A ROUNDUP OF LOCAL SPORTSSee PAge 7

East Central Florida’s Black VoiceMAY 16 - MAY 22, 2013 www.daytonatimes.comYEAR 38 NO. 20

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PEOPLESPEAK

EERFgeORge e. CURRy: Cleveland’s Charles

Ramsey: Hood or hero? See page 4

girls developing full potential

through involvement in Flagler County

troopSee page 3

‘Never, never give up’

Chitwood discusses crises, crash with public relations prosBY JAMES HARPERDAYTONA TIMESharperjames59@yahoo.com

Joie Chitwood III has had more than his fair share of public rela-tions nightmares during his reign at the Daytona International Speedway.

First, he was hired in August 2010 to replace popular for-mer track president Robin Braig, which caught many in the indus-try off guard.

Potholes on the track, a major repavement project, a jet dryer explosion during a race, cars fly-ing into fences injuring at least 30 fans, and state legislators re-fusing to pass a tax break bill for frontstrech renovations are just some of the issues he has had to work to put a positive spin on for the public and media.

“I have a lot of experience in crisis management,’’ Chitwood said Tuesday before a group of public relations professionals at an event held in the media room at the Daytona International Speedway (DIS).

Relationship builderThe DIS president told about

50 members of the Volusia-Fla-gler area chapter of the Flori-da Public Relations Association (FPRA) that he has been dealing with crisis management since he was 18 when he began working for his father “managing individ-uals my father’s age.”

Stefany Strong, public infor-mation officer for the Volusia County Health Department and incoming president of the asso-ciation, told the Daytona Times the main purpose of the media day was for public relations pro-fessionals to build relationships with the media.

“We can’t wait until the last minute. We don’t want our first meeting with the media to be

Please see PR, Page 2

Children share experience of taking care of former Bethune-Cookman president and wife

BY JAMES HARPERDAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com

“Hello, my friend” is an expression like-ly to have been heard when encounter-ing Bethune-Cookman College President Emeritus Dr. Oswald P. Bronson.

Bronson, who was president of the school for 29 years – from 1975 to 2004 – turns 86 this year. He still has a twinkle in his eye but has been plagued by illnesses that has him wheelchair-bound and dependent on his children and wife to be his voice, conscience and his provider.

“Dad’s illnesses was a shock to my whole system,”

said Bunny Bronson, her father’s main caretaker who did not want to go into spe-cific details about her father’s diagnosis. She is writing a book about her experienc-es taking care of him and her mother as they get older.

She admits the roles have been re-versed.

“My own feelings and emotions are of-ten put on the backburner to keep things going. Much of my time has gone into keeping him encouraged and as uplifted as possible, and building a system of care that will do the same,” she said.

Pleased with JacksonBunny said that if her father could ex-

press in words what he thinks about Bet-

hune-Cookman University, he would say he is happy with Dr. Edison Jackson as the school’s new president.

“My mother and I were recently on the campus, and we both said the same thing: ‘The campus is beginning to feel like it did when Dad was here!’

“We loved seeing how the students liked being around Dr. Jackson. It reminded us

so much of Dad’s approachability. The campus seems so much more free and fresh since Dr. Jackson has been here. The faculty and staff seem happier, or some-thing. Dr. Jackson is a God-loving man who seems to care about people. He’s no push-over. Don’t fool yourself. But he seems to genuinely care about people,” she said.

Far left: Dr. Os-wald P. Bronson and his wife, Helen, are shown here as they be-gin their journey together. They have been mar-ried for 61 years.

Left: “When my father became president of Bethune-Cook-man College, Daddy King (Martin Luther King Sr.) was his first guest speaker, and he stayed with us in our home,” said Bunny Bronson. King is seated on the left; Bronson is on the right.

Bottom: Dr. Bronson stands next to Albert Bethune, son of Bethune-Cook-man founder Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BRONSON FAMILY

Please see BRONSON, Page 5

A Bronson update

Bunny Bronson

This is just one ofthe pearls of wisdomshared with hundredsof B-CU graduatesat their May 11commencement

BY JAMES HARPERDAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com

A college graduate’s first job af-ter receiving his diploma was at a supermarket. On his first day on the job, the store manager gave him a broom to sweep the store.

“I’m a college graduate,” the student said to the store manag-er. To which the manager replied, “Oh, I forgot. Let me show you how to use it.”

This story, shared by honor-ary degree recipient Joyce Ann Hanks-Moorehead, was one of the many pearls of wisdom shared with 417 Bethune-Cook-man University graduates on May 11 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach before they re-ceived their diplomas.

The center was packed as new-

ly appointed B-CU President Dr. Edison Jackson presided over his first spring commencement.

Lots of hooting, holleringJackson, who was selected as

B-CU’s permanent president in March, reminded the crowd that this was his second graduation service since being appointed in-terim president. He served as in-terim president after Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed retired in May 2012.

One of Jackson’s first major decisions was to bring back fall graduation services to the school. In December, 117 graduates re-ceived their diploma in that cer-emony.

“Celebrate blessings God has bestowed upon us today,” Jack-son told a rambunctious audi-ence. On two occasions during the service, he had to remind them to contain themselves as they hooted and hollered for their loved ones – sometimes inappro-priately while invited guests were speaking.

“Remember the song by the

Please see GRADS, Page 5

COURTESY OF JOHN REEVES/B-CU

Exuberant B-CU grads wait to march to the stage at the Ocean Center on May 11 to receive their diplomas.

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 72 MAY 16 – MAY 22, 2013FOCUS

PRfrom Page 1

when an emergency occurs involving our employers,” said Strong, who gave ku-dos to FPRA member An-drew Booth, Senior Man-ager of Media Relations for the DIS, which hosted the event.

Along with Chitwood, Daytona Beach News-Jour-nal Editor Pat Rice, was an invited speaker.

Frustrating monthThe Daytona Times was

among the media repre-sentatives taking ques-tions from members of the FPRA.

Chitwood’s most recent crisis and disappointment was Florida legislators’ re-fusal to vote on a bill dur-ing their last session, which ended May 3, to guaran-tee DIS $70 million in tax breaks, refunds and rebates on the contingency that the Speedway spend at least $250 million renovating the track’s frontstretch.

He was asked by one of the public relations pro-fessionals what the future holds for the renovation project since the bill didn’t go through.

Chitwood said that last day of Florida’s legislative session was an emotional day with a lot of tension in the air.

Initially, he and others at DIS were optimistic that legislators would be on their side and pass the bill sponsored by State Rep. David Santiago and a com-panion bill submitted by State Sen. Dorothy Hukill.

“It was extremely frus-trating. We were sucked in-to this sports quagmire in terms of the process,” he noted.

Other dashed hopesAlso hoping for tax relief

during the legislative pro-cess were the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, seeking $3 mil-lion a year in sales tax re-bates for 30 years; the Jack-sonville Jaguars wanted $2 million a year for 30 years for EverBank Field in Jack-sonville; and the Orlando Lions were seeking $2 mil-lion a year in sales tax re-bates for 30 years for the construction of a stadium in Central Florida with a goal of attracting a Major League Soccer expansion franchise.

After reading a series of stories in the Daytona Times, Daytona Interna-

tional Speedway agreed to implement a coordinated community outreach pro-gram, including advertis-ing, trade fairs, training and meet-and-greet op-portunities, to ensure all qualified local women and minority firms would par-ticipate in the $250 million redevelopment project.

