always pretty) to winning games in running the ball on offense and a defense that creates turnovers. They get the nod, but this is a rivalry game and anything can happen.

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CALENDAR • BOOK REVIEW

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NOVEMBER 16 - november 22, 2012

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Orlando: Sheryl Brady, a protégé of Pastor T.D. Jakes, will be speaking on Nov. 18 at Faithworld at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

St. Petersburg: The Christian Wrestling Federation will host a show including ‘Mr. Hollywood’ Shannon Rose as the special guest ring announcer on Nov. 17. The event will feature old school wrestling combined with today’s high flyers at the Tree of Life Church, 4682, 49th Ave. N., at 2 p.m. Free.

Jacksonville: A celebration of service concert honoring Elder Dwight Follins and featuring the Florida Mass Choir Praise Team will be held Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at Faith United Miracle Temple, 1860 West 5th St. More information: 904-207-1051.

Orlando: Orlando Community Arts Inc. presents Clare and the Chocolate Nutcracker at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

Orlando: “Sister Act The Musical’’ makes its way to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre Dec. 4- 9.

Jacksonville: Rap artist 2 Chainz will be at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville Nov. 23 for an 8 p.m. show and at the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater Nov. 26 for an 8:30 p.m.

Orlando: The 26th Annual Festival of Trees showcasing displays of designer decorated trees and wreaths, gingerbread creations, vignettes, a gift boutique and children’s activity area will be held through Nov. 18 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave. Cost: $10 adults, $6 for children. More information: 407-896-4231.

Winter Garden: The community is invited to a free couponing class presented by the Simple Truth Foundation and hosted at Next

ERICA RIGGINS

The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists will host its annual Griot Drum Awards & Scholarship Banquet on Nov. 15 at The Nielsen Company’s headquarters in Oldsmar. A reception will be held at 6 p.m.; dinner and a program begins at 7 p.m. A panel will include Bay News 9 anchor Erica Riggins.

More information: www.tbabj.com.

NAJEE & MICHAEL BAISDEN

JOEL OSTEEN

Tickets are on sale for the eighth annual Jazz in the Gardens presented

by Uptown and hosted

by Michael Baisden (right), featuring Charlie Wilson, New Edition, Najee (above), Earth, Wind and Fire, Mary Mary and more. The event will be held March 16 and 17 at Sunlife Stadium, Miami Gardens.

More information: www. jazzinthegardens.com.

Community Church, 13640 W. Colonial Drive. It’s at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 17. More information: 407-654-9661 or pastorscott@nextcommunitychurch.com or www. nextcommunitychurch.com.

Ocoee: The City of Ocoee will award $10,000 in matching grants for neighborhood improvement projects as part of its Most Valuable Partnership (MVP) Matching Grant Program.

The maximum grant award is $2,000. Applications are available at www.ocoee.org

Author and televangelist Joel Osteen will be at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

or at the City Hall reception desk. The deadline to submit applications is Nov. 30. More information: www.ocoee. org or call 407- 905-3100.

Tampa: Wiz Khalifa’s The 2050 tour is at the USF Sun Dome Dec. 2 for a 7:30 p.m. show.

St. Petersburg: First Fridays are held in downtown St. Petersburg at 250 Central Ave. between Second and Third Avenues from 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. More information: 727-393-3597.

100 Black Men of Tampa Bay to host scholarship fundraiser at GameTime The 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay, Inc. is creating a family-friendly scholarship fundraiser for Collegiate 100 BMTB students. The event will take place Dec. 1 beginning at 6 p.m. at GameTime, 1600 E. 8th Ave. Tampa.

The collegiate group, 100 BMTB, has made annual scholarship awards to outstanding students at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) for the last four years. For this cycle, the organization will award scholarships to one student at each of the HCC campuses, and a new scholarship to one student at the University of

‘Telegraph Avenue’ explores urban life and relationships

BY DR. GLENN ALTSCHULER SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

In their struggle to survive and thrive on planet America, Michael Chabon suggests, some Black people have tried “terraforming,” a grand strategy to change the atmosphere and environment to fit the needs of human physiology.

Others, however, have opted for “pantropy,” a program to selectively alter individuals so that they can adapt more effectively to “harsh, unforgiving” realities.

In “Telegraph Avenue,’ Chabon, the author of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay’’ and “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union,’’ rarely employs such high-falutin’ concepts.

But terraforming and pantropy are the choices confronting his characters: Archy Stallings, an AfricanAmerican, and Nate Jaffe, a Jew, co-owners of Brokeland Records, which is located “on the ragged fault where the urban plates of Berkeley and Oakland (California) subducted,” may well be put out of business by Gibson Goode, the fifth richest Black man in America, who wants to build a megastore in their neighborhood.

