Newspaper Page Text
JAN. 30 - FEB. 5, 1997 VOL. XVINO. 788
METRO AUGUSTA'S FINEST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Commissioners
support rehire
B James Perkins was forced to
transfer from county employment
when his department was reorga
nized despite over 20 years of service.
Some lawmakers say his case should
be reviewed, but no one is acting.
By Rhonda jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Though several Augusta-Richmond County com
‘missioners have expressed sympathy for ex-county
employee James Perkins’ desire to return to county
0
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Henry Brigham: “1
take a stand on
helping him get
reinstated.”
give them preference over outside applicants. But he
didn’t say whether he would be willing tomake such
a motion. , ;
. “I think that ought to be debated,” in regards to
policy, Commissioner Rob Zetterberg said. “I'd like
to hear the pros and cons on it.”
He drew an analogy between the government’s
position and the position of a private firm in the
same situation. If there were a company that had
been bought out by another company, he said, “we
would attempt to get that private company to hire
our employees.” 7
“These ... decisions are difficult. You don’t want to
run roughshod over people’s lives.” He says situa
tions like Mr. Perkins’ force him and his colleagues
to choose between being a “benevolent government”
and serving the whole public, and wants to be careful
when setting precedents, because the time will come
when other departments will be privatized as well.
“I’m not committed either way at this point,” he
said, adding, “I would like to have this issue debated
with the Commission.” -
When asked if Mr. Perkins’ predicament will be
come an issue with the government, he said, “Sure.
See COMMISSIONERS, page 2A
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New book takes unique look at
the Million Man March
See Page 3B
I World/National New5.............ccc00uin.. 2A
@l Local/Regional News ...........ccocrceinne SA
BB EANGAR e Es BA
Bl Classifieds/Employment ......... 108-118
employment — which he lost
after being promoted into a
different department that
later became privatized — no
one has volunteered to step
up to the plate and have the
issue put on the Commission
agenda.
As Commissioner Moses
Todd told Augusta Focus last
week, he would be willing to
support a motion to give em
ployees whose departments
are about to be privatized an
opportunity to apply for jobs
in other departments, and to
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e e VNIRRT RO R e e el
“THE AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND” by artist
Charles Lilly depicts the artist’s conception of
a New York City black cemetary around 1750.
Americans confront their painful past in The
Mcintyre ready
to run for office
A decade has passed since former
mayor’s civil rights restored.
Former Augusta Mayor Ed
Mclntyre is setting his sites on po
litical office, but he’s not saying
much more. Mr. Mclntyre—barred
from runningfor a decade because
of serving timéin prison for afelony
— has recently become eligible to
m.mmtements made
at a recent political/economic rally,
Mr. Mclntyre has not ruled out
entering the race for either house of
the state General Assembly, the
city commission, or the mayorghip.
Mr. Mclng:;s last run for mayor
wasagainst incumbent Charles
DeVaney in 1987, but in 1991 an
amendment passed in the state leg
islature forbade Mr. Mclntyre and
those with similar offenses on their
record from running for 10 years
after their civil rights had been
restored. Mr. Mclntyre lost an ap
peal of that amendment in 1993
GAO: Loan defaults higher at
black colleges and universities
[l Average 21 percent
default rate has
lawmakers concerned.
By Robest Greene
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
Vi W
The rate of student loan défaults
at historically black colleges and
universities was triple the rate of
other- institutions in fiscal 1993,
says a new analysis by the General
Accounting Office.
Inare?oxtmhnedw»x
schools, $464,200 per school, was
ngarly four times higher than that
of nonblack institutions, in 1992,
the latest year for which figures
were available.
The t said that, because of
their m& rates, 22 of the
Sl mg..““w“'wz* to
CULTURE |
African Burial Ground: An American Discov
ery which will air on the History Channel in
four instaliments beginning in February. For
details see page 18.
: o,
: ; Former Augusta mayor Ed
i Mcintyre announced at a
public gathering recently
e that he will seek elected
office. Mr. Mcintyre said
'he will not reveal his plans
® in any detail until he has a
- fundraiser in March.
13“‘“‘8'. - DeVaney w
race. R
Mr. Mclntyre was the¢ity’s
Black- summit calls for
black leaders to come together
By Tawana Lee
AUGUSTA FOCUS SE Writer :
AUGUSTA
The need for unity in the black
community was stressed by those
inattendance at the Black Leader
sh'fi Summit last Saturday.
any Summit participants
agreed that the poorl attendance
wao%;‘med—inpaft-—bythefact
that the event was sponsored by
the Nation of Islam.
The report said that,
because of their high
default rates, 22 of
the nation’s histori
cally black institu
tions could lose their
eligibility to.take
part in the program
in July 1998, unless
Congress extends an
exemption. ,
Do seais
dents. In 1995, students at those
institutions received about 3 per
centof the more than $26 millionin
federal student loans.