“We are willing to invest a quarter of a billion dollars (in the community). We would like consideration,” said Chitwood, adding he was prepared for an argu-ment with legislators about whether the project should be subsidized, one of the reasons he made several trips to Tallahassee lobby-ing for the bill submitted by Santiago and Hukill.

Forced to reassessChitwood said DIS brings

in more people to the state than any of the other sports franchise owners who were also seeking the tax breaks.

“I went up to Tallahas-see four times. It was a long drive. Now we have to suck it up and decide what we will be doing next,” Chit-wood said to the attentive public relations profes-sionals.

Chitwood said the $2 million a year in sales tax refunds they were request-ing over the next 30 years and $10 million for con-struction may not seem like a lot considering what they were planning on spend-ing, but “I have to make a good business case.”

In a statement Chitwood released before the pub-lic relations event days af-ter no decision was made on their bills by legisla-tors he said, “We are clear-ly disappointed by the out-come last week in the Flor-ida Legislature. We made

a very compelling case for what could have been a successful public/private partnership with the state of Florida to create jobs and generate real econom-ic growth. We also had substantial local, regional and statewide support.

“However, given this set-back to our project, we are forced to reassess the pro-posed redevelopment and closely examine a number of factors such as its tim-

ing, size and scope, before we decide on next steps.”

During the public re-lations event, which was dubbed a media day for the professionals, Chit-wood elaborated saying, “We have to make sure we do it (the renovation proj-ect) the right way. Poli-tics was involved with the other sports teams. We couldn’t keep (our project) separate from other sports teams,” he said, adding that

the minute they have a new plan he will share it with the public.

Sat upfrontChitwood also comment-

ed on the horrific crash at DIS during a Nationwide Series race this past Feb-ruary when more than 30 people were injured after Kyle Larson’s racecar went airborne and slammed in-to the fencing, sending his

engine, a tire and debris through the fence and into the stands.

To calm race fans’ fears about sitting in the grand stands during a race track, Chitwood’s public relations move was to show the fans he wasn’t afraid to sit in the same area – which he did the next day for the Dayto-na 500 for the first 30 laps.

“The last thing I want is our fans feeling uncom-fortable,” he said, adding that DIS received advice from two experts to fix the fencing problem.

Biggest challengeChitwood said his next

biggest challenge is com-peting against social me-dia.

He noted that it’s his job to fill the seats of the grandstand but with apps, cell phones, and other so-cial media it’s a struggle because “we want them (fans) to come here to en-joy the event.

He said this is the reason the renovation project is so important. “This is a 50 year-old property. We have to work on the experience – work on the amenities,” he concluded.

Juicing event scheduled Saturday

A Midtown EcoVillage Juice-A-Thon – where at-tendees will learn how to create their own healthy juices and smoothies – will be held May 18 from 9 a.m. to noon at City Island Farmer’s Market in Day-tona Beach.

The first 100 people will receive a free 16-ounce smoothie. Additionally, prizes will be given away throughout the event, including juicing books, T-shirts, blenders and juices.

More information: www.midtownecovillage.org.

The Greater Union Life Center Healthy West Volu-sia Initiative held a Com-munity Fitness Day at the Chisholm Community Center in DeLand on May 11.

The event was sponsored by DeLand Commissioner Vonzelle Johnson; the De-Land Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Soror-ity, Inc.; Relentless Efforts; and the Chisholm Com-munity Center. The fitness day was held to highlight the need for healthy eating and lifestyle in the African-

American community. Dr. Monet Bradley, event

coordinator, and Mario Davis, executive director, are focused on improving the community’s overall health and wellness. This event host a variety of ac-tivities for the communi-ty including Zumba, flag football, basketball, and a tug-of-war contest for the youth and adults.

Each vendor of the Com-munity Fitness Day spoke to the audience about the importance of healthy liv-ing.

DeLand center hosts fitness day

DUANE FERNANDEZ/HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Personal trainer Conrad Reed addresses the audience about the importance of exercising regularly.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLORIDA PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATION

Members of the Florida Public Relations Association, other public relations professionals and members of the news media pose Tuesday on Victory Lane at the Daytona International Speedway.

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 7COMMUNITY NEWSMAY 16 – MAY 22, 2013 3

Troop 952 of Flagler County wanted in on the action of building char-acter and taking part as a troop in the Girl Scouts of the USA and Overseas.

Through a vista of the century-old organization having access to ‘’commu-nity service and the open air,’’ the troop carried on a car wash.

Cars were waved to the parking lot of Prosperity Bank at 181 Cypress Point Parkway, Palm Coast.

Troop 952 ensured thor-ough, remarkable work and friendly service for a donation instead of cars running through a conven-tional car wash.

The troop continues to develop full potential through membership at In-dian Trails Middle School, under the leadership of Li-sa Fields.

The scenario describes how girl scouting has evolved since 1912 when the first troop began in Sa-vannah, Ga, with 18 girls developing physically, mentally, and spiritually. Girl scouting today has en-

hanced with 10 million girls and adults in 145 countries and involved through lead-ership, empowerment, so-cietal issues, diversity, and inclusiveness.

Cultural society seeking recipes for cookbook

Sybil Dodson Lucas, First Vice President/Ways and Means Chairman of the Af-rican American Cultural Society (AACS), is compil-ing a cookbook.

She has gotten it off the ground, but support is needed in supplying the recipes. She is looking for 100 recipes or more. Ways and Means member/Exec-utive Corresponding Sec-retary Marie Winston Mc-Cray is also helping.

Dodson-Lucas is asking everyone who submits a recipe to purchase at least one cookbook. Those re-serving a cookbook must provide a $5 good-faith de-posit towards the purchase price. The total cost is $20 and the opportunity of me-morializing your recipes.

The cookbook will not

be available until late fall. Dodson-Lucas will not col-lect the balance until late September.

Family, friends, and neighbors are welcome to submit their recipes. The organization is accepting recipes from anyone willing to purchase a cookbook.

The recipes can be hand-written, typed, or cut from a magazine, as long as the entrants have tested the cooking directions.

They may be mailed, hand-delivered, or emailed to aacspalmcoast@aol.

com. The mailing address is P. O. Box 350607, Palm Coast, FL 32135-0607. The organization’s physi-cal address is 4422 U. S. 1 North, Palm Coast. Checks are payable to the African American Cultural Society.

For further details, call the AACS at 386-447-7030.

Still, Dodson-Lucas maintains that your old-family recipes beg to be shared with grandchildren and children, or folks who just like to cook. And so, let’s get cookin’!

Actress/playwright returns to First Church

Linda Gray Kelley re-turns to First Church for a one-woman show, giving a voice to the “Women of the Gospel,” and resonating the female human condi-tion in the New Testament.

The internationally re-nowned actress/playwright will perform as a fundrais-er and sponsorship for the Love & Joy Foundation, the Palm Coast Rotary Club, and the church.

Kelley produces, directs, and puts a face behind the biblical characters through colloquial speech. She al-so is part of a traveling pro-duction company, and so come and see her for your-self to book for your venue.

Her performance takes place May 18, 5 p.m., at

91 Old Kings Road North, Palm Coast. The ticket price is $15.

Tickets can be purchased at the door, or to obtain fur-ther details, call the church at 386-446-5759.

•••As always, remember

our prayers for the sick, af-flicted and bereaved.

Gillard S. (Tre’s) Glover, III, May 18; Joy Eurie, May 19; Donna Banks, Toney the Barber, May 21; Betty White, Victor Jordan, May 22. Happy anniversary to Stanley and Phyllis Henderson, Arthur and Loretta Pete, May 19; Sidney and Violet Hon-eyghan, May 20.

Birthday wishes to:

Happy Birthday to You!

Shown with parents, Girl Scout Troop 952 held a car wash outside Prosperity Bank.

By Jeroline D. Mccarthy | Daytona Times

Palm Coast Community news

Girls developing full potential

throughinvolvement in Flagler County

troop

Concert in the parkEnjoy a concert in the park presented by the city of Port Orange, featuring The Sound at Kenneth Parker Amphithe-ater, 1000 City Center Circle, Port Orange, on May 19 at 6 p.m. Free. More information: 386-506-5522.

Legos and storytimeHands-on learning and story-time come together during a free event that features read-ing and building with the Lego Duplo Read and Build book “Grow Caterpillar Grow!” on May 18 at 11 a.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 1900 W. International Speedway Blvd. Ages 4 and up. Space is lim-ited. Reservations suggested: 386-238-1118.

County to meet with Teamsters Staff from Volusia County’s Personnel Division will meet with the Teamsters Local 385, which represents deputy sheriffs, from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 22 in the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office fourth-floor conference room, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand.

County to meet with firefighters union Staff from Volusia County’s Personnel Division will meet with representatives of the International Association of Firefighters union from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 20 in the Volusia County Fire Ser-vices conference room on the second floor of the Historic Courthouse, 125 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand. More informa-tion: 386-736-5951.

City of DaytonaBeach offers activitiesFitness training, basket-ball, seniorcise, tai chi and swimming are just a few of the activities offered at various recreation centers in the city of Daytona Beach. Some classes are free, others require a small fee. More in-formation: see the community tab at codb.us.

Health fair inOrmond BeachA health fair with blood pres-sure monitoring, blood glu-cose monitoring and also food vendors and face painting for children will be held May 18, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Emmanuel CLG 54 South Ridgewood Ave. Ormond Beach. More information: Rev. Gwendolyn Prince, 386-214-4069 or Em-manuel CLG 386-673-7651.

Watch ‘Jaws’ under the starsA free outdoor showing of “Jaws’’ is May 24 at River-front Park on the corner of Beach Street and Magnolia Avenue. Moviegoers should bring lawn chairs or blankets. Hot dogs, popcorn, candy and soft drinks will be available for sale. If it rains, the movie will be shown at the Daytona Beach Regional Library at City Island, 105 E. Magnolia Ave. More information: 386-257-6036, ext. 16264.

Mentor training for foster careCommunity Partnership for Children is recruiting mentors for teenage children in foster care. Registration for the next orientation class is being ac-cepted for the next orientation class on May 28 from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Community Partnership for Children, 160 North Beach St., Daytona Beach. More information: 386-547-2293 or Susan.Hiltz@cbcvf.org.

Clothes giveaway at Miracle TempleMiracle Temple’s Rope of Hope presents a “Giving a Helping Hand” clothing giveaway every Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 316 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd.

To list your community event FREE, e-mail us at news@daytona-times.com. No phone calls or faxes, please. Events are listed on a space-available basis, and in the sole discretion of the Daytona Times staff. Effective immediately, paid events will no longer be listed in the Daytona Times Community Calendar. You can advertise local events for as little as $35 per week. Call 813-319-0961 or email sales@daytonatimes for more information.

Compiled by the Daytona Times

Community Calendar

BRIEFS

‘March Against the Madness’ takes place Saturday

Restoring Hope and the City of Daytona Beach will present: “March Against the Madness,” a movement to rally around issues that threaten the city. This year’s march and rally will spot-light the rampant, yet sensi-tive issues of gun violence, gang violence and domes-

tic abuse. On May 18, members of

the Derbyshire communi-ty will lead a march around their neighborhood, declar-ing that the “madness stops here.’’ The day will kick off with a march at 9 a.m. from Derbyshire Park, 849 Der-byshire Road followed by a rally concluding at 1 p.m.

There will be free food, live music and guest speak-ers.

The City of Daytona Beach Police Department also will conduct a gun buy-

back adjacent to the park at 869 Derbyshire Road.

More information: 386-226-1122; info@notmyci-ty.com or @NotMyCity on Twitter.

Daytona Beach library presents three-part genealogy series

Ruth Patrignani, a long-time genealogy volunteer at the Daytona Beach Region-al Library at City Island, will present a three-part geneal-ogy series at 10 a.m. on June 4, 11 and 18 in the library auditorium.

The series kicks off with a session on the federal cen-suses from 1790 to 1940. Participants will learn what information they can find on a particular census (it’s not always the same) and how to track their ancestors in the various censuses.

The second class will cover primary and second-ary sources. Patrignani will explain the differences be-tween the two, where to find this information, how accu-rate it is, clues you might find, and more.

The third class will focus primarily on land and mil-itary records, but Patrig-nani is willing to adapt the class to discuss other sub-jects that may be of interest to attendees.

Reservations are re-quested and may be made by contacting Kim Dolce at kdolce@volusia.org or 386-257-6036, ext. 16315.

Center to offer activities for teens

The City of Deltona Parks & Recreation Youth Adviso-ry Sub Committee is host-ing a day of outdoor ac-tivities and indoor board games when they turn the Harris M. Saxon Communi-ty Center into a teen center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 18 at 2320 California St.

The outdoor activities will include dodge ball, bas-ketball and four square will begin at 10 a.m. and con-clude at 2 p.m. Hamburg-ers or hotdogs with snack and soda will be available for $1.50. Water will be pro-vided.

More information: 386-878-8900 or DeltonaFl.Gov.

GOSPEL HALLELUJAH WORLD WIDE RADIO MINISTRIES

Hosted by: Pastor Harold Ford and Prophetess Deborah Ford

LISTEN TO WPUL 1590Saturdays 10 am -noon

Sundays 5am- 7am & 1pm-3pm

Listen online at: www.wpul1590.com

website: www.gospelhallelujah.com

Come let the Holy Ghost Get Ya!

COURTESY OF DAYTONA STATE COLLEGE

Dental assisting graduates gathered in groups, bonded strongly from their pro-gram experience.

682 receive degrees from Stetson UniversityStetson University con-

fered bachelor’s and mas-ter’s degrees to 682 gradu-ates on May 11, during two commencement ceremo-nies at the Edmunds Center, 143 E. Pennsylvania Ave., DeLand. Stetson also pre-sented several awards dur-ing the commencements to outstanding students and exemplary faculty.

Daytona State College graduates 4,200

Daytona State College held its graduation cere-monies on Monday. A total 4,200 graduates were cele-brated, ranging from bach-elor’s to associate degres as certificats as well as adult education graduations in a separate ceremony.

Harry Price, left, is shown with Terry Farrell and Beth Paul. Price, associate professor of chemistry at Stetson, receives the university’s William Hugh McEniry Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award was presented at last Sat-urday’s commencement ceremony by Farrell, Stetson’s professor of biology, and last year’s recipient of this award. Beth Paul, right, is provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.

COURTESY OF STETSON UNIVERSITY

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 7 MAY 16 – MAY 22, 20134 EDITORIAL

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: NIxON’S ghOST

DAviD FitzsiMMons, the ArizonA stAr

Our era of political extremismLast year, James Porter, the re-

cently-elected president of the National Rifle Association, de-clared that President Obama was a “fake president …[whose] entire administration is anti-gun, anti-freedom, anti-Second Amendment.”

