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Page 4 Clark Trustee Board Head A Surprising Man By Deborah C. Lipscomb As I walked through the huge, white building of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, I really didn’t know what to expect. I thought interviewing the chairman of the Clark College trustee board would be like interviewing the President of the United States. I had never talked to such an important decision maker of the Clark College family. The receptionist at the front desk called Mr. Edward L. Simon and an nounced my arrival. I thought I was going to have to wait for the senior vice president of the insurance company. No sooner than she had announced my arrival, 1 was on my way to his office. As I knocked on the door, I imagined a tall, solemn man hovering in the door way with an unfriendly smile. To my surprise, a man average in height, and dressed in a plaid suit, opened the antique wooden door with a smile. “Come in,” he said with a deep voice. Simon’s warm smile let me know my fears of the stiff-necked administratoi was unfounded. Even though Simon appeared slightly uneasy, it did not take him long to relax and relate his life story. The graying executive consultant of Atlanta Life told of his education at Atlanta Universitv as a high V. ' . ■ Edward L. Simon school and undergraduate institution. Simon men tioned he went to school for chemistry. He received a scholarship in chemistry from Atlanta University but couldn’t afford to go. He eventually graduated from Clark in 1933. Before Simon’s career with Atlanta Life, he worked as a red cap in New York and teacher in Griffin, Ga. Simon said he got in the insurance business by ac cident. “I was going back to New York to get a job as a red cap,” he reminisced. “On my way, I saw a friend who suggested that I eo to Atlanta Lite." Simon said. Simon liked the in surance business so well that he made it his profession for 23 years. He started out in 1934 as a special salesman and retired February 7th as a general officer. Along with a career at Atlanta Life, Sirnon has served on several boards and committees. He was the first Black to become a fellow of the Herndon Foundation and isst i! on the board of directors. Laughing and joking throughout the interview, Simon displayed a warm, sensitive personality un tarnished by the stigmas society has placed on the elderly. Simon boasted he has only been sick one time, when he was 65. He said he used to lift weights bu( stopped because of ad vancing age. “Now I get exercise from working in my yard,” he chuckled. When I was in college I was all- American in football.” Simon’s prowess on the football field enabled him to withstand his pledging period with the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He is also a member of the graduate fraternity Sigma Pi Phi. As a life member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Simon feels Check organizations are responsible for many scholarships and con tributions to the black culture. “The organization doesn’t make the person, the person makes the organization,” he said. Simon is also involved with the Peachtree Kiwanis, a service organization. Even though he is still in volved with these organizations,he said hehas. not adjusted to his retirement. He likes to travel with his wife Jewel. Simon said he doesn’t really have a particular hobby but enjoys doing several things. He developed an interest in art after Mrs. Simon began her studies after their marriage. Mrs. Simon is a renowned artist and sculpturess whose work has reached many people across the world. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Atlanta University. She was the first black to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Atlanta School of Art. While she was at Atlanta University, she studied under Hale Woodruff and Alice Dunbar. Continued on Page 8 Atlanta Gets Neighborhood Center Atlanta is one of three cities in which a neigh borhood justice center will begin operation in March. The other two cities are Los Angeles and Kansas City, Mo. Funded by $210,000 allocated by the United States Justice Department through the Office for the Improvement of the Administration of Justice, the Atlanta center is located in a two-story white building at 1118 Euclid Ave.,N.E. Linwood R. Slayton Jr., formerly 9 planner with Economic Opportunity Atlanta, heads the project which is scheduled to begin its first case during the first week of March. YVhen the program becomes operational next month, it will have a permanent staff of five and 25 trained mediators. The program aims to help people resolve disputes which arise between relatives, friends and neigh bors. A major goal of the program is to reduce local court caseloads by resolving minor disputes. At first the center will handle cases referred to it by Atlanta police precincts, the courts and community- based groups. All voluntary cases (walk-ins) will be handled if both parties agree to mediation. The parties in the referred cases must also agree to mediation. “I don’t expect that we will have many problems getting people to agree to mediatipn,’’ said Nick Butterfield, a program assistant. “When a judge says, ‘Look, we can take this thing to court or settle it our of court through mediation,’ I think people will see the value of the neighborhood justice center.” When a referral is made, the center’s staff will talk with both disputants and get the facts of the case. Next, a trained a community mediator will help the parties to reach an agreement by which they both can abide. Once the disputants reach a mutually acceptable agreement, the terms will be put into writing and signed by both parties. When an agreement is reached, the referring agency will be notified that the pioblem has been resolved and the matter will be officially concluded “This is a good program for all involved,’’ But terfield said. “The plaintiff gets it over and finished and the defendant avoids court.” Other advantages of the program include: .mediation sessions scheduled at the con venience of disputants (evenings and weekends if necessary). . Totally fiee service to all regardless of one’s in come. .an agreement arrived at by and betv „*en the parties involved instead of one imposed upon them. To recommend a case or for further information about the neighborhood justice center call 523-8236. 50 Years Of The World The Atlanta Daily World, America’s oldest continuing Black daily newspaper, will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary this year. The World began its publication on August 5, 1928, as a weekly- newspaper. W.A. Scott II was the founder of the World. His brother, C.A. Scott, the editor and general manager of the World, was the co-founder. The World became a daily newspaper on March 12,1932. The World is a family- owned. independent paper. C.A. Scott, the editor and general manager of the We Id. said in a recent in terview that the purpose for establishing the newspaper was to educate Black people and to print the good and bad news about the fjBlack community. Scott said that he and his brother saw how the Atlanta Constitution printed only negative and discriminating news con cerning Blacks. The Scotts established the World to change this, he said. Scott said the World has done much to help to im prove the Black community- in Atlanta. In 1935, the World began its annual Christmas Cheer Program for the needy. In 1944, the World started the first voter registration program in Atlanta. In 1959, the World raised monies.’ C.A. Scott, the editor of 34 years for the W’orld, has as an individual done many things for the community. Scott founded the Citizens Democrat Club of Fulton County in 1944 to challenge the white primary. His fight enabled Blacks to vote in the primary elections in 1946. The World was a recipient of the Georgia State Chamber of Com merce’s “Accolade of Appreciation” for economic contribution in 1959. The World, up until 1970, had about 60 people em ployed at its office. Presently, there are 32 people employed by The World. C.A. Scott attributes the World’s success to his late mother who taught her children the art of printing. When asked what ad vice he would give to aspiring Black journalists, Scott said. “Be sincerely- interested in journalism based on service and not slavery.”