Newspaper Page Text
Page 2
Clark Atlanta University Panther
March. 27, 1992
Campus
Attacks
continued from page 1.
When he opened the door, a black
male ordered him to hand over the
pull-out. “I thought he was joking
at first but when I refused, the look
on his face changed as if he was
trying to look serious,” said
Robinson.
He then received a blow to the
jaw and another young man began
to hit him. Most of the blows were to
my body, he added.
While he continued to hold on to
his radio, the young attackers be
came frustrated and threw the bag
on Robinson’s shoulder, contain
ing a car phone, to the other side of
the street. The impact from him
pulling back, forced him to hit his
car and set of the alarm.
Ann Kimbrough, director of uni
versity relations, whose office is lo
cated in the department, was walk
ing to her car when she saw him
being beaten. She called the At
lanta Police department and Sims
security to report the crime.
The group of boys that had gath
ered on the comer to watch the
incident ran when the alarm
sounded. The assailants only ran
half a block up the street and stood
there as Robinson got into the car
and struggled to release the steer
ing wheel lock.
One of the attackers was de
scribed as having a dark complex
ion, with a high top fade and wear
ing a front gold tooth. The other
teenager had a light complexion
and wore a very short hair cut.
When Sims Security arrived, he
filed a report. “They said they did
not have much to go on because I
could only describe my attackers’
physical traits and not what they
were wearing,” he added. Robinson
was disgusted because neither cam
pus security nor the police made
an effort to look for the suspects.
On our way to the hospital, I was
driven around the block by campus
security so I could point out the
boys if I happened to see them, he
said.
He was taken to a local hospital
by a Sims employee and dropped
off. “He left a number and told me to
call when I was finished,” Robinson
said.
His two attackers have not been
caught and friends of Robinson told
him that two young men fitting the
description he had given were sit
ting in the hallway of the communi
cations arts center.
Rob Patton, a radio announcer
for WCLK, the campus radio sta
tion, was also attacked leaving the
building at approximately 12:10
a.m. on February 15. He has filed
a lawsuit against the university but
specific details concerning the case
could not be disclosed due to litiga
tion. “Something needed to be done,
I just couldn’t let the school pay for
my medical bills and brush the
issue aside,” he added. After com
pleting his Valentine’s Day show,
the radio personality went to the
parking lot to put records in his car
and park at the comer of Beckwith
and Raymond Streets so the vehicle
would be closer to the front en
trance. This is the exact location
where Robinson was attacked a
month later. “
As he was doing so, six guys
started throwing bricks and other
debris. He described two adoles
cents in the crowd that also fit the
description of Robinson’s attack
ers. This prompted him to drive
around the comer to Stegall’s Food
and get a security officer. After
identifying himself to the Sims em
ployee, he proceeded to give details
of what had happened.
They immediately returned to the
site and as Patton stepped out of
the car a young man walked up on
him. At that time, someone in the
group of on-lookers threatened to
shoot him. According to the victim,
that is when the assailant hit him.
“He must have hit me with every
thing he had,” the announcer re
plied.
Three of his teeth were dislodged
and he was knocked unconscious.
The security guard called for help
and Patton regained consciousness
as four Atlanta police officers got to
the scene. Although the attacker
and his accomplices remained at
the scene only one person was ar
rested.
Eighteen-year-old Charles Arnold
Bernard of 73 Raymond St. was
charged with simple battery accord
ing to an APD report.
Although an ambulance was
there, the Sims employee took
Patton to Grady Memorial Hospital
to be treated for his injuries.
The radio announcer thinks that
if his case had been investigated
properly, Robinson would not have
been harassed. “At first, I chose to
take a low profile about the attack
but after hearing about the other
person being beaten in the same
area, I knew something had to be
done,” said Patton.
Television stations attempted to
try to get me to give them the story
because they realize a high crime
risk exists in the area but Clark
chooses to ignore it, he added.
Out of the outrage he felt over the
beating and the murders of a CAU
and a Morehouse student less than
a year a part, he contacted a lawyer.
“Something must be done to bring
attention to this problem that
plagues the Atlanta University Cen
ter,” said Patton.
PHOTO BY LAKES HA GAGE
Seated above from left to right: Dr. Kofi Bota, James D. Watkins, Dr. Thomas W. Cole,
Jr., and Dr. Diana Natalicio as they signed the agreement.
Education and Research
Agreement signed at CAU
By Lewis Pryor
Sports Editor
United States Secretary of En
ergy, James D. Watkins, signed
agreements for continued federal
support on education and research
proj ects for environmentally aware
college students at Clark Atlanta
University on Feb. 27.
The agreements signed by
Watkins are designed to encourage
increased minority participation in
environmental areas throughout
Historically Black Colleges and
Universities/Minority Institutions
(HBCU/MI), Environmental Tech
nology and Waste Management
Consortium, which is comprised of
17 historically black colleges and
universities, along with minority
institutions.
With approximately 500 students
and 10 college presidents present
Watkins said the Department of
Energy is committed to enhancing
environmental education to meet
the increasing global needs in the
environmental sciences.
The consortium also provides
science interns for college students,
as well as science and mathematics
training in primary and secondary
schools on a national level.
CAU is the campus headquar
ters for the consortium, which also
includes Alabama A&M, Florida
A&M, Florida International, Hamp
ton, Howard, Jackson State, New
Mexico Highlands, Northern Ari
zona, North Carolina A&T State,
Prairie View A&M, Southern Uni
versity at Baton Rouge, Texas A&I,
Texas Southern, andTuskegee uni
versities; Xavier University of Loui
siana and the University of Texas,
El Paso.
While speaking to the group of
student and faculty Watkins cited
the lack of trained professionals as
the reason for so many unfilled
environmental and science engi
neering jobs.
“This is a whole new growth in-
dustiy, in my opinion, probably the
biggest in the world,” Watkins said.
“You are in the right field at the
right time, and you are on the right
track for preparing for these ca
reers.”
In addition to the efforts of the
consortium, Watkins also pledged
the Energy Department would seek
continued funding to complete con
struction of the Clark Atlanta Re
search and Education Center for
Science and Technology. The En
ergy Department has already spent
$14 million toward the completion
of the research center which is
scheduled to open in 1992, one
year after its original grand opening
of September 1991.
“When completed, the center will
be one-of-a-kind among historically
black colleges and universities,” said
Dr. Kofi Bota, vice president for
research at CAU and director of the
HBCU/MI Environmental Technol
ogy and Waste Management Con
sortium. He added, “This will be the
largest science and research center
on a university campus funded by
the federal government in years.”
In a coinciding program at CAU,
Watkins signed a four-and-a-half
year agreement with the Educa
tion, Research and Development
Association (ERDA) of Georgia Uni
versities involving research aimed
at improving health and safety
conditions at the Savannah River
Site. The Energy Department,
through the Westinghouse Savan
nah River Co., will fund research of
faculty and students at the ERDA
schools, which include: Clark At
lanta University, Emory University,
the Georgia Institute of Technol
ogy, Georgia State University, the
Medical College of Georgia and the
University of Georgia.
The research program which in
cludes such things as reactor safety
and robotics will be funded with as
much as $3 million through the
current fiscal year.