Earlier this month, Adam Kokesh, a failed Republican can-didate for Congress from Arizo-na and Internet talk show host, declared he would lead a Ju-ly 4 march in Washington, D.C. of thousands of followers with loaded rifles slung across their backs as a demonstration against “tyranny.”

District law bars private citi-zens from carrying firearms in public, and city police officials have said they won’t permit such a march. Kokesh said such ac-tion would show that “free peo-ple are not welcome in Washing-ton, adding that “we would rath-er die on our feet than live on our knees.”

The bipartisan Congressio-nal effort to craft an immigration bill exploded in controversy last week when it was revealed that, Jason Richwine, a co-author of a heavily-criticized study on the subject submitted by the conser-vative Heritage Foundation, had previously asserted it was un-likely “Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with Whites” and that, despite their long existence in America, Black Americans have yet to adapt properly to Ameri-can culture.

You can believe that these three expressions of conservative political opinion – and scores of other similar ones – are uncon-nected. But that would be exactly the wrong analysis.

Politics corruptedIf the first term of the Obama

presidency proved anything about today’s American political culture, it showed conclusively that we live in an era of conserva-tive extremism.

The assertion of extreme ideas and actions spewing from con-servative elected officials, office-seekers, political operatives, talk show hosts and donors has be-come so commonplace that it’s sometimes difficult to gauge the depth of this GOP-led corrupting of the traditional practice of poli-tics.

But this is how Thomas E.

Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, two longtime and respected stu-dents of Washington governance, put it in an April 27, 2012 op-ed column for the Washington Post: “The GOP has become an insur-gent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scorn-ful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

There’s seemingly no end to the bizarre notions and tough-guy posturing and outright rac-ism, sexism and homophobia that represent conservatism to-day. This nihilistic politics has underscored that conservatism is rooted in callousness, and the more it comes under pres-sure from the movement toward greater equality of opportunity, the more deranged it becomes.

Unyielding obstructionism

This perspective on the con-servative movement’s unyielding obstructionism to anything Pres-ident Obama proposes, wheth-er it be legislative policies or ap-pointees to the cabinet and feder-al judgeships, makes his achieve-ments in office all the more im-pressive.

But it also indicates what griev-ous damage has been done to the president’s program – and to the American political tradition.

A Washington Post op-ed col-umn last year looked ahead to the November presidential elec-tion and ruefully predicted that no matter who won, “If anything, Washington’s ideological divide will probably grow after the 2012 elections.”

Unfortunately, the editorial was right about that, too.

Lee A. Daniels is a longtime journalist based in New York City. His latest book is Last Chance: The Political Threat to Black America. Click on this sto-ry at www.daytonatimes.com to write your own response.

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THE CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESSThe Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and na-

tional antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full hu-man and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

Cleveland’s Charles Ramsey: Hood or hero?

When some of us saw the first video of Charles Ramsey, the col-orful Black dishwasher in Cleve-land who is being celebrated as a hero for rescuing three White women captives from horrid con-ditions in a Cleveland house, we had a flashback to Antoine Dod-son, who became a flamboyant Internet sensation after saving his sister from a would-be rapist in their Huntsville, Ala. housing apartment, and Sweet Brown, who barely escaped a fire in her Okla-homa City complex.

But more than any other fa-mous “hilarious Black neighbor” Internet sensation, the coverage of Ramsey – and his criminal past – raises serious questions about how we treat a hero with a trou-bled past and, yes, how Blacks and Whites look at the same event through different prisms of race.

First, as they say in TV news, let’s go to the videotape.

“I’ve been here a year,” Ramsey said in an interview with WEWS, a local television station. Referring to Ariel Castro, the suspect arrest-ed for holding the women against their will, Ramsey said, “You see where I’m coming from? I bar-beque with this dude. We eat ribs and whatnot and listen to salsa music…

“He just comes out in his back-yard, plays with the dogs, tinkers with his cars and motorcycles, goes back in the house. So he’s somebody you look, then look away. He’s not doing anything but the average stuff. You see what I’m saying? There’s nothing exciting about him. Well, until today.”

Ramsey explained that Castro “got some big testicles to pull this off, bro.”

He added, “I knew something was wrong when a little, pretty White girl ran into a Black man’s arms. Something wrong here. Dead giveaway.”

Plenty wrongThere was plenty wrong, as Ram-

sey learned when he put down his McDonald’s Big Mac and answered a call for help from Amanda Berry, who had been last seen in 2002 on the eve of her 17th birthday. The two other women were Georgi-na “Gina” DeJesus, who had been missing since 2004 at the age of 14, and Michelle Knight, who disap-peared in 2002 at the age of 21.

While being hailed as a hero, Ramsey was the object of both rac-ism and ridicule.

Though we’re reluctant to pub-licly admit it, some African-Amer-icans cringed at the sight of Ram-sey. His hair, curled in the back like Al Sharpton’s do and as slick as Chuck Berry’s, is interspersed with what we once called post of-fice hair – each nap has its own route. This is one of the few cases where a person’s mug shot looks better than his real life photo.

Image mattersTo put this in context, think back

to when Black civil rights protest-ers dressed up in their Sunday’s best, knowing they were going to get physically assaulted by police and White supremacists. Then, as now, image matters. Especially when one of us appears on TV. Still, there are plenty of people in our community who look like Ramsey and their speech and appearance make them no less valuable than the best dressed and most articu-late among us.

Some have suggested many Whites take delight in seeing Blacks caricatured in the image of Charles Ramsey and Antoine Dodson.

The Smoking Gun website dis-closed on May 8 that Ramsey “is a convicted felon whose rap sheet includes three separate domestic violence convictions that resulted in prison terms.”

Blacks instantly asked: Why is something that happened a de-cade ago – and had nothing to do with Ramsey’s heroism – relevant today? Cleveland’s WEWS-TV, fac-ing a backlash from viewers, apol-ogized for reporting on Ramsey’s criminal past.

Bad taste“While the story was factually

sound, the timing of it and publi-cation of such information was not in good taste, and we regret it,” the station said on its Facebook page.

Normally, I would agree that Ramsey’s criminal past, certainly in this situation, should be irrele-vant. But there’s nothing normal about this case. Unfortunately, Ramsey invited the scrutiny when he said he suspected domestic vi-olence because he “was raised to help women in distress.”

In view of that assertion, Ram-sey’s domestic violence convic-tions – hardly a record of helping women in distress – became fair game and should have been re-ported by the news media. But the reporting should not end there. Ramsey’s ex-wife, since remar-ried, said Ramsey eventually apol-ogized for battering her and they now interact on “an okay basis.”

In addition, she posted two ear-lier photos of Ramsey on her Fa-cebook page. She told the Smok-ing Gun, “For my daughter’s sake I show he didn’t always look hood.”

George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspa-per Publishers Association News Service (NNPA). Curry can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.

Black revolutionary Assata Shakur no terroristWhen the FBI announced that

they were placing fugitive Assa-ta Shakur (Joanne Chesimard) on the list of most wanted terror-ists and that they were offering an additional $1 million for her cap-ture, it caught most of the world by complete surprise.

Assata has been living quietly in exile in Cuba where she was given political asylum for 30 years. The former member of the Black Lib-eration Army escaped captivity after being tried and convicted — under controversial circumstanc-es — in connection with the kill-ing of a New Jersey State police-man. Several other allegations against her were dropped either through acquittals or mistrials.