The report noted that the default
rate of around 21 percent, com
pared with 7 percent nonblack
schools, remained fairly constant
from 1991 to 1993. bOt
m’m ord-low college loan
Munwmmam
- Reported by Tawana Lee
Muslim leader Minister Charles
Muhammad decried the divisive
ness that exists among Christians
and Muslims.
“We all need to settle religious
differences if we are going to cre
ate a united front in order for the
black community to become em
pov;emd,” Minister Muhammad
said.
Citizens gathered at the summit
See BLACK SUMMIT, page 4A
education tax breaks.
The Education Department re
ported the fiscal 1994 default rate
was 10.7 percent, the lowest since
the department began reporting it
in 1988, and a4O percent drop since
Clinton took office in 1993.
Congress in 1992 required that
any institution of higher learning
with a default rate of 25 percent or
higher over a three-year period
would lose its eligibility to partici
pate in the federal student loan
program.
However, lawmakers exempted
black colleges and universities, cit
ing their special mission. That al
lowed these schools to receive fed
eral fundsdespite high default rates.
In 1994, Congress extended the
exemption, which was to have ex
];'imdonhbl, 1994, through July
byhmm D. Clay, D-Mo., top
Democrat on the House Education
Committee. An aide said Clay
Fresvciving
Black
Culture
One local
couple
does it
their way.
See Page 4A
City libraries
falling apart
B Grand Jury report decries
deplorable conditions, lack of
adequate public funding for
Augusta facilities.
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTAFOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
The main branch of the
éugusfg-Richmond
County Library
is rotting where
it stands, ac
cording to a re
port issued by
the Grand
Jury’s Rich
mond County
Libraries Com
mittee. Mean
while, thereport
states, the $2.4
million in tax
money ear
marked for the
library hasbeen
held back by the
Augusta-Rich
mond County
Board of Commissioners
until 1999. ;
The first of three main
problems listed in the re
port are “makeshift”
handicapped restrooms
that “are far from ad
equate and offer little pri
vacy” — a violation of the
Americans with Disabili
ties Act — which now con
sists of a two-stall
restroom with the parti
tions torn down. Richard
Leach, director of the Au
gusta-Richmond County
Library says they had to
add an extension to the
seatin the men’srestroom
because they couldn’t af
ford to install a handi
capped toilet, which is
taller. “We had to dosome
thing,” he said.
Another problem is the
inaccessibility of “almost
two-thirds” of the
Ordinance would
confine students to
class until age 18
B Proposed legislation designed to
increase school retention rate, but
opponents say it can’t work.
ATLAKTA
(AP) A plan by some
lawmakers to force stu
dents to stay in school
until they turn 18 or
graduate is drawing fire.
“Forcing kids to stay in
school who don’t want to
be there would cause ma-
Linda Herman, principal
at Windsor Forest High
School in Savannah.
Gov. Zell Miller and law
makers have made keep
ing students in school one
of their top priorities for
the 1997 General Assem
bly session. .
The proposal, co-spon
sored by Sens. Richard
‘Marable, D-Rome; Mark
‘Taylor, D-Albany; and
George Hooks, D-
Americus, would raise the
legal dropout age from 16
to 18.
BULKRATE _ |
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PAID
NO. 302
AUGUSTA, GA
wuy can’t
the Hawks
get any
respect?
Tony C has the
the answers .
See Page 6B
me some new curtains,”
he said, ‘but I can’t put
them up until the leak is
fixed.”
He says the materials
budget — for books,
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Second-floor storage area
where two-thirds of the books,
materials and periodicals at
the main branch on Greene
Street is inaccessible to the
public. Photo by R. Jones
library’s papers, peri
odicals and books,
which have to be kept
in a second-floor stor
age space and retrieved
only by library staffers.
The third is the
building’s urgent need
of weatherproofing, “or
our community runs
the risk of losing some
very valuable resources
housed within the li
brary,” the report
states, adding, “One
main reason for these
problems is a lack of
funding.”
Mr. Leach pulledback
the worn curtainsin his
office to expose the
bucket perched on the
window sill and half-full
of the morning’s rain
water. “My wife made
See LIBRARY, page 9A
The Senate passed a
similar measure four
years ago, but it stalled
in the House.
“It’s a simple way to
addressthe problem, and
now we're ready for it,”
said Marable, chairman
of the Senate Education
But Rep. Tommy
Smith, D-Alma, pre
dicted the proposal
wouldn’t work in the
classroom. o
“Once a child reaches
that age, they get aboist
16, if they are detér
mined not to go to schaol,
it’s questionable haow
much they might learn
and how much of a drain
they’d be on the other
students,” he said. “It
sounds good on paper,
See STUDENTS, page 3A