Newspaper Page Text
THE RED AND BLACK
An independent student newspoper serving the University of Georgio community
Athens, Go. Vol. 90 No. 102
Tuesday, May 10, 1980
News 543-1809 Advertising 543-1791
Regents get reports on
system desegregation
l>on't look down if you nprcl lo iff Ihc nrwrst downtown
high-rise approaching completion. Hut a bird's-eye view
might indicate employees of the construction company
building the I nivenlty Tower Condominium complex show
some people are eager to mo\e in to their setts in the sky.
Workers on the scaffold have begun insulating the building.
View from the top
which is scheduled for an August completion date. All of the
condominiums, which come fully furnished for about S60.000
each, have been sold. Construction began early this year and
mild weather has kept construction progress on schedule.
Iligh-rise living on the north side just might become more
trendy than living in the Russell community.
By BRIAN BRASWKLL
and JIM MASSARA
f Krd and Black Senior Reporter*
The Board of Regents will hear three
reports on desegregating the Univer
sity System — one from its own staff
and two from outside task forces — at
its monthly meeting in Columbus today
and Wednesday.
The staff report will be discussed
today, according to University System
Chancellor Vernon Crawford However,
he declined to give specific details of
the report before the meeting
"There are several recom
mendations (in the report),” Crawford
said Monday “They will cost some
money
"I have not been able to get in touch
with the governor about them," he said,
“so the discussion of them will have to
be made on the assumption the
governor will support the recom
mendations "
Regent Eldridge McMillan, a
member of the desegregation com
mittee, also declined to discuss the
Asbestos-removal money
gets formal allocation today
By TOMMY SIMS
HH and Black Valor Krporlrr
A Board of Regents committee will
recommend formal allocation of funds
today for this summer's asbestos
removal project in eight University
dormitories and a Georgia Tech
laboratory
"1 think the Board of Regents will
allocate the funds" at its full meeting
Wednesday, Frank Dunham,
University System vice chancellor for
Facilities, said Monday
The regents will not decide which of
the seven companies involved in the
April 26 bidding will be awarded the
asbestos removal contract. Dunham
said But a University official said
Monday the contract would be awarded
to the two lowest bidders
"I have no basis for not awarding the
contract to the lowest bidder." said
Physical Plant Director Ken Jordan
Jordan said Physical Plant and
procurement officials would determine
w hich companies won the contract
If the two lowest bids were accepted,
GKMCO Construction Co of Trilby,
Fla would share the contract with the
North Brothers Co of Atlanta
The seven companies that bid had the
option of bidding on any or all of the
eight affected dorms and could also bid
on the entire project, or both, Jordan
said
Because North Brothers Co placed
the low bids on four of the smaller
dorms and GEMCO had the lowest bid
on the three high rises and the
remaining small dorm, the two com
panies will probably share the contract,
Jordan said
GEMCO removed the asbestos from
four floors of Creswell Hall last sum
mer and was the lowest bidder for the
summer removal project by 1500,000
The regents are expected to approve
$129,000 for the removal project at
Georgia Tech and Muo ooo for this
summer's removal of asbestos in the
University's eight affected dorms
Dunham said GEMCO and North
Brothers' low bids, allowing removal in
ail eight dorms here and the facility at
Georgia Tech, was a good sign
"I'm definitely pleased," Dunham
said "That's what I’m trying to do, is
get it out "
The removal at Georgia Tech will
include not only the affected laboratory
but also a library connector and two
mechniral-equipment rooms there,
Dunham said
Asbestos removal is scheduled to
begin June 12 in Creswell and Russell
Halls and June 20 in Brumby Hall
Asbestos removal in the five smaller
dorms is also scheduled to be com
pleted this summer
Summer school students, who are
normally housed in Brumby Hall, will
be housed in the Reed Community while
the asbestos-removal project is un
derway this summer
The General Assembly appropriated
$15 million in February for the
asbestos-removal project after en
vironmental specialists from the state
Department of Human Resources
concluded that the ceilings of the eight
dorms contained from 3 to 7 percent
chrysolile asbestos
University officials learned of the
asbestos three years ago when tests
showed that the ceilings of eight dorms
— Church, Boggs, Hill, Mell, Lipscomb,
Brumby, Russell and Creswell —
contained asbestos
Asbestos removal last summer
report before today’s meeting, saying it
would be "just not appropriate."
Copies of the report were mailed to
the regents late last week.