Assata Shakur had been a mem-ber of the Black Panther Party, later joining the Black Liberation Army. Like many other Black ac-tivists in the late 1960s and early 1970s, she witnessed the vicious repression of the Black Freedom Movement — and other move-ments of the time — by agencies of the U.S. government, including through the use of the now no-torious COINTELPRO (the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program).

Repression of BlacksCOINTELPRO involved the in-

filtration and disruption of orga-nizations that the FBI concluded were a threat to the U.S. elite. Dis-ruption included rumor-monger-ing, provocation, the encouraging of splits, imprisonment and mur-der. The intensity of the repres-sion of the Black Freedom Move-ment, in this case, led many ac-tivists to conclude that, at a mini-mum, self-defense was necessary. For others the conclusion was that a military arm of the Black Free-dom Movement was needed.

‘Never a terrorist’Whether one agrees or dis-

agrees with the conclusions ar-rived at by Assata Shakur, one thing is very important: she was never a terrorist. Let us be clear about the meaning of this word that we hear so regularly these days. A “terrorist” is someone who uses military methods/vio-lence against civilians in order to advance a political objective. There is nothing in the activism of

Assata Shakur that displays any-thing approaching terrorism. Ad-ditionally, since her exile, she has not been involved with any ac-tivities in the U.S.A. that could be construed as terrorist.

So, what is this about? It ap-pears that the main inspiration for this outrage is to derail any ef-forts at the normalization of rela-tions between the U.S. and Cuba.

Most of this country is interest-ed in improvement in relations with Cuba.

Ridiculous melodramaFor this reason, we need to un-

derstand the upping of the ante on Assata as not only a threat to her existence, a violation of Cu-ban and international law, but also a cynical move to disrupt ef-forts to end the Cold War in the Western Hemisphere.

Now is the time to demand that President Obama and Attorney General Holder reverse the deci-sion of the FBI. Let’s end this ri-diculous melodrama.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Pol-icy Studies. Follow him at www.billfletcherjr.com. Click on this story at www.daytonatimes.com to write your own response.

Mel Watt is ideal choice to lead FHFAPresident Obama recently

nominated Melvin (Mel) Watt, a long-time North Carolina Con-gressman, to direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). While major news media report-ed on the development, few men-tioned exactly what the new job would entail or the significance of an African-American potentially leading a key financial office.

Voice of reasonWhen our nation faced the

worst financial crisis since that of the Great Depression, the House Financial Services Com-mittee faced dealing with the na-tion’s financial solvency on one hand and millions of homeown-ers who were in or approaching foreclosure on the other. Through a lengthy series of discussions and hearings, Rep. Watt emerged as a voice of reason, consistently fair and balanced in crafting solu-tions to complex problems.

Following the Watt nomination, the Center for Responsible Lend-ing said of the nominee, “He was one of the first elected officials to recognize and warn about the

dangers of subprime lending, of-fering legislation to nip predato-ry lending in the bud and tireless-ly advocating for ways to prevent needless home foreclosures…The Senate should move quickly to confirm him.”

Created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the FHFA oversees the nation’s secondary mortgage markets: 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, Fan-nie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA is also empowered to make poli-cy, implement rules, and regular-ly report to Congress. In 2010, the combined debt and obligations of these 14 government-sponsored enterprises totaled $6.7 trillion.

Accomplished African-American

Watt became a 1967 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University

of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a result of having the highest academic average in its business school, he also became president of the business honors fraterni-ty. Three years later, he earned a JD degree from Yale University Law School and was a published member of the Yale Law Journal.

For communities of color that lost a trillion dollars in wealth during the housing crisis, we share an important stake in Rep. Watt’s nomination. It is an oppor-tunity for an accomplished Af-rican-American to develop con-sumer-focused policy and imple-ment rules to better serve all of America’s people.

Charlene Crowell is a com-munications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at: Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org. Click on this story at www.day-tonatimes.com to write your own response.

NNPA COLUMNIST

LEE A. DANIELS

NNPA FINANCIAL WRITER

ChARLENE CROwELL

NNPA COLUMNIST

BILL FLETChER, JR.

GEORGE E. CuRRy

NNPA COLUMNIST

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 7COMMUNITY NEWSMAY 16 – MAY 22, 2013 5

BRONSONfrom Page 1

Father figure to thousands

In addition to presiding over the school and inspiring thou-sands of students to earn their degrees, Bronson had his own children to raise and mold – Bun-ny, her brother Oswald Jr., who is called Chip, and their sister Flora Bronson-Stitt.

Of course, Bronson didn’t do it alone for he had the help of his wife, Helen, who has been by his side for 61years.

Raising the children was main-ly Mrs. Bronson’s responsibility considering that during most of their relationship, her husband had thousands of students at the school who also looked to him as a father figure.

Shift for familyBronson-Stitt said her father’s

transition into his present state was definitely a new state of dis-covery and a wakeup call for her.

“Everything seemed to hap-pen so suddenly and we were not ready for this stage in their lives. I know that it struck all three of us with a fear and uncertainty about the future. The transition to all of this was very gradual. As they transition, so do we,” Bronson-Stitt said.

“My advice to others is that families must work together. It’s a big and new responsibility. It put all three of us in a new position of how we would work together and care for them. Learning how to work together is a challenge as well,” she remarked.

Bronson-Stitt, who also lives in Daytona Beach along with her sister, makes sure her mother and father’s needs are met.

“A few things I desire to do is spend time with my parents, help to fulfill whatever dreams and desires they may have at this present time, and have them in-teract as much with their friends and connections with the outside world as possible,” Bronson-Stitt continued.

Chip, after graduating from Bethune-Cookman, moved to Jacksonville where he now has a family, but he visits his parents and siblings often.

Bronson’s accomplishments

A “commitment to academic excellence” was the cornerstone of Bronson’s presidency. Under his leadership, major fields of study increased from 12 to 37. In

addition to seven continuing ed-ucation centers for students op-erating throughout the state, the college added new accreditations in the nursing and the teacher education programs.

Student enrollment increased from 1,520 in 1975 to 2,794 in 2003. Fifteen new buildings were constructed under his ad-ministration, most notably the 2,500-seat Mary McLeod Bet-hune Performing Arts Center.

Bunny Bronson added that as far as physical accomplishments, the Performing Arts Center was one of his crowning achieve-ments he talked about.

“From the beginning, Daddy wanted an impressive and mean-ingful presence on International Speedway Boulevard., as well as an edifice worthy of Dr. Bethune’s greatness. He wanted some-thing state-of-the-art where ma-jor, wholesome, national and in-ternational performances could take place,” she said.

“Dad never expressed on his accomplishments in terms of what he was proud of. He often deflected attention away from himself. Sometimes that would make Mom and me really mad

because he often gave too much credit to other people the things he actually did himself,” Bunny remarked.

Pastor, presidentAn ordained United Method-

ist minister, Bronson pastored in a number of churches. Prior to his job at Bethune-Cookman, he served as president of the In-terdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta from 1968 to 1975.

He graduated from then B-CC in 1950 and also earned a bach-elor of divinity degree from Gam-mon Theological Seminary. He received a Ph.D. from Northwest-ern University in 1965.

“Enrollment increases and graduations rates were impor-tant, but not nearly as important as quality performance and aca-demic excellence. When Daddy first came to Bethune-Cookman (as president), ‘academic excel-lence’ was his mantra,” Bunny noted.

