Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union Contributes $3,000 to kids voting of cumberland county
    Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union recently presented a check in the sum of $3,000 to Kids Voting Cumberland County.
    Kids Voting Cumberland County is a unique program that provides a state-approved comprehensive K-12 civics curriculum with dynamic classroom activities that are easy for teachers to adapt to best fit their needs. The curriculum makes learning about civics relevant to students. Through a “real-life” voting experience that replicates the adult ballot, with a full slate of candidates and issues, students gain the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to be active participants in our representative democracy. Students, who learn these skills during their early school years, will reach adulthood with a greater appreciation of their responsibilities as citizens, with the abilities to identify the issues, gather information to reach solutions, think critically about the consequences of various actions and work together with others to do what is best for all.{mosimage}
    The $3,000 was raised by $1,500 in sales of candy bars at Bragg Mutual’s main office and three branches and matching funds provided from Armed Forces Financial Network matching grant program.

Cape Fear Valley Appoints New Chief Finance Officer
    Sandra S. Williams, MHA, CPA, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer for Cape Fear Valley Health System.
    Williams, a native of St. Petersburg, Fla., has more than 28 years of professional finance experience. She was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Christus Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she was responsible for financial management of a 1,300-bed, six-hospital regional health system. Prior to that, Williams was Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer for University Community Hospital in Tampa, Fla.
    She has also served as an Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer for Presbyterian Healthcare/Novant Health in Charlotte, and as a Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Healthcare Practice in the Middle East.
    Williams is a Certified Public Accountant and received a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and a Master of Arts in Healthcare Administration from the University of South Florida.
    At Cape Fear Valley, Williams will oversee finance for the 10th largest healthcare system in the state, which averages 875,000 patient visits a year.

Arts Council seeks vendors for International Festival
    The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County is seeking vendors for the 30th Annual International Folk Festival, Sunday, Sept. 28 from noon until 6 p.m. at Festival Park in downtown. Spaces are available for arts and crafts vendors, food vendors and vendors selling merchandise with cultural or ethnic themes.         Applications are online at  www.artscounciloffayetteville.pmailus.com/pmailweb/ct?d=FZIlLwA8AAEAAAHgAAH92A or www.theartscouncil.com/International_Folk_Festival.html. For more information, call (910) 323-1776.