Their wives, Gwen

BOOK REVIEW Shanks and Aviva Roth, partners in midwifery, have been threatened with legal action following a dangerfilled delivery.

Wickedly funny Set in 2004, the plot will thicken – and relationships will be further strained – when Archy’s father, a broken-down former actor in blaxploitation and Kung Fu films, arrives, carrying a secret dating back 30 years to the heyday of the Black Panthers, and teenager Titus Joyner, the son Archy never acknowledged, appears, strikes up a special friendship with 15-yearold Julius Jaffe, and joins the Jaffe household.

Saddled with a contrived plot and an ending that is not quite credible, “Telegraph Avenue’’ is not as compelling as Chabon’s best novels.

At its best, however, it is a beautifully written, wickedly funny, perceptive and poignant meditation on race, gender, class, and popular culture – and on human frailty and fragility – in 21st-century America.

Terraforming to pantropy Archy, Chabon writes, “was tired of Brokeland, of black people, and of white people, and of all their

“Telegraph Avenue: A Novel” is by Michael Chabon.

Publisher: Harper, 68 pages. schemes and grudges. …

Most of all, he was tired of being a holdout, a sole survivor, the last coconut hanging on the last palm tree on the last little atoll in the pathway of the great wave of late-modern capitalism, waiting to be hammered flat.”

If he could load his backpack with a hefty paycheck, a benefit’s package, and a paid vacation, and “move from being shiftless and cheating to merely the latter,” Archy also muses, he might make a 50 percent gain in domestic peace.

Moving, at first almost imperceptibly, from terraforming to pantropy, Gwen learns to “stay fly. And do what you got to do.” She begins to feel something resembling forgiveness for Archy, his father and his sons, and for the men “for whom he was the heir and testator, from the Middle Passage, to the Sleeper Cars of the Union Pacific, to the seat of a fixie back-alleying down Telegraph Avenue in the middle of the night.”

‘Common passion’ “Telegraph Avenue’’ leaves Archy Stallings and

Nate Jaffe with a financial backer, a cache of valuable “oldies,” plans to start “a web site that will sell fortyyear old chunks of vinyl on consignment to invisible Samoans,” and a determination, at long last, to “get real and take shit seriously.

At the same time.”

Whether or not the new operation actually holds promise, Chabon reminds us that a fulfilling personal and professional future does not depend on platters or profits or on nostalgia.

It is all about family, friends and lovers, living in neighborhoods “where common sorrow could be drowned in common passion” and collective action.

Try as he might, however, Chabon is not all that reassuring about the future of such neighborhoods, or, for that matter, about the efficacy of either terraforming or pantropy.

Dr. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.

South Florida.

The Game Night Scholarship event presents an opportunity for friends and family to socialize, eat, drink and play, all in a good cause. Ticket purchases will provide access to unlimited food from a special menu, unlimited non-alcoholic drinks, and a twohour game card. Tickets are $30 and $35.

The higher amount is for an automatic raffle entry. The event will feature an appearance by Stu Robinson from 95.7 The Beat.

Buy tickets online at www.100BMTB.org or through members of the 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay.

STOJ

NOVEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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FOOD

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NOVEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 22, 2012

A smoked turkey is served at the Laurel Canyon home of chefs Karen and Quinn Hatfield in Los Angeles.

KIRK MCCOY/LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT

Thanksgiving feast takes lots of planning

BY ANDREA WEIGL NEWS & OBSERVER (MCT)

Home cooks in the South spend more time planning and cooking Thanksgiving dinner than anyone else in the country.

A recent nationwide survey of 400 households, paid for by Mrs. Cubbison’s Kitchen, a crouton and stuffingmix manufacturer, found that people in the South start planning at least three weeks before their Thanksgiving feast and spend between two and three days in the kitchen.

While we Southerners may have a lock on planning ahead, advice can come from other places.

Here is guidance from Martha Holmberg, a food writer and cookbook author who lives in Portland, Ore. Holmberg is a former editor at the Connecticut-based Fine Cooking magazine, which recently reprinted its “Thanksgiving Cookbook: Recipes for Turkey and All the Trimmings.”

When it comes to Thanksgiving, Holmberg said, “I break it down like a military operation.”

Her weapon of choice: lists.

The first one to be decided: the guest list. “How many people are coming? That starts it all,” Holmberg said.

Here is Holmberg’s battle plan as well as a few tips based on our own experience:

What to do early Plan the table. Once the guest list is known, determine how many tables and chairs are needed. Put the extra leaf or leaves in the dining room table or pull the folding chairs and card tables out of storage. Place plates, silverware and glassware in the dining room. Gather platters, serving dishes and utensils. If they have been in storage, wash or at least rinse them. Launder and iron tablecloths and napkins. Put candles and vases in one place. Have children make place cards.