“Dad has always been about, and still is about, building people rather than just building things. When he’s able to express him-self, he even encourages and

builds up his nurses,” she contin-ued.

Fond memoriesShe remembers many stories

her father and mother shared with her growing up.

“Dad and Mom often said that Dr. (Mary McLeod) Bethune’s (founder of Bethune-Cookman) presence filled a room. Whenev-er she walked into a class on cam-pus, the students had to stand.

“When she would give an ad-dress, she often did so with her hand on her hip,” said Bunny, adding that her father came to the college as a student under President James Colston and graduated under Dr. Richard V. Moore. Dr. Bronson succeeded Dr. Moore as president.

She said that after a special pro-gram honoring Dr. Moore at ITC, while her father was serving as president there, “Moore was so impressed that he soon led the charge to get Daddy to come to Bethune-Cookman as president. Daddy turned the school down four times before he finally said yes.”

‘Unscripted path’Bunny said the family began

to notice their father’s illnesses shortly after he finished a stint at Edward Waters College, where he was interim president from 2005 to 2007 while the Jacksonville HBCU searched for a new presi-dent.

“(President Barack) Obama was elected during the begin-ning of Dad’s illness so there was not a lot of conversation about it, in that, most of his time was try-ing to find out what was going on with his health,” she explained.

She remembers her father be-

ing very excited about this coun-try electing a Black president “though Daddy did not agree with all of Obama’s politics.”

“Every situation is different. Be careful about people who are al-ways “lecturing” you about how you should or should not feel during this process. This is an unscripted path. You are learn-ing as you go. Cry if you must but never, ever, condemn yourself, especially when you are doing the very best you can. And don’t allow others to condemn you,” advises Bunny, who will include some of these suggestions in her forthcoming book.

“These are precious years. Treasure them. Don’t take this time for granted. As hard as it may be at times, be very pa-tient with them. They are hav-ing to deal with the adjustments of aging just like we are having to deal with seeing them age. On top of that, we are having to deal with our own personal aging is-sues. When it’s all said and done, they’ve still done more for us than we could ever do for them. I cher-ish every moment,” she added.

‘Mindset of a pastor’Flora Bronson-Stitt echoed her

sister’s sentiments about their parents.

“My parents have always been there for me and my siblings. Both of my parents have always en-couraged me and I am so thank-ful for them. My parents have al-ways worked together as a united front. He was a strong believer in not sparing the rod. The basis of everything he did was love and relationship,” said Bronson-Stitt, who teaches English and reading and is currently working on her master’s degree.

If her father becomes able, Bronson-Stitt said she believes he would become pastor of a church.

“He could never drop that call in his life. He’s always had the mindset of a pastor and shep-herd. He would be involved in a myriad of works to bring about effective change in the commu-nity,” she continued.

“Many have said that my fa-ther pastored Bethune-Cookman and I believe and agree with that statement,” she said.

Bronson-Stitt said the most im-portant thing to her these days is family and friends.

“You can’t do it all yourself. All must work together. It decreas-es stress levels, helps maintain a better environment that helps in the healing process in some kind of way, and promotes an atmo-sphere of peace on all levels,” she added.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BRONSON FAMILY

Flora Bronson-Stitt teaches full time and is currently working on her master’s degree in addition to helping to take care of her mother and father as well as her own im-mediate family.

Above: In spite of illnesses, Dr. Os-wald P. Bronson still attempts to operate his laptop in the comfort of his bed.

Right: Chip Bron-son, the son of Dr. Bronson, who now lives in Jack-sonville, poses with one of his young cousins at a family gathering.

Staple Singers, ‘Respect Yourself.’ A hint to the wise should be sufficient,” he said to muffled laughter from some but setting the tone that he was serious.

“We have high standards and expec-tations. We’ve come to celebrate, but don’t mar this,” he remarked.

The crowd settled down.

Quince: Save moneyThen the moment many had been

waiting – the commencement address by Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince – began.

“Mary McLeod Bethune would be proud of you today,” said Quince, the first Black female to serve on the high court.

Her advice to the Class of 2013 was to start saving money. She said the Black community was hardest hit by the re-cent recession.

“We had no securities, no wealth to fall back on. Start thinking now about the next generation. We have to think about the future.” She informed the graduates that they were entering into a new phase in their adult life.

“In college, (you) fell into habits not conducive to the workforce,” she said, reminding them that they did learn proper English in their classrooms and they should be prepared to use it.

No shortcutsQuince said she was worried about

some in this crop of grads because many are dependent on new technolo-gy – cell phones, computers, etc.

“Don’t take shortcuts to get to the next promotion. … Don’t take short-cuts in your work life – look like you are about business… your hair, dress,” Quince advised.

She also reminded them to be civ-ic-minded and remember to use their right to vote.

“Go to the polls in 2014, 2016, not just 2012,” she urged.

More words of wisdomQuince also had advice for grads that

were going on to law school, medical school or other higher degrees.

She recalled when she left college to

go on to law school.“I thought I was pretty smart. You will

be competing in a different realm. Be more disciplined to compete,” she ad-vised.

She also urged the students to “make time for yourself, take care of your health, and operate with integrity. You will have time for small things.”

Quince concluded by telling the stu-dents about what she called the creed of professionalism.

“Decide your word will be your bond. Make sure your word is your bond. You will be successful,” she stated.

Good foundationThe honorary degree recipients also

had advice for the students.Joyce Ann Hanks-Moorehead earned

a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociol-ogy with a concentration in Criminolo-gy from Bethune-Cookman College in 1967. She pursued a master’s degree at Boston University in 1967, then went on to earn her juris doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas in 1976.

“Values instilled in me were rein-forced at this university. You are am-bassadors of our alma mater. Know the value of your degree. Look forward to building on the foundation of our founder,” she said.

Hanks-Moorehead, who shared the story about the graduate who got his first job at the supermarket, received an honorary degree on May 11 for the Doctor of Laws.

‘Never, never give up’Charles Reed, the former chancellor

of the California State University sys-tem, quoted England’s former Prime Minister Winston Churchill after he re-ceived his honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from President Jackson.

“Never, never give up (on) your dreams,” he said.

Reed also reminded the students they had help on their journey to get-ting their degrees.

“You did not get here by yourself. You got a lot of help along the way. Thank your parents, faculty,” he stated.

One last bit of advice he gave the students was “Don’t pierce or tattoo something you can’t hide on a job in-terview.”

That statement prompted peals of laughter from the graduates and their families.

GRADSfrom Page 1

Tripletts Kacendre, Luscenda and Me-scenda Dufresne all graduated with a GPA above 3.0 with degrees in nursing.

A group of B-CU’s male graduates are all smiles as they prepare to enter the Ocean Center to receive their diplomas.

Above: Dr. Edison Jackson, left, is shown during the commencement service with B-CU Board of Trustees Chair, the Rev. John Wesley Har-rington; Florida Justice Peggy A. Quince; and honorary degree recip-ients Joyce Anne Hanks Moorehead and Dr. Charles Bass Reed.

Left: Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince gives commencement remarks filled with words of wisdom at Ocean Center to the graduates.