    {mosimage}Dr. James Anderson, the new chancellor at Fayetteville State University is the right man at the right time to lead FSU into the 21st century.
    Coming off a tumultuous year at FSU that included the much publicized nursing school brouhaha, Anderson, 59, wants to restore order, raise admission standards, and, most importantly, make FSU more competitive and attractive to students.
    “We have to not only emphasize recruitment, but on top of that, retention and graduation. It hurts an institution when it lowers its standards,” Anderson said. “Now, I didn’t get into why that happened. What I have tried to say since I’ve been here is when you lower your standards you begin to lose your competitive edge. It’s very hard to argue that you’re a great institution when you’re lowering your admissions standards.
“So we’ve bumped those up some and they will continue to gradually move up,” Anderson said. “But we are not an institution of choice, meaning when students think about their first choice, many of them don’t think about Fayetteville State University. For many of them, we are their default institution. We want to change that; we want to be able to go after some of the best and brightest in North Carolina, who either leave the state or go to other schools here. We want to be able to offer the competitive scholarships that attract them.”
    In order to attract “the best and the brightest,” Anderson says the school needs to recruit star students, just as athletes are recruited. He also says the business of recruiting should not be left solely to the admissions office, but should also include the faculty.
    “We want to have faculty involved in student recruitment, to have faculty to begin to contact students in their junior year in high school or get them to come here for various kinds of summer initiatives, etc.,” Anderson said. “When they begin to see you early on, they begin to develop more of an affinity for you, they begin to see how serious we are about wanting them here.”
    As part of his recruitment strategy, Anderson wants to add more diversity to the student body, recruiting more Hispanic and international students. And he says he especially wants to attract more black males to FSU — a commodity that is sorely lacking not only at FSU, but across the nation as a whole.
    Anderson has a hard won advantage over most university presidents or chancellors in the recruitment of black males — he can relate to black males because he’s “real.”
    Anderson was born out of wedlock in a Washington, D.C., hospital. His mother’s family forced her to leave the infant at the hospital and he didn’t see her again until six years ago.
He lived the wild life, surviving and hustling on the hard streets of D.C., getting in and out of trouble. But he was saved by the discipline of a Catholic classroom and the stern, no-nonsense guidance of the schools’ angels in black and white.
    “I got in lots of trouble, and yet I always did well in school,” Anderson said. “The nuns saw something in me and just always pressed me to do well. In high school I was a big high school basketball player, but I always put academics first.”
    After leaving high school, Anderson attended Villanova University — where he remains a member of the board of trustees — and then to Cornell, where he earned his Ph.D. in psychology under his first true mentor, Wade Boykin — the first African-American faculty member at Cornell in the psychology department. Anderson was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in Boykin’s program.
    After having spent most of his academic life at all-white or predominantly white schools, Anderson decided that for his next gig, he wanted to experience a traditionally African-American college, so he chose to teach at Xavier University in New Orleans.
    Anderson left Xavier for Indiana University in Pennsylvania, where another mentor, Hilda Richards, suggested he get into administration.
    “She said, ‘James I know you love teaching, you’re rated as one of our best instructors on campus... our students love you... but I think you would make a great administrator,” Anderson said. “She said a line I will never forget: ‘You can change a few lives of students in a classroom, but you can change the whole university if you run it.’”
    And thus began his quest to lead a university as a president or chancellor. His journey to that destination took him to the University of Richmond in Virginia; N.C. State, where the school created a brand new position for him — the dean of undergraduate studies; Texas A&M, where he served under then-President Robert Gates, who is now President Bush’s secretary of defense; and finally, he went to work at Albany State University.
    Shortly after starting his job at Albany State he learned about the opening for a chancellor at FSU.
“I finally made the decision that I wanted to be a chancellor,” Anderson said. “I only applied to two places and this one came through.
    “A couple of things pulled me to FSU,” he added. “First and foremost, my respect and admiration for the University of North Carolina system, which I consider the best in the country. When I came down for my visit I really felt a couple of things: one, that there was very good student leadership here, and that if people were given the chance to be creative, to be innovative, they would. I knew there was a little troubled time here preceding that search, so we had to recast the image of the university in a more positive light. The board seemed very inspired in that they really wanted to find someone that was a good match. A lot of the stars aligned at the same time.”
    After a long search, Anderson, who has a wife and three daughters, says FSU is his last job... that he will be here until he retires.
    Anderson says implementing the changes he’s seeking won’t be easy. He says that some of the “old guard” may resent the recruitment of different races at a traditionally African-American school — though he says that at one time, FSU’s student body was 33 percent white  — he says that some alumni may balk at the fund-raising he says is necessary to implement some of the technological initiatives needed to make sure FSU students remain competitive when they venture into the work place.{mosimage}
    “The fund-raising effort at Fayetteville State may appear to have been sufficient in some ways, but for the things we want to do, the creative initiatives, the things we want, we have nowhere near the resource support,” Anderson said. “So we’ll have to do fund-raising, which entails having alumni increase their gift giving rate, which is very low. I don’t understand why 25 percent of the alumni can’t give $50 each year. See, people always think you’re asking for $100,000 or $50,000, etc. If $50 is all you can give, that’s fine. But I would like to be able to say one day that 25 percent of our alumni give, which is pretty good considering the national average is around 19 percent.”
    Anderson insists that when it comes to recruiting students, fund-raising and pushing his initiatives, he will never take a back seat.
    “I will lead the push for more money. I will lead this school in the pursuit of new technology. I will recruit  prize students, even if it means hopping on a plane at my own expense and flying across the country.”
    The right man. The right time. The right job.

   Secret Diary of a Call Girlblends the two in a novel way

    Secret Diary of a Call Girl(Monday, 10:30 p.m., Showtime) is based on the blog of a high-priced London prostitute. Billie Piper plays Hannah, a legal secretary by day and call girl by night. It sounds like a familiar scenario, but a team of female writers bring a fresh perspective to the material. They get inside Hannah’s head and create a credible portrait of a smart, strong woman in a strange situation.{mosimage}
    Secret Diary of a Call Girlis billed as a comedy, but it’s melancholy rather than madcap. In this week’s episode, Hannah has sex with her accountant in exchange for his services, granting his wish to become an S&M slave. Even when the accountant strips down to a leather dog collar, though, the filmmakers avoid cheap laughs in favor of thoughtfully exploring the bond between these two professionals. The episode ends with each sincerely apologizing to the other.
    I order you to watch this series, slave.

Shear Genius
Wednesday, 10 p.m. (Bravo)
    A dozen hairstylists come to L.A. to compete for $100,000. It sounds like another high-stakes reality series for talented artists, à la Top Chef and Project Runway. But it’s hard to take this one seriously.
For one thing, it looks like an exotic animal crawled onto each contestant’s head, then died a horrible death. How can you take them seriously as stylists when their own styles are so absurd? For another thing, snipping just isn’t too intriguing as an art form. “It really fails for me on all levels,” an Allure editor says of a styling job. But really, how many levels does a haircut have?
    In an attempt to generate excitement, the series dreams up bizarre challenges. The stylists have to re-create the hairdos of cartoon characters like Marge Simpson and Wilma Flintstone; they also have to cut hair blindfolded.
    It turns out that the blindfolded cuts don’t look much different from the eyes-wide-open cuts. Doesn’t that tell you something?

The Singing Office
Sunday, 9 p.m. (TLC)
    Colleagues from 16 companies take time off work to attend a song-and-dance boot camp, then face off against each other in a vocal competition.
    Instead of working, apparently, American employees are wailing “Proud Mary” at the top of their lungs. Now we know why the Gross National Product is heading south.

Celebrity Family Feud
Tuesday, 8 p.m. (NBC)
    Don’t get too excited by the word “celebrity.” This series features has-beens and wannabes like Mr. T and Kim Kardashian. Their families compete in a quiz format to win $50,000 for charity.
    How about donating the money to a charity for third-tier celebrities so that financial need won’t drive them to participate in demeaning TV series?

America’s Got Talent
Tuesday, 9 p.m. (NBC)
    NBC has the nerve to make the title a declarative sentence. Anybody who’s been watching the series will mentally place a question mark after the word “Talent.”

    Campbellton Landing, a development along the Cape Fear River near Person Street, is changing hands.
    The family of Sol Rose, who started Campbellton Landing about four years ago, turned over the operation of the restaurant to Kevin Summers and Campbellton Landing Property, LLC on June 15. Renovation and expansion of the restaurant is currently underway. The new restaurant, containing an oyster bar, is expected to be open in mid-August by which time Summers expects to close on the sale of the balance of the 33-acre property.
    Sol Rose visualized a community gathering place “down by the river,” where local residents, young and old, could come together to eat, drink, play and enjoy nature and history steeped in local Fayetteville tradition. As Sol used to say, “bringing the people to the river and the river to the people.”
    {mosimage}Nestled between Lock’s Creek and the banks of the Cape Fear River, this beautiful and historic site offers 33 acres of pristine real estate development with convenient access to I-95 and Fayetteville’s historic city center. The Campbellton Landing site currently hosts a full-service restaurant, an outdoor recreation/fishing/game retail store and an outdoor amphitheater. It also features a convenient boat ramp for easy public access to the beautiful and swift Cape Fear River, as well as original Confederate breastworks constructed by soldiers during the Civil War to defend the landing against General Sherman and his advancing troops.
    Kevin Summers was a cofounder and owner of Rocky Top Hospitality, a company responsible for six middle- to high-end restaurants in the Triangle and the Mash House Chop House and Brewery in Fayetteville. Summers sold his ownership in Rocky Top Hospitality to his partner in March 2008 in order to pursue this exciting venture in downtown Fayetteville.
    “I am looking forward to continuing my restaurant, hospitality and development career here in Fayetteville. I have recently completed the North Carolina Real Estate Brokers criteria to fulfill my interest in commercial real estate,” noted Summers. “This multifaceted venture is an excellent way to bring all of my talent and experiences together to carry on Sol Rose’s dream of bringing people and families down to the Cape Fear River for a fun and entertaining experience.”
    Summers is currently assembling a small group of local investors. Summers and the investor group will own the property and some of the businesses at Campbellton Landing. It was extremely important to Summers to have local residents and business people involved in this project.
    “It truly is a local business endeavor designed to make Fayetteville and Cumberland County a better place to live, work and raise a family,” said Summers.”
    The local investors are very excited to be a part of this historic property renewal. They, too, envision a community gathering place and popular destination point where history and nature come together to embrace the Cape Fear River. Campbellton Landing will be an exciting, fun, family entertainment complex that all of Fayetteville and Cumberland County will be proud of and embrace.
    The Campbellton Landing complex will be developed in four phases. The first phase includes the opening of Lock’s Creek Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar later this summer. Overlooking scenic Lock’s Creek, this fresh and bold concept will bring residents and visitors a unique dining experience. The outdoor amphitheater at Campbellton Landing will also be improved and will showcase a variety of musical concerts, shows and other community venues, such as outdoor movies on the river. A full schedule, with 30 shows, is expected for 2009. The boat access and Riverside Outdoor Store will continue to operate in the friendly and professional manner its regular customers have come to expect. However, a grill will be added for early morning breakfast and lunch, expanding the line of products and services, which include river tours and canoe/kayak rentals.
    “We’re glad to see something in harmony with my dad’s dreams with how he wanted the property developed,” commented Gordon Rose, board chairman of the Cumberland County Business Council. “He had big dreams for Campbellton Landing.”
    “The vision of Sol Rose and his family was extraordinary. Our mission is to continue and expand his dream by making Campbellton Landing one of eastern North Carolina’s premier family and tourist entertainment destinations,” explained Summers.