Make the turkey decisions. The major questions are what kind of turkey and how will it be cooked. A fresh turkey will have to be ordered or reserved as soon as possible. Frozen turkeys can be bought up to a week ahead but must be defrosted. Decide how you will cook the turkey. If it will be roasted in the oven, the logistics of cooking the side dishes and desserts need to be mapped out. If the turkey will be grilled, smoked or fried, gather the equipment and supplies.

Choose rest of the menu. Once the turkey decisions are made, everything else should fall into place based on available oven space and time. If oven space is limited, consider preparing green beans in a slow cooker, making mashed potato casserole to be reheated or vegetable dishes that can be assembled in advance and served at room temperature.

5-7 days before Assess each menu item. What ingredients must be bought? What can be bought now and what shopping will be required a day or two before the dinner? What tasks can be done in advance? Can the piecrust be made and frozen? Can the turkey stock be made for gravy? Can the bread be toasted or cornbread baked for stuffing or dressing? Can the desserts be made a day or two before?

Buy non-perishables. Purchase flour, sugar, butter, nuts, spices, broth and hard cheeses. Buy wine and beer to serve. Stock up on sparkling water or sodas. Buy that frozen turkey.

Calculate defrost time. Figure out when the turkey needs to start being defrosted. Figure one day for every 4 pounds, or four days for the average 16-pound turkey. The safest way to thaw a turkey is in the refrigerator.

A few days before Buy perishable items. These include vegetables, breads and dairy products. Pick or buy flowers to decorate the table.

Write an action plan. For Thanksgiving Day, write a detailed to-do list with a timeline. When does the turkey need to start cooking? What tasks must still be done — make the gravy, whip cream for desserts, toast the nuts, etc.? When do side dishes need to go into the oven or be assembled?

Have a contingency plan. If things don’t go as planned, have one dish in mind that can be dropped or simplified. Or if things go horribly wrong, know which restaurants are offering takeout or serving dinner.

Planning, Holmberg said, can take the stress out of the holiday.

“If you do it all ahead,” she said, “it minimizes you having to make all these decisions when the house is full of people.”

The News & Observer is based in Raleigh, N.C.

Butterball will again have its Turkey Talk Line available for cooks who need help.

The number is 800-BUTTERBALL.

How to brine that bird

BY BETTY HALLOCK LOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Even professional chefs get the Thanksgiving Day jitters. Just ask Quinn and Karen Hatfield, the couple who own Hatfield’s restaurant (he’s the chef, she’s the pastry chef ) and the recently opened Sycamore Kitchen, both in Los Angeles.

“I feel like I forget how to cook a turkey every year,” says Quinn, who’s inclined to prepare it differently each time: roasted; grilled; the legs removed, deboned and rolled into a roulade stuffed with foie gras or chorizo; butterflied; deep-fried.

This year it’s smoked turkeys (a couple of Willie Birds ordered from Harvey’s Guss), prepared on his Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, a Father’s Day gift from Karen, their 2-year-old son, Bennett, and 5-year-old daughter, Paige.

Smoking the turkey is a preemptive maneuver on Quinn’s part. “Cooking out of the house frees up kitchen space,” he says.

“I’m a big proponent of not fighting over the oven.”

No matter how he cooks the turkey, it is always brined, Quinn says, with a mixture of water, salt, brown sugar, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary and thyme. “Brine is critical,” Quinn says. “It helps get that beautiful color and absorb the smoke flavor.”

His brining tip: Place the turkey in a bucket filled with brine, then top it with ice so it doesn’t have to go into the refrigerator. “Trying to find room for a bucket in the refrigerator is impossible, and we have a big fridge.” (The same brine, by the way,

is used before roasting the turkey breasts at the Sycamore Kitchen for Karen’s excellent turkey sandwiches.)

TURKEY BRINE 9 quarts water 1 ½ cups light brown sugar 1 ½ cups kosher salt 12 cloves garlic, lightly crushed 2 tablespoons black peppercorns 1 small bunch rosemary 1 small bunch thyme Whisk the water, brown sugar, salt, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary and thyme together in a container large enough to hold the brine and turkey. Add the turkey and brine for 36 hours.

Remove the turkey and air dry well before smoking (at least one hour).

SMOKED, BRINED TURKEY Quinn Hatfield uses a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Brine the turkey for 36 hours, then air-dry it for at least an hour before smoking.

Half fill the charcoal basket with briquettes. Add one handful of applewood chips and mix it in with the charcoal (turkey takes on smoky flavors well, so you don’t need to use a lot of chips).

Fill the starter chimney halfway with briquettes and light. Once completely lit, pour them on top of the other coals and fill the water tray. Adjust vents in the smoker to hold the temperature at 300 to 325 degrees.

Place the turkey in the smoker and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 1 hour for every 4 pounds of turkey; this can vary widely (a 10-pound turkey took only 2 hours to cook). For a larger bird or piece of meat, consider using a remote thermometer with an alarm that will notify you when the turkey is done.

