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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 | ST J g /9 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 Faudln '1& b [ i 3 1.;,,:_,)' @ 18 o[l ‘w&i,-:#m/ 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 o iz s "_' % ] 8 ; B & e ey A ko 4 } : . 5 i ,“yx'; !.‘;“ 4‘ £ 3‘& e ~::4" %‘ *\" ‘iw -“;fi‘; : ! B A 4 ;b 2 e ey et Al R L I S e Rt i ) % ' ks g 3 s : G PBt o i s 3 ! ] 3 R x&“u# et i : ; g e ‘;; Fe "g’.3: " el T | i O 9 3% 1 ll ’ 3 H'” R . ,“ ) ‘='gv g‘% . Fo Lin B P Y ; T 9 y et 1 o S -2 1 i*'i k e .";":f, oy, 5 % . R ,\A . fiiv % /2R Y “% ’ "‘f ?» i ')b & % : , : . £y ": 4A g L B % A A 3 ,gfi it -y ! . ,\ P “b ey | Sy T : §.O ; R T 4 it a & B i RN P 2 UK, B 4;>-y R s T YR B g : L¥ 7% ' ey ' x 4 ;{‘q" iL](3 9 di» : ‘= " B .v -'y 4B . T ‘V‘ Ig" F; gl WL e, RO T, prets A &;x Ik¢ * . TR - R iR s 4 ’ [ e i S J-+ L O flfli—fi;‘ G, RT3 eil ) T G S : " ol 188 e & R ifi;fiv w“‘ x “Q“ g b a} % x BB é;fi 5 ,& ;‘; T R ko 2 ESS R e ; "y Rl LY GS % ‘i'"‘": &i N R - e "7""% . E3R-)3"ol g R - T z X IN7AT T & g ‘- A N . ™ ; %\;‘\Y ‘;3 » wl.;j zz;:, o O 3‘l‘ 9 k ; e R (%f& , e‘? SRB < Bp L \ . - 3 iy ’;‘:’ V%:‘-"“: %t it 'E( s? ¥ 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 _ | U.S. POSTAGE 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, -é w:' ! }f’" YN 8 g.i S T PN it 6 Tt H .| " | e 5 ‘ % : "'\ : " L S 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