PHOTOS BY JOHN REEVES/B-CU

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 7 MAY 16 – MAY 22, 20136 COMMUNITY NEWS

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Graduation ceremonies will be held for area high schools beginning May 30 and ending June 2. Admis-sion will be $3 per person. Parking will be $5 for cer-emonies held at the Day-tona Beach Ocean Center. Tickets will be presold at each of the high schools. Below is a list of the dis-trict’s graduation ceremo-nies and information relat-ing to the graduating class-es of 2013.

Atlantic High SchoolGraduation: Friday, May

31, 7:30 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 225

Senior Awards: Tues-day, May 28, 6:30 p.m., Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church

Baccalaureate: Monday, May 20, 7 p.m., Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Port Orange

Class Motto: “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called To-morrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.” – Dalai Lama XIV

Class Song: “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey

Class Colors: Teal, silver and black

Class Flower: Tiger Lily

DeLand High SchoolGraduation: Sunday,

June 2, 7:30 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 535

Senior Awards: Wednes-day, May 1, 7 p.m., DeLand High School Auditorium

Baccalaureate: Tuesday, May 28, Time/Place: TBA

Class Motto: “Best you have ever seen”

Class Song: “We Are Young” by Fun

Class Colors: Green and gold

Class Flower: Forget-Me-Not

Deltona High SchoolGraduation: Friday, May

31, 4 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 325

Senior Awards: Thurs-day, May 23, 6:30 p.m., Deltona High School Au-ditorium

Baccalaureate: Tuesday, May 21, 7 p.m., Deltona Al-liance Church

Class Motto: “Living the Dream, Class of 2013”

Class Song: “Tattoos on This Town” by Jason Al-dean

Class Colors: Blue and silver

Class Flower: Blue Hi-biscus

Mainland High School

Graduation: Sunday, June 2, noon, Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 365

Senior Awards: Thurs-day, May 23, 7 p.m., Pea-body Auditorium

Baccalaureate: Sunday, May 26, 6 p.m. Providence Church

Class Motto: “The great-est pleasure in life is doing what people say you can-not do.”

Class Song: “Walking on a Dream” by Empire of the Sun

Class Colors: Blue and gold

Class Flower: Blue Rose

New Smyrna Beach High School

Graduation: Sunday, June 2, 3:30 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 420

Senior Awards: Thurs-day, May 30, 6:30 p.m., New Smyrna Beach High School Auditorium

Baccalaureate: Tuesday, May 28, 7 p.m., First Bap-tist Church, Family Life Center

Class Motto: “We may not know where we are going, but we are on our way.” - Unknown

Class Song: “How Far We’ve Come” by Matchbox Twenty

Class Colors: Red, black and white

Class Flower: Night Blooming Cereus

Pine Ridge High School

Graduation: Saturday, June 1, 1 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 375

Senior Awards: Thurs-day, May 23, 7 p.m., Pine Ridge High School Audi-torium

Baccalaureate: Tuesday, May 21, 6 p.m., Deltona Lakes Baptist Church

Class Motto: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Class Song: “Good Rid-dance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day

Class Colors: Teal, black, and gold

Class Flower: White Rose

Seabreeze High School

Graduation: Saturday, June 1, 4:30 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 380

Senior Awards: Monday, May 20, 6 p.m., Seabreeze High School Auditorium

Baccalaureate: Wednes-day, May 22, 6 p.m., St. Brendan Catholic Church

Class Motto: “You can’t discover new oceans with-out leaving the shore.”

Class Song: “Home” by Phillip Phillips

Class Colors: Red and white

Class Flower: Hibiscus

Spruce Creek High School

Graduation: Saturday, June 1, 8 p.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 678

Senior Awards: Thurs-day, May 30, 7 p.m., First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach

Baccalaureate: Tues-day, May 28, 7 p.m., First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach

Class Motto: “The fu-ture belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Class Song: “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey

Class Colors: Black and gold

Class Flower: Tiger Lily

Taylor Middle-High School

Graduation: Thursday, May 30, 7 p.m., Edmunds Center, Stetson University

Approximate number of graduates: 124

Senior Awards: Wednes-day, May 15, 6:30 p.m., Taylor Middle-High School Auditorium

Baccalaureate: Wednes-day, May 29, 6:30 p.m., Taylor Middle-High School Auditorium

Class Motto: “I’m so glad we had this time to-gether, just to have a laugh or sing a song, seems we

just get started and before you know it, comes the time we have to say so-long.”

Class Song: “Laughed Until We Cried” by Jason Aldean

Class Colors: Black and silver

Class Flower: Stargazer

University High School

Graduation: Saturday, June 1, 9 a.m., Daytona Beach Ocean Center

Approximate number of graduates: 512

Senior Awards: Wednes-day, May 22, 6:30 p.m., Volusia County Baptist Church

Baccalaureate: Wednes-day, May 15, 6 p.m., Volu-sia County Baptist Church, Orange City

Class Motto: “Living the Dream, Class of 2013”

Class Song: “Hall of Fame” by The Script

Class Colors: Orange and white

Class Flower: Lily

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Area high schools hold graduation ceremonies

Five graduating seniors from Volusia County Schools will each be awarded a $20,000 scholarship for being named 2013 Dell Scholars. Rodnesha Davis of Pine Ridge High School; Jesica Juarez, Janet Meza, Noe Morales, all of Taylor Middle-High School; and Lyndsay Morgan of Mainland High School will each receive a computer laptop and an assigned mentor for four years to the college or uni-versity of their choice. Since its inception in 1999, the Susan and Michael Dell Foundation, a private family foundation, has awarded an estimated $51,000,000 in scholarships to deserving students. This year, 303 scholarships were awarded in the United States.

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 7SPORTSMAY 16 – MAY 22, 2013 7

COMPILED BY ANDREAS BUTLER DAYTONA TIMES butleramj@yahoo.com

Father Lopez had its run at a state title end with a 7-5 loss to defending state champion Jack-sonville Providence in the Class 3A Regional Finals on May 11.

The game was suspended due to rain the previous day and re-sumed the next. Lopez trailed 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning before scoring five runs to get within 6-5 after Zach Hawk’s RBI single which scored Joe Skinner in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Also in the inning the Green Wave got a two-run single from Skinner, a bases loaded walk from Matt DeLucia and Tommy Roache beat out a bunt for an

RBI single.Ian Farrell pitched a complete

game to lead the Green Wave past Gainesville P.K. Yonge 6-3 in the Regional Semi-Finals, two days earlier. Evan Miranda had a two run single, Nick Restuccia two RBI singles and Zack Hawk an RBI single for Lopez.

Deltona Trinity Christian Academy ripped Ocala St John’s Lutheran 13-2 in the Regional Fi-nal on May 10. The Eagles used a 10-run fourth inning to advance to the Final Four for the sixth con-secutive season, the second since moving to Class 1A in 2011.

In the inning, TCA got a solo homerun from Bobby Rodriguez and a two-run shot from Spen-ce Taylor. Trinity faced Master’s Academy of Vero Beach in the State Semi-Finals on Wednes-day, which was after deadline.

The Eagles are looking for fourth state title in five years. They are the defending Class 1A champs.

Two days earlier, Trinity sur-vived six errors to defeat Mon-tecillo Aucilla Christian 5-3. Dustin Hagy pitched a complete game and struck out 10 to get the win for the Eagles.

Hagy also went 2-for-3 with an RBI double at the plate, Dusty Miller was 2-for-3 with an RBI, Bobby Rodriguez and Tyler Law-rence also drove in a run apiece for Trinity.

