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CONSOLIDATION
Transition team meets
12-Member panel is racially balanced, despite the absence of
women. Although citizen input is a priority, not everyone
wants to have a say in the new government.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
As the Augusta-Richmond County Transition
Task Force takes calculated steps toward choos
inga citizens'advisory panel, a community leader
has dismissed it as a useless notion that’s come
much too late.
The Augusta branch of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored People pres
ident said he wouldn't consider serving on such a
panel.
“We weren't allowed to have any input on the
bill, so I don't think ordinary citizens will get any
on the transition team,” said Tom Edwards, who
announced an anti-consolidation stand for the
NAACP last month, despite the membership’s
being greatly divided on the issue.
Fortunately for those who think “ordinary” cit
izens should supplement the 12-member task
force of elected officials, not everyone shares Mr.
Edwards’ attitude.
Even King Singleton, who loudly opposed the
consolidation bill in various arenas, including a
televised debate, said he would eagerly serve on
the panel.
“Of course I would be interested in being on the
panel,” the businessman said. “Although I op
posed the bill, I still believe that in order for
consolidation to work in the best interest of all, we
all have to have a part.”
As Mr. Singleton sees it, having an advisory
panel with only adamant supporters of the merg
er would be “to the detriment of all.”
But Mr. Singleton, who has hopes of winning a
seat on the commission/council if consolidation is
realized, said an advisory panel won't be needed
because he feels certain that the U.S. Justice
Department will disapprove of the current bill, as
it has all similar bills for this area in the past.
As outspoken for consolidation as Mr. Singleton
was against it, local businessman Fred Calloway
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BOOKS
Chaney Allen
tells a story of
triumph and
courage for all
Black women.
See fiage 18
Your local newspaper sponsored by Your local grocer.
JULY 13 - 19, 1995 VOL. XIV NO. 708
| Metro Augusta's Finest Weekly Newspaper |
TASK FORCE LEADERS
o ¥ ‘},:‘, i~ )’ ’
Lo
CHAIRMAN:
Charles DeVaney
sees the panel as the ultimate opportunity fornon
elected officials to help build the new government
planned for Jan. 1.
Mr. Calloway said he will attend the July 19
meeting of the task force to express his interest in
serving on the panel in the area of minority
business participation. ?
“I'm confident in the makeup of the task force,
but I think others should be heavily involved,” Mr.
Calloway said.
Joseph Goudy, chairman of the Augusta-Rich
mond County Community Action Committee, said
his long-time support of consolidation, coupled
with his community activism, qualifies him to
contribute significantly to plans for the new gov
ernment.
“I think it would be helpful to have this panel of
citizens because with such a large community, vari
ousissues are going to affect different areas different
ly, and everyone should be represented,” he said.
CSRA Business League Executive Director
Kelley McKie said it is “crucial” that a member of
her staff participates on the panel.
Ms. McKie also pointed out that the panel is
women’s oniy opportunity to voice their opinions, as
the task force of elected officials is entirely male.
RACE MATTERS
Study ofNorth Carolina schools reveal —
Lenient grading policies
at historically black schools
B North Carolina’s
Fayetteville State
University viewed as
among the state’s
most lenient
FAYETTEVILLE
(AP) A review of grading poli
cies in the University of North
Carolina system shows that all
five historically black schools
have policies that help students
avoid having failing grades count
on their cumulative grade-point
average.
Students at those schools who
fail classes are allowed to repeat
them as often as they like, the
Fayetteville Observer-Times re
ported Sunday. Oncethey passa
class, only the passing grade is
included in their grade-point
average.
At many of the other universi
ties in the 16-campus system,
students are allowed to repeat a
limited number of courses with
out having failing grades count
Augusta
FOCUS
VICE CHAIRMAN
Henry Howard
againstthem. Atafew,all grades
are counted.
C.D. Spangler Jr., president of
the UNC system, said the poli
cies allowing all failing grades to
be removed from a student’s
grade-point average were “prob
ably not a good idea.”
“I'll speak to the chancellors
about it,” Spangler said.
The toughest grading policies
are at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and
UNC-Greensboro, where all
grades are counted on student
grade-point averages, even if
courses are repeated.
At N.C. State University and
East Carolina University, stu
dents can repeat three fresh
man-and sophomore-level cours
es and have their failing grades
dropped. At Western Carolina
University and Appalachian
State, any five courses can be
repeated.
Two years ago, UNC-Charlotte
changed its policy from allowing
unlimited repeats to allowing
none. But students enrolled be
- |
First votes offer |
some surprises |
The transition task force is in place. Late last |
week the final members from the legislative
delegation were added. They include Reps. Jack
Connell, Henry Howard, and Robin Williams.
State Senator Charles W. Walker is the fourth
member.