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NOVEMBER 16 - NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

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FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Kimberly Nicole originally appeared as one of Florida’s Finest in May 2006.

Nathan Williams originally appeared as one of Florida’s Finest in January 2011.

Election coverage on TV: Viewers preferred guerrilla theater

BY DAVID HILTBRAND THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (MCT)

PHILADELPHIA – Whether your guy won or lost on Tuesday night, you have to admit it made for compelling television.

“The graphics, the tickers, it looked great on all the channels,” says TV news analyst Andrew Tyndall. “I wasn’t impressed by the insights or the reporting, but it looked fantastic. It was sweet television.”

Well, with one exception. “It was the first time I noticed how far behind PBS has fallen in the competition,” says Tyndall.

“They always looked like the slightly dowdy, austere relative, but they were still in the same business. But this time they looked like the Wayne’s World of political television.”

Mock PBS if you must, but never doubt that Big Bird and Jim Lehrer were both heaving sighs of relief late Tuesday night.

At least, now that the great battle is over, we can expect a tone of civility and respect to return to our scorched airwaves. Right?

“I think the election will actually strengthen the antagonism of Fox News and MSNBC,” says Christopher Harper, professor of journalism at Temple University. “The election clearly shows that we are a nation divided almost straight down party lines and ethnic lines. I think it will make those news organizations and perhaps others as well more strident.”

Greater selectivity But do the politically oriented cable news channels merely reflect that division — or do they exacerbate it?

“We’ve become a society where people get their information from radically different sources,” says Mary Beth Oliver, distinguished professor of communications at Pennsylva-

nia State University.

“Conservatives drift to Fox News; liberals drift to MSNBC,” says Oliver.

“There’s a shift to greater selectivity, an opportunity to choose one source of information, one that constantly reiterates your own point of view. This living in an echo-chamber environment contributes to greater antagonism between people of different political persuasions.”

Ratings would indicate that we prefer guerrilla theater to the traditional headline news approach.

“I think people are looking for more raw meat and more debate with an edge, rather than an anchor on high speaking like Moses,” says Temple’s Harper.

“I think CNN and the networks are really dull.

“I found Fox really entertaining (on Election Night),” he continues. “They had good guests. Mike Huckabee said that the Florida Panhandle is ‘all God, guns, grits and gravy.’ That’s just a great line.”

Fox’s faux pas Fox News Channel also had the night’s most gripping drama, a scene torn from “The Caine Mutiny.”

It came when Fox, based on the painstaking voting analysis of its behind-thescenes Decisions Desk, called Ohio for President Obama. Karl Rove, sitting at the anchor desk with Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier, vehemently disputed the news just delivered on his own network.

“That stood out head and shoulders above everything else that happened Election Night,” says Tyndall. “The cameras followed Kelly down the hallway to supervise the argument between the people in the front office and the people in the back office.

“It was riveting television but self-destructive for their credibility,” he continues. “They were visually telling the viewers: ‘In the

JOHN J. KIM/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT

Bartender Kirsten Schellin works the evening shift as CNN’s election coverage is shown on a television at the Park Avenue bar on Tuesday in Janesville, Wis. back room we have people who know facts. In front of the cameras, we have people who make things up.’ “

Decisive moment Of course, when it comes to cable news, the pot really doesn’t have much room to call the kettle black.

“There was a Pew study earlier this week,” noted Harper last Friday, “that said MSNBC is considered more biased than Fox. Journalists hide behind the guise of fairness and objectivity all the time. We all have agendas. I think it’s healthier to admit your biases. I’d prefer to know

where someone is coming from so I don’t have to guess.”

Ironically, considering how deeply involved and invested they had been in the presidential race, the cable news organizations had no hand in its biggest story.

“What was the decisive moment in the campaign?” asks Paul Levinson, professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.

“I think looking over everything, it was Romney’s ‘47 percent’ comments, which were captured not by a professional journal-

ist, but by a waiter who had his smartphone. It ended up on YouTube. When you have a video of someone, that really can’t be refuted.

That’s the takeaway from this election — the importance of this kind of media.”

Quick fix There’s another takeaway as well: Rancorous, disparaging advocacy cable coverage is not going away.

“Engaging in genuine discourse and delving into issues and context — there’s a worry that that will cause viewers to dis-

engage,” says Penn State’s Oliver. “So they go for the emotional piece. It’s what they see as a profitable quick fix.”

But the president vowed in his acceptance speech no more red states and blue states, only the United States. The cable combatants have got to take that to heart. Right?

“I guess the first test is going to be whether Congress and Obama can compromise on the Bush tax cuts,” says Harper. “That’s raw meat for Fox and MSNBC. I don’t think we’ve seen our Kumbaya moment yet.”

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NOVEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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