Cole Parks’ walk off RBI dou-ble in the ninth inning lifted Chiefland past Pierson Taylor 2-1 in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs. Austin Woods had an RBI and T. J. Hearn scored a run for Taylor. The Wildcats finished the year at 20-7.

Softball: Taylor falls in Final Four

Pierson Taylor fell to Bristol Liberty County 14-3 in the Class 1A semi-finals. Shea Gagnon hit a two-run double, Allie Carroll had an RBI single and Amber Dees went 1-for-3 for the Wild-cats.

Spring football game schedule

May 18: Lake Mary Prep at Fa-

ther Lopez – 10a.m. May 22: Seabreeze at Ti-

tusville Astronaut – 7p.m.; Pine Ridge at Eau Gallie – 7p.m.

May 23: Atlantic at Warner-7 p.m.; Harvest Community at Trinity – 7 p.m.

May 24: DeLand at Orlan-do Boone – 7 p.m.; New Smyr-na Beach at Palm Beach Cen-tral – 7 p.m.; Spruce Creek at Orlando Colonial – 7:30 p.m.; Taylor at Deltona – 7 p.m. Jacksonville Bartram Trail at Flagler Palm Coast – 7 p.m.

May 25: University at Main-land – 10 a.m.

Prep Sports Seven Baseball

1. *Seabreeze (17-9), 2. *New Smyrna (17-8 or 19-8), 3. Univer-sity (19-6), 4. Spruce Creek (16-10), 5. *Taylor (20-7), 6. *Father Lopez (16-12), 7.*Trinity (16-10-1), *Flagler Palm Coast *(13-12). *-denotes playoff team.

VOLUSIA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

SPORTS REVIEW

How baseball teams fared in playoffs

BY ANDREAS BUTLERDAYTONA TIMESbutleramj@yahoo.com

Bethune-Cookman con-cluded its season with loss-es to #23 South Florida 7-3 on May 7 and then ranked #30 the University of Cen-tral Florida 4-0 on May 8.

The Wildcats now shift their attention to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Confer-ence Tournament in Nor-folk, Virginia from May 15-19 where the conference ti-tle and NCAA Tournament berth is at stake.

Bethune-Cookman (30-23, 17-7) hasn’t been as dominant in conference play this season as in re-cent years but still has what it takes to win it.

B-CU finished second in the MEAC Southern Di-vision. They had the same conference record as Sa-vannah State (29-22, 17-7) who won the tie breaker and the division.

The ‘Cats are the number two seed from the South-ern Division in the tourna-ment. They opened with Coppin State (12-14, 17-32) on Wednesday (May 15).

“We just have to concen-trate like we do when we play the better competi-tion. We have to be ready to come and play our best. If, we do that I feel good about us,” responded B-CU Head coach, Jason Beverlin.

B-CU has won seven straight MEAC titles, 13 in the past 14 seasons and 15 in the past 17 years. They have also been to seven straight NCAA Tourna-

ments and 13 in the past 14 years.

“There is no added pres-sure. Any pressure is what you put on yourself. It’s all self-induced. Pressure is al-ways there to win. As com-petitors you want to win ev-ery year,” said Beverlin.

Pitching is still the key to the Wildcats success; they are led by starters Montana Durapau (8-3, 3.41 ERA) and Scott Garner (5-5, 4.63 ERA) along with closer Jor-dan Dailey (5-0, 1.07 ERA, 10 SV).

“We’re going to need to be strong on the mound in this tournament with our lack of depth. We are look-ing for our starters Mon-tana, Scott and Ali Simpson to all go deep into games,” added Beverlin.

B-CU’s offense is led by its catalyst Josh John-son (.322 BA, 64 H, 15 SB), Anthony Stokes (.303 BA, 4 HR, 23 RBIs) and Eros Modena (.288 BA, 2 HR, 31 RBIs, 37 R, 17 SB).

The supporting cast of David Lee (2 HR, 25 RBIs), Eric Sams (1 HR, 23 RBIs), Matt Noble (2 HR, 29 RBIs) and Brandon Turner (.261 BA, 11 RBIs, 31 R, 22 SB) will also be needed for offense if the ‘Cats are to win.

“The top of our lineup is important. Josh gets us go-ing and Brandon is one of the best base runners I have seen in both college and pros as a player and coach. We have a lot of team speed

and can put pressure on defenses. We have a lot of guys who bring something to the table. Also, David hasn’t hit as high average wise as in the past but he has deep pitch counts. He wears down pitchers and help guys behind him,” ex-pressed Beverlin.

Softball title eludes team

For the first time in three years; Bethune-Cookman is not headed to the NCAA Tournament.

B-CU entered the tour-nament as the three-time defending champion.

The Wildcats (18-35, 11-3) were eliminated from the MEAC Tournament with a 9-5 loss to Delaware State University on May 10.

B-CU led the game 3-0 before DSU rallied fueled by some late homeruns.

Calesha Shelley went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and Simone Ceasar 2-for-4 with an RBI for the ‘Cats.

Jessica Madrid and Ash-ley Bennett each homered and combined for six RBIs for the Hornets.

A day earlier, the Wild-cats opened the tourna-ment with an 8-0 win in five innings over Coppin State.

Michelle Banuelos-Smith had two RBIs, Ceasar had two hits and Shamaria Engram two hits with an RBI while Shanel Tolbert pitched a complete game shutout for B-CU.

Later that day they fell

to Savannah State Uni-versity 8-1, in that game Ceasar had an RBI single that scored Shelley for the Wildcats.

Hampton (34-23) won the tournament and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Wildcats earn honors

B-CU head coach, Chris Cochrane was named MEAC Coach of the Year on May 9. She won the award for the second time in three years.

This season, Cochrane led the Wildcats to the MEAC Southern Division title. In seven seasons, B-CU has won three MEAC ti-tles and made three NCAA appearances under Co-chrane.

Michelle Banuelos-Smith (.329 BA, 7 HR, 37 RBIs, 50 H, 29 R, 13 SB) and Aureila Gamch (.325 BA, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 54 H, 30 R) were named to the All-MEAC Second Team.

Golf: B-CU wins minority titles

Bethune-Cookman won both the men’s and wom-en’s PGA Minority Golf Championships this past week.

The Wildcats’ men edged Texas Pan American by one stroke 283-284 for the title. Ryan Fricker was B-CU’s top golfer. He finished in third place individually.

The women’s team (291) defeated Texas Pan Amer-ican (291) in a playoff to claim the title. It’s the sec-ond consecutive year that

B-CU has won the wom-en’s title.

The Wildcats’ Andrea Orozco (220) won the women’s individual cham-pionship.

Softball team fallsin MEAC tournament;baseball up to bat

PHOTOS COURTESY OF B-CU

B-CU’s Jordan Dailey (20) is one of the best closers in the nation. He is a candidate for the NBCWA Stopper of the Year award. Dailey will attempt to help the Wild-cats win the MEAC Tournament.

ABBREVIATION KEY

This key is for baseball and softball statistics.

BA – batting averageHR – home runsR – runsH – hitsRBI – runs batted inSB – stolen basesERA – earned run averageS – saves

Bet-hune-Cook-man’s Michelle Ban-uelos-Smith (10) bats during a recent game. She was the team’s offensive leader in most catego-ries and named to the All-MEAC Second Team this sea-son.

B-CU ROUNDUP

M A Y O RDECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006 7MAY 16 – MAY 22, 20138

98353 05/16/2013 AA Newspaper ROP - 10”x 20”

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