At the first meeting on Monday, Henry
Howard was voted vice-chairman. One of the
surprises to come from that meeting was that
the vote for Mr. Howard did not fall along racial
lines. While some see that as a refreshing turn
of events, others viewed it with concern.
Mr. Howard was elected by a slim 5-4 margin.
Black task force members Henry Brigham and
Melvin Ford, however, did not vote for Mr.
Howard. They did not vote at all. Both ab
stained.
Freddie Lee Handy, as expected, supported
Larry Sconyers for the position, but didn’t re
ceive enough support to make that work.
Senator Walker, who has emerged as a dom
inant force on the team, said that it was impor
tant that a black member be placed in a leader
ship position to send the right message to the
Justice Department.
— Frederick J. Benjamin Sr.
“No women on the task force — I have a problem
with that,” she said. “That’s not representative of
the community.”
Augusta City Councilwoman Margaret
Armstrong, who angrily criticized her colleagues
for not including a woman among their four repre
sentatives, said she hopes women in the communi
ty will take an active role on the advisory panel.
fore 1993 are “grandfathered”
under the old policy.
This past year, Pembroke State
University changed its grading
policy to limit the number of re
peats to five. Previously, the
school allowed unlimited repeats.
The Observer-Times said its
review of grading policies shows
that Fayetteville State Universi
ty’s is among the most lenient.
FSU is the only school using a
“recycle” grade, which students
withlow standardized test scores
can get instead of failing grades
in freshman and sophomore
courses.
F'SU is one of three schools with
anattendance policy thatrequires
professors to withdraw students
from courses without giving them
a grade if they miss a set number
of classes.
Two other historically black
schools, N.C. Central University
and Winston-Salem State Uni
versity, havesimilar policies. But
those schools require that the
See GRADES, page 9
MR. 808 HENNEBERGER
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REDISTRICTING:
.
White Dems
@
seek to regain
lost ground
B Miller calls special redistricting
session for August 14. Black districts
may be sacrificed to boost chances of
white Democrats.
By Dick Pettys
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA
Black lawmakers are already
caught in a tug-of-war between
Democrats and Republicans who
want their support in the upcom
ing fight over reapportionment.
To some black leaders, neither
party has much to offer.
Democrats have already hinted
that they plan to wipe out one of
Georgia’sthreeblack congression
al seats. And a GOP-controlled
Justice Department was mostly
responsible for creating a black
Georgia congressional seat that
has now been invalidated by the
U.S. Supreme Court.
“How can black people sit idly by
and be content watching Democrats at the legislative level
rob us and Republicans at the U.S. Supreme Court rob us?”
said Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta.
“We’re caught in a fight between Democrats and Repub
licans, and we will not be casualties on the sidelines.”
The lobbying promises to become intense in the next few
weeks as the Legislature prepares for an Aug. 14 special
session to redraw congressional districts and some legisla
tive seats.
The action comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that the state relied too heavily on race in drawing
Georgia’s 11th District, which twists from suburban Atlan
ta to Augusta and Savannah.
“It’s going to be very messy,” Gov. Zell Miller told report
ers after huddling with lawyers and top Democratic lead
ers in his Capitol office.
In contrast to comments made earlier this week by his top
lieutenants, House Speaker Tom Murphy pledged to tink
er as little as possible with the congressional seats. But he
See REMAP, page 3
SRS hoping to
land tritium deal
B Pressure mounts as decision on
tritium project nears. The billion-dollar
project would be a boon to the CSRA.
COLUMBIA, S.C.
(AP) llt's no wonder South Carolina’s congressional
delegation is pushing for a new tritium plant at the
Savannah River Site. The project would be a jobs plum at
a time when the nuclear weapons plant is shedding
thousands of workers.
U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary is expected to
decide in the next two months whether South Carolina or
Nevada gets the multibillion-dollar tritium facility. Tri
tium is a form of hydrogen gas used to make nuclear
weapons more powerful.
Yet despite jockeying in Congress, O’Leary seems intent
on not tipping her hand. “It’s like Kremlin watching,” one
Senate official told The (Columbia) State for a story
Friday.
The new tritium plant, which could be a reactor or a
particle accelerator, would be the nation’s first since the
19605. Cost estimates are as high as $lO billion. The
project could create more than 2,000 jobs.
South Carolina’s congressional leaders want it at the
Savannah River near Aiken, where thousands of jobs have
been cut in recent years. ;
But they don’t appreciate Alaska Republican Sen. Frank
Murkowski’s suggestion last week that South Carolina be
awarded the tritium project if the staté is willing to
“temporarily” take thousands of tons of intensely radioac
tive fuel rods from commercial reactors.
See TRITIUM PROJECT, page 3
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State Senator
Charles W. Walker
feels that salvaging
three black districts
would be improba
ble.