If the regents approve the report, it
will be sent to the Atlanta branch of the
federal Office of Civil Rights for review
by May 16, and from there to U S.
District Judge John Pratt.
Pratt ruled in March that Georgia
and eight other states had failed to
desegregate their higher education
systems during the last decade. The
regents must put forth specific plans
for desegregating the system by fall
1985 or lose federal aid.
Wednesday, the Rev Joseph Lowery,
president of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, will present to
the regents the findings of his group's
statewide task force on desegregation
The 22-membcr task force, which
consists of students, educators, elected
officials and religious leaders, was
made public at last month's regents’
meeting in Atlanta
Subgroups of the task force, each
assigned to study different aspects of
desegregation, will meet today before
Wednesday’s presentation to discuss
their progress
No specific information on the
presentation was available Monday.
University Associate law Professor
Larry Blount will also address the
regents Wednesday, giving a report and
recommendations from the Georgia
Black Coalition on Higher Education
The coalition's report will review the
University's desegregation problems
and recommend to the regents ways to
design a desegregation program that is
both affordable and accountable to only
one person, Blount said.
A copy ot the presentation as the
regents will hear it will be finished
today
Blount, the coalition's general
counsel will speak after Lowery, but
said Monday his group was not a part of
Who’s complaining about the crowds?
By BRAIM WOODARD
Krd and BU« k Hralw Krpurtrr
Despite an Athens City Council decision to enforce
more diligently the city toning ordinance restric
ting to four the number of unrelated occupants per
household, several councilmen say they are
unaware of such housing problems in their wards
Under the zoning ordinance, any member of a
household containing more than four unrelated
residents could face citations from the city's
building inspector and be forced to appear in
Athens Clarke County Magistrate's Court to
determine the fine
However, Athens Chief Building Inspector Brice
.fathers has heard no complaints
Bishop said campus fraternities and sororities did
not have to comply because such houses were in
special zones exempted from the ordinance
The council decided last Tuesday to step up en
forcement of the ordinance because df an increase
in complaints by residents from many areas of the
city However, several councilmen Monday said
they had not received a significant increase of com
plaints from residents in their wards
Councilman Fred Leathers, whose ward includes
most of the Five Points area, said he hadn’t gotten
any major complaints from residents in Ward 2
Leathers said he thought enforcement of the
unrelated residents ordinance would be based more
on the conduct of the residents of a household than
the actual number of residents
"It's how the people live and what they do while
they live there," Leathers said.
Third Ward Councilman George Hester also said
he was unaware of any complaints about enforce
ment of the ordinance in his ward
“My constituents haven't made any complaints
about it," Hester said
However, Ward 4 Councilman Dwain Chambers
said several residents had contacted him recently to
complain about large numbers of residents living in
zoned single-family households Chambers said the
two major reasons for the complaints were ex
cessive noise and parking problems involving
residents in such households
“I've had an increased number of complaints
lately,” Chambers said.
Chambers said he supported the council's deci
sion to step up enforcement of the ordinance
because non-students should not be forced to
sacrifice their right to live in a peaceful
neighborhod because of households containing large
numbers of college students.
"In effect, residents are being asked to subsidize
the education of students,” he said
Most councilmen agreed that enforcement of the
ordinance would be difficult because city officials
could not inspect every household to verify com
pliance
Bishop said he would have to rely completely on
complaints from the neighbors or ordinance
violators If he gets a complaint Bishop said, he is
obligated to investigate the situation and possibly to
city residents for any violations.
When asked if he thought the ordinance was fair
to students, Bishop said, "1 have to assume it is
because we have to enforce it Being a law enforce
ment agency, it’s not our decision to determine
whether it is fair or not."
