Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 June 1999 — Page 1

INSIDE

EDITORIAL Page 2 LETTER TO THE EDITOR Page 3 NEWS BRIEFS Page 4 YOUTH SPOTLIGHT Page 8 FOR YOUR HEALTH Page 9 CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL Page 12 COMMUNITY FOCUS Page 21 TO BE EQUAL Page 26 THEY HAD A DREAM Page 27 POETRY Page 29 GUESS WHO Page 35

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Also serving Anderson, Marion, Richmond and New Castle communities VOLUME 9, NUMBER 10 • June 17, 1999 “Whatsoever you do, strive to do it so weli that no man living and no man dead and no man yet to be bom could do it any better.”

Muncie Civic Theater loses Crouse

By Judy Mays Nancy Crouse, executive director of the Muncie Civic Theatre will retire on June 30. Crouse, at one time a board member of the downtown theatre, became it’s director in 1997. v -Under her direction, Muncie audiences viewed a diversity of talent from the community. Ciassicals, such as the “Wizard of Oz” and "Christmas Carol” continued to entertain families. But the theatre audiences also experienced contemporary and original productions, such as “Blues in the

Night”, “Trouble in the Choir” and “Hush ... Black Women are Talking”. “Over the years I’ve had the privilege of teaching students such as actress Cynda Williams. I've also enjoyed teaching wonderful students, such as Wilisha Scaife, Portia Barnes and Craig Gibson, to name a few. “In fact, Craig is now youth director at the theatre,” she said. I have enjoyed a wonderful metamorphosis with Mrs. Crouse,” said Gibson. “She was my high school teacher at Muncie Central. We’ve been together 12 years as teacher/student/ friend, co-worker/teacher.

“The programs at MCT have been blessed under her leadership. She has a real focus on family and education, which enhanced both the adult and youth program,” Gibson said. Crouse said: “I taught in the Muncie public school system for 33 years. I became involved in acting at Ball State University. “My first acting teacher was Dr. Ed Strother, former head of the theater department at Ball State University,” Crouse has a 1973 master’s degree in theatre, with a minor in English, See CROUSE, page 7

Nancy Crouse

South Africa gets new president; African Congress sweeps election

ByT. S. Kumbula South Africa’s recent election w'hich ushered in this week’s selection of Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki as the country’s new president marks a watershed in that country’s history. Mbeki, 56, replaces outgoing President Nelson Rohlihlahla Mandela, 80, as the Baby Boomers come of political age. Mandela had followed the welltrodden African nationalist path of activism, prison and then top political leadership. Political imprisonment produced prison graduates who then became the prime ministers and presidents of the new Africa. Mandela, one of the world’s most revered leaders, brought about the kind of leadership that transformed South Africa from an international pariah— because of its policy of legalized racial discrimination known as apartheid—into one of the most admired countries in the world today. He presided over the end of political racism

and the miracle of racial reconciliation which has begun to see the Rainbow country’s people regard themselves as South Africans first and blacks, whites. Coloreds and Asians second. The white minority, which had imposed apartheid in a desperate attempt to hold on to political and economic power, saw Mandela—the country’s first democratically elected president in 1994—as a father figure determined to fashion a new country from the ashes of apartheid. Now the torch has been passed to a new generation. Now' it is Thabo Mbeki time in South Africa. Mbeki, deputy president under Mandela, has a history of political activism dating back to his teen days. His father, Govan Mbeki, is one of Mandela's oldest political friends and fellow political prisoner. But who is this Thabo Mbeki who dares to think he can follow in Mandela’s legendary steps? He is an

See MBEKI, page 6

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki