Newspaper Page Text
i
PAGE 7—The Georgia Bulletin, September 17,1981
Pioneers, 11, Cross
No. Ireland’s Barrier
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (NC) -- A pioneering
effort aimed at ending de facto religious segregation
in Northern Irish schools began under police
protection Sept. 1, when 28 Catholic and Protestant
11-year-olds started classes at Lagan College.
Lagan is the first private secondary school in
Northern Ireland especially created to teach an equal
number of Protestant and Catholic pupils.
“It requires very considerable courage to do here
what is taken for granted elsewhere,” said Anthony
Spencer, a university professor and school board
member whose daughter, Jane, is enrolled in the
school.
Spencer, a Catholic, said he was “slightly
disappointed” at the small number of pupils enrolled,
as the target was 60.
“Of course there are many who are wary of
political differences,” he said. “But I am sure once we
get under way and people see the quality of teaching,
we’ll reach our target of 300 pupils by the end of the
third year.”
Policemen guarded the children as they entered on
the first day. The pupils were bom during the 12 years
of fighting that has politically divided the Catholic
and Protestant communities and claimed 2,135 lives.
They wore no identifying school badges on their
uniforms for security reasons, Spencer said.
Lagan’s headmistress, Sheila Greenfield, a
Protestant Englishwoman, discouraged press
coverage.
“We are anxious to ensure that the children look at
this integration as normal,” she said.
Sept. 1 was the first day of school for almost all of
Northern Ireland’s 300,000 schoolchildren and they
returned to the de facto religiously segregated system,
Catholics going to parochial schools and Protestants
to public or state-aided private schools.
Government regulations passed in 1978 opened all
Northern Irish schools to pupils of all religions, but
few students have chosen to integrate.
“We are determined - parents, pupils and staff - to
make it work,” said Spencer. “We should be in more
permanent premises by Christmas.”
Currently, the students are taught in a converted
Boy Scout center in Ardnavalley, a middle class
suburb of Belfast.
Yearly tuition at the school is $1,100 but many
students are on scholarships provided by private
donations. The school’s main source of income is a
$30,000 annual grant for the next three years from an
anonymous group of businessmen.
100 Urge Reagan To Fill
Vacant Human Rights Post
WASHINGTON (NC) - One hundred church and
human rights activists urged the Reagan
administration to fill the Department of State’s
human rights office, still vacant after the rejection in
June of candidate Ernest Lefever.
“It is imperative that President Ronald Reagan
carry out his campaign pledge to make Washington a
shining city which speaks for all those ‘who are
victims of police states or government-induced
torture or terror.’ This work cannot begin until the
vacancy is filled,” the group said Aug. 27 in a letter to
the president.
Among the signers are Catholic Religious,
representatives of the National Council of Churches,
the U.S. Catholic Conference and the American
Friends Service Committee, congressmen, labor
organizations and universities, as well as human right
groups in several cities.
The State Department’s Human Rights and
Humanitarian Affairs Bureau was established by
Congress to ensure high priority and visibility in
international diplomacy to the observance of civil and
other rights. It prepares a worldwide report and
makes recommendations to the secretary of state
regarding compliance with legislation on human
rights.
In a departure from the aggressive policy of the
Carter administration, Reagan officials said the
administration would follow a quiet diplomacy in
dealing with other governments on the subject.
The letter told President Reagan, “We urge you to
fill this vacancy with a well qualified human rights
advocate, and in so doing, signal to Latin America and
the rest of the world that human rights continue to be
an important element in U.S. foreign policy.”
J.P. Stevens Plant
Votes Down Union
BY NC NEWS SERVICE
Textile workers have rejected union
representation at the Rock Hill, S. C., plant of J. P.
Stevens and Co., the textile giant which fought
against labor unions at its plants for 17 years and
whose products consequently were boycotted by
Catholic and other church groups across the United
States.
By a vote of 433 to 299, the textile workers at the
Rock Hill plant decided not to join the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union, which had
fought for the right to organize Stevens workers.
In 1980 J. P. Stevens reached agreement with the
ACTWU and allowed the union to come into 10
Stevens plants. The agreement left the door open for
unionization at the other Stevens plants.
The corporation was cited by the National Labor
Relations Board for more than 20 violations incurred
during the union’s fight to organize workers at
Stevens plants.
A union official in New York said Sept. 3 the
ACTWU planned to file another charge against
Stevens soon over the Rock Hill vote but did not
provide further details and referred questions to
another union official, who could not be reached for
comment.
However, according to statements made by the
union earlier, the ACTWU will protest what it termed,
interference by Stevens’ management with the union
representation election.
After its defeat at Rock Hill, the union also said
that such losses were to be expected in the first
organizing vote at a plant and the fact that about 40
percent of the voting workers supported unionization
in Rock Hill indicated support. “We’re going to be
back,” Jacob Sheinkman, ACTWU
secretary-treasurer said.
Last November, Sheinkman credited religious
groups with focusing public attention on the Stevens’
products boycott and the organizing issues which
eventually led to the settlement. The ACTWU had
won the right to organize Stevens’ workers in 1974,
but it took another six years, the four-year boycott
and citations from the National Labor Relations
Board before the settlement was ortained.
Salvadoran Bishop Cautious
On French-Mexican Proposal
ONE ON NONE - A young man practices his
skill on a basketball court along Milwaukee’s 35th
St. (NC Photo by Dale Guldan)
SAN SALVADOR, El
Salvador (NC) - Citing
increased fighting in El
Salvador, Bishop Arturo
Rivera Damas cautiously
welcomed a proposal by
France and Mexico for
peace negotiations between
leftist guerrillas and the
ruling civilian-military
junta.
At the same time the
bishop asked Salvadorans
to take the lead in ending
the conflict. He proposed a
truce and asked the
government to end the
state of siege which
suspends constitutional
rights.
The bishop, apostolic
administrator of San
Salvador, also criticized the
United States for being the
country which has sent the
most military aid to fuel
the fighting.
The bishop’s statements
were made in a homily at a
Sept. 6 Mass and in remarks
Washington Letter: New
Amendment On Abortion
BY JIM LACKEY
WASHINGTON (NC) -
A major new proposal for
Congress to deal with the
abortion issue is dividing
the pro-life movement even
before the proposal is laid
on the table.
Sometime before he
opens long-sought hearings
in October on proposals for
a human life amendment.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
is expected to introduce his
own proposal for a “federal
rights” amendment giving
both Congress and the
states the power to enact
new abortion restrictions.
Some pro-life leaders are
summarily rejecting
Hatch’s proposal, saying it
is little more than a “state’s
rights” amendment. That
approach has been opposed
in the past because rather
than fully establishing the
right to life for the unborn
it would only permit states
to re-enact their previous
abortion restrictions, thus
allowing some states to
continue as abortion
“havens.”
But Hatch has protested
that his yet-to-be
introduced amendment
will be far more than a
state’s rights proposal. And
one pro-life group,
American Citizens
Concerned for Life
(ACCL), has circulated
copies of an unintroduced
draft of Hatch’s
amendment and says it
supports Hatch because his
proposal would allow
passage of a uniform
national abortion law
protecting unborn
children.
Rumors that Hatch
would suggest a “two-step”
amendment approach -
first the “federal rights”
amendment followed in a
few years by the full human
life amendment - have
been circulating within the
pro-life movement since
shortly after Hatch
announced in early July
that his subcommittee on
the Constitution would
hold human life
amendment hearings in the
fall.
N
Hatch decided to hold
the hearings after
questioning the
constitutionality of this
year’s other major pro-life
legislation, the human life
bill, which by simple
majorities in Congress
would attempt to overturn
the Supreme Court’s 1973
abortion decision by
making the unborn legal
“persons” subject to the
protection of the Fifth and
14th Amendments.
By holding the hearings
Hatch said he wanted to
give the full Judiciary
Committee the
opportunity to consider
two options - both the
human life bill and an
amendment - possibly
early next year.
According to Joseph
TUCKER MATTRESS CO.
3926 LAWRI NCKVILLt HWY .TUCKKR, GA.
938-1176
Top Quality Bedding Since 1917
FACTORY DIRECT QUALITY BEDDING
QUALITY I OR QUALITY, SAVE UP TO 507,
©
Jim Ellis
©
Volkswagen
Sales-
- Service - Parts Call 458-6811
Body Shop - New 8« Used Cars
5855 PMchtrM Industrial Blvd.
Chamblee, Ga.
f »
j SEE YOUR EYE PHYSICIAN FOR THE BEST IN "EYE CA RF'
SEE CULPEPPER FOR THE BEST IN "EYE WEAR"
CULPEPPER OPTICIANS
Toco Hills Shopping Center
3001 N. Druid Hills Rd., N.E.
Next Door To The Theater
Joe Culpepper, F.N.A.O. Phone: 633-8159
This ad worth $10 off
next complete pair of glasses.
Contact Lenses Cleaned and Polished
WE DELIVER DAILY
. | Walker's Flower Shop J
MUr ‘'^iiiiiiiiHiuumiiiiinmiimiiiiimiiiuiiiii^ THBTOEtsr
Daily Deliveries to Hospitals & Funeral Homes
Lampe, executive director
of ACCL, a Minnesota-bas
ed group, Hatch’s “federal
rights” amendment would
give Congress the power in
subsequent legislation to
est a blish national
restrictions on abortion
which individual states
could then tighten if they
choose.
For instance there might
be follow-up legislation by
Congress allowing
abortions alcross the nation
only in life-of-the-mother
cases or in cases of rape or
incest. While the so-called
abortion “haven” states
would be forced to accept
that proscription, other
states could tighten the
restrictions even further by
banning abortions in the
cases of rape or incest as
well.
But other pro-life
directors, such as Paul
Brown of the Life
Amendment Political
Action Committee and
John P. Mackey of the Ad
Hoc Committee in Defense
of Life, said in separate
interviews - that they are
“totally opposed” to
Hatch’s idea.
Mackey said there is no
support for “anything that
smells of states rights” and
remarked that he fears
Hatch’s approach means
the human life bill, which
he said has almost universal
pro-life support, is being
held “hostage.”
to journalists immediately
after the Mass.
“If such a (French-Mex-
ican) proposal means a
definite intention to
intervene in the internal
politics of this country and
to prolong its war, we
cannot agree. We cannot
agree either if it attempts to
force a dialogue between
the warring parties and
define its content,” he said
in his homily.
“But if the proposal
sounds the alarm on an
international scope . ..
that will prompt
Salvadorans to think anew
of the political and social
conditions here, to ponder
the ravages of war and .. .
search for rational, civilized
and Christian ways to solve
the conflict, then I do not
see why there has to be so
many protests,” he added,
referring to criticisms of
the French-Mexican
proposal.
“Good advice is good
advice even if it comes from
the devil,” said the bishop.
The proposal met with
outright rejection by junta
spokesmen. It was also
criticized by 12 Latin
American governments.
The French-Mexican
proposal made Aug. 28 to
the United Nations
recognizes the coalition of
the Farabundo Marti
National Liberation Front
(FMLN) and the
Revolutionary Democratic
Front (FDR) as “a
representative political
force” that should
participate in the
negotiations “necessary for
the political solution of the
crisis” in El Salvador. The
FMLN (after its Spanish
initials) represents five
guerrilla groups. The FDR
(also after its Spanish
initials) represents about
12 non-Marxist parties.
In another church
reaction to the proposal, a
statement signed by Bishop
Eduardo Alvarez of San
Miguel, president of the
Salvadoran Bishops’
Conference, and Father
Freddy Delgado,
conference secretary,
rejected it as “direct
intervention in the internal
affairs of our country in
declaring a political group
to be representative of the
people.”
The proposal would
worsen the war and cause
more destruction, death
and poverty, the statement
said, adding that the FMLN
and FDR lack popular
support.
Bishop Rivera devoted
most of his homily to the
current worsening of the
two-year-old armed
conflict.
“We cannot close our
eyes to the fact of the
bloody reality of
Salvadorans engulfed by a
ATV'#* Servi
PRINTING •
Serving Atlanta Since 1912
PRINTING
• LITHOGRAPHING
ryco, COWV1/VF
Inc.
794 Forrest Road, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia Telephone 522-9726
NORMAN MEDFORD FUNERAL HOME
S YMPA THETIC DIGNIFIED SER VICE
1408 Canton Highway 427-8447 Marietta, Georgia
992-6600
"Give us a try, we guarantee top quality <f service. ”
795 Holcomb Bridge Rd, (Next to Diinkin Donut) Roswell, Ga.
Lift your spirits
at Sheraton.,
FIRST NATIONAL BAND
Tuesday - Saturday 9 P.M. -1 A.M.
Through December 5,1981
KATE SCATES
Monday-Friday 6-9PM
Inflation Saver Luncheon Buffet (was $4.50)
Now S3.75
Monday - Friday Served 11:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.
Sheraton-Northlake Inn
2180 NORTHLAKE PARKWAY 939-8120
l£»it I-285 4 taVisla Rd.)
MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
fratricidal war. The roots
are in a history of
oppression and death, in a
situation of institutionali
zed injustice. In recent
times such a situation has
been aggravated by the
intervention of foreign
countries. Whatever the
reasons that prompted
international imperialists,
the conflict has become
military and has sought an
outcome by the force of
arms,” the bishop said.
“Our country has sunk
into an abyss of irrational
violence. Among the
thousands of victims of
assassination, many are
non-combatants who were
taken from their homes
without any judgment of
the degree, if any, of their
political activism.
Unemployment and the
cost of living have
increased, blocking normal
economic development.
The problem runs the risk
of becoming an
international one if the
countries which have
provided arms and advice
to the warring parties
decide to intervene
openly,” he added.
He restated his stand for
a political solution
according to Christian
tenets of justice and peace.
“We have insisted on the
need for dialogue and a
political outcome for our
situation,” Bishop Rivera
said.
He cited efforts last
November by the bishops
to mediate the conflict and
exhortations by Pope John
Paul II for peace in El
Salvador.
During an interview in
Rome before meeting-the
pope in early April, Bishop
Rivera said the*-guerrillas
were ready to Negotiate
with the government to end
the civil war. About that
time Social Democrats in
Europe and Latin America
made efforts to mediate,
but the junta and the
United States government
rejected them as favoring
the left.
In his homily Sept. 6
Bishop Rivera criticized
both sides of the struggle,
saying that by hardening
their positions they had
“become insensitive to the
reality that the bloodshed
continues, bodies are found
everywhere, violence
escalates.”
“When each of the
parties stubbornly adheres
to its own logic, they only
serve to block the
possibility of dialogue,” he
said.
“This is our conviction:
armed struggle is not the
solution and never was. No
one should be surprised to
hear us reaffirm our faith in
productive peace,” he said.
“We have the support of
many institutions and
personalities and their good
offices to search for a just
and peaceful outcome, for
an end to the bloodshed of
Salvadorans,” the bishop
added.
Several times in the
homily the bishop warned
against the danger of “open
foreign intervention and
internationalization” of
the struggle.
“I feel the Salvadorans
themselves are able to solve
their problem if they apply
good will,” Bishop Rivera
said. He then proposed “a
truce in combat and efforts
by both sides to facilitate
the climate needed for the
promised elections, plus an
opening in access to
communications media,
the abrogation of martial
law and state of siege
decrees that suspended
constitutional rights, and
the end to curbs on the
security of the citizen and
especially the working
people.”
“It is my wish that the
French-Mexican proposal,
or any other effort, should
not be taken by us as a
pretext to further polarize
our stands, but rather to
search for rational ways to
solve our conflict,” he said.
At the end of the Mass
he was pressed by foreign
correspondents to
elaborate on his remarks
about foreign intervention.
“I am against all
intervention, against all
imperialism, whatever the
sign. As for mentioning
countries, obviously the
United States is the one
that has sent most military
aid,” he said.
The statement released
to the press by Father
Delgado said that “we are
witness to the fact that a
small sector of the people
sympathize with the
Farabundo Marti (guerrilla)
front and the democratic
front. (This alliance) has
lost popular support and
now devotes itself to
planting terror among the
population ... to gaining
military advantage and to
creating the conditions for
taking power and imposing
a Marxist-Leninist
dicatorship.”
Archdiocesan sources in
San Salvador said the
bishops’ conference did not
meet regarding the
statement and that only
Father Delgado and Bishop
Alvarez signed it.
“Bishop Rivera knew
nothing of it,” the source
said.
Earlier the archdiocesan
communications office
denied a report of the
guerrilla radio station,
Venceremos, that Bishop
Rivera had called the
French-Mexican plan
“positive.” At that time the
office termed the plan
“unfortunate.”
The Rotted flWs
• Tropical Plants
• Flowers
• Wine and • Cheese • Fruit
Champagne , candy
•OPEN 7 DAYS 8 AM to 8 PM
4980 ROSWELL RD 255-1001
XAVIER SOCIETY OFFERS ...
CCD TEXTBOOK SERVICE
FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED
BRAILLE
LARGE PRINT • TAPE
• The Word is Life
Benziger Series
• Christ Our Life
Loyola U. Press Series
• The Lord of Life Program
Sad Her Series
• Living Faith Series
Our Sunday Visitor
• Religious Education Program
Silver Burdett Series
• To Live is Christ
Wm. C. Brown Series
• The Easter People Series
Winston Press
For further information regarding the
above or other available series write to:
XAVIER SOCIETY for the BLIND
154 East 23rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10010