Hester says he hasn't either
Powell: Execute death penalty or kill it
SAVANNAH, Ga APi — Supreme Court
Justice Lewis F Powell, citing an "intolerable"
backlog of criminals on death row, said Monday
that the death penalty should be abolished unless
prolonged delays in carrying it out are eliminated
"This malfunctioning of our system of justice is
unfair to the hundreds of persons confined
anxiously on death row, Powell told a conference
of judges from the 11th U S Judicial Circuit
“It also disserves the public interest in the
implementation of lawful sentences he said
"Unless the courts — and Congress - discharge
their duty to move effectively to address this
problem the legislatures of the several states
should abolish capital punishment "
Powell played an important role in the April 22
execution of John Louis Evans III, convicted of
murdering a Mobile, Ala . pawn shop owner in
1977 Powell rejected attempts to delay Evans'
execution and. to head off further appeals to other
court members, let Evans' lawyers know that six
other justices agreed with his decision
.Evans was six hours away from the electric
chair in 1979 when Powell's Supreme Court
colleague. Justice William Rehnquist. issued a
stay based upon an appeal by Evans' mother
Powell warned against a "rush to judgment" in
capital case*, but criticized the use of "repetitive
review to draw out for years the resolution of
issues that have or should have been resolved
earlier "
Powell said the courts "often contribute to the
slowness of the process "
"Murders continue, many of incredible cruelty
and brutality, as mindless killings increase in
much of the world. We now have more than 1,000
convicted persons on death row, an intolerable
situation "
The Supreme Court has been studying the ex
pediting of death sentences in a Texas case and is
expected to announce a decision by July The
decision may provide guidelines for handling 11th-
hour appeals of the type that Powell said are
frustrating justice
In refusing to prevent Evans' death, the
Supreme Court — excluding two dissenters — said
Evans' last emergency request to stay alive
essentially raised legal issues that were already
resolved
Russell F Canan, Evans’ lawyer through his
last appeals, said upon hearing of Powell's stance,
that the problem “is not the process of appeals,
the problem is the lack of fairness in death penalty
trials '
the SCLC's task force. "It’s completely
separate, although we’re aware of what
they're doing and are supportive,"
Blount said.
The regents will also hear proposals
to institute a black-studies program in
the system’s core curriculum from
officials of the University's Black
Student Union (see related story this
page).
In other business, the regents are
expected to approve the first allocation
of $800,000 to remove asbestos from
eight University dorms and $129,000 to
remove it from a Georgia Tech
laboratory (see related story this
page).
Today's and Wednesday’s meetings
are being held at Columbus College to
mark the celebration of the school's
25th anniversary. The regents will take
part in a commemorative ceremony
and tour the campus with school
President Francis Brooke
BSU wants
black studies
in system core
By IIAN'S-CIIRISTIAN VADSKTI!
Mfd and Him k Hrnior Hrpurlrr
The Black Student Union will present
to the Board of Regents a plan outlining
how to incorporate an Afro-American
studies program in the University
System’s core curriculum, BSU of
ficials said Monday.
The proposal has been in -the works
for some time, but won't be ready
before the end of this month, BSU
President Marvin Ware said
"We had hoped to present it to the
Board of Regents this week, but it won't
be ready before their next meeting,"
Ware said.
The establishment of an Afro-
American studies program in the
University System's core curriculum is
the BSU's primary goal, Ware said. He
said other goals, such as the establish
ment of a University office for minority
affairs, would have to wait for action
Ware said it was too early to say
anything about the specific ideas in the
proposal, made in cooperation with
students at Georgia Stale University
and Georgia Tech, But the main idea is
to get some Afro-American studies
courses instituted in the core cur
riculum as soon as possible, he said
"Hojiefully,. some Afro-American
courses will be taught next winter
quarter or spring quarter," Ware said,
adding these courses most likely would
be in history and psychology
Virginia Trotter, the University's
vice president for Academic Affairs,
emphasized that an Afro-American
studies sequence was a part of the
University’s educational program
already However, such a program can
not become part of the core curriculum
without approval by the regents (or
statewide implementation
"The only thing we can do is to make
the Afro-American courses easier to
find in the catalog, a thing that will be
done from this coming year,” Trotter
said
Trotter said she had no objection to
the attempts made by the BSU to get
black courses instituted as part of the
core curriculum, but said she wouldn't
approve the idea immediately
"This will go through committees
making their recommendation to me;
then I make my decision." she said
"I have been very responsive to idem
in every way,” Trotter said
Eddie Daniels, adviser to University
black organizations, said he had given
BSU representatives some help in their
work to form the proposal
"They have come to me for advice,
but I haven’t been directly involved in
the work," Daniels said
Daniels said the regents would have
to bring about some changes soon
regarding black recruitment and black
studies programs, and added the pro
posal from the BSU would help by
“keeping the case moving "
"It, probably more than anything
else, dramatizes the fact that there is a
problem, "hesaid.
Daniels said he didn't anticipate
much support from faculty or ad
ministration. but added he hoped
something would happen
“On this campus, there are very few
department heads that would extend
themselves to give their support in a
case as controversial as this one,"
Daniels said “It is very difficult to br
ing about changes on this campus.' ’