Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, December 18, 1997, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2A DECEMBER 18,1997 AUGUSTA FOCUS ? ; ‘w:“ _~ B AFRICA B TSR Albright shops, takes in sights during day off in Africa VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe (AP) Secretary of State Madeleine Albright took a day off Sunday from her weeklong tour of Africa totakein thesights and doalittle shoppingin this resort town. Although the Zambezi River was running low this time of year, the main attraction —the tumultuous Victoria Falls — was strong enough to get Albright’s entourage a bit wet while taking in the view. The Secretary of State, who is known for her shopping prowess, looked for African curios and fabrics in the Elephant Walk market area. She scheduled a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River to end the day. Albright will wrap up her seven-country visit Monday when she travels to Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to meet with President Robert Mugabe. She then heads to Brussels for a ministerial meet ing on the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. African organization to establish rights court ADDIS ABABA, Ethiepia (AP) African judicial officials agreed Sunday on a proposal for a permanent African court on hu man rights. : It would allow Organization' of African Unity member countries and individual citizens who are victims of human rights abuses tolodge complaints to an eight-judge court. But it wasn't clear from the document — put forth by African justice ministers and attorneys general — what decisions or judgments the court can pronounce. Legal experts from the 53 OAU countries have worked since 1995 on a legal framework for the court. The proposal will be submitted to the next conference of the OAU ministers. Black colleges in the hunt for top academic prospects From page one Low operating budgets, ever changing adminitrations, pro gram cuts and financial problems already have shut down 10 black colleges since 1977. But keeping their doors open throughout the next century will force many schools to hurdleseveral obstacles. Amongthe challenges: dumping an image that black colleges are training grounds for students with average grades and a last choice for smarter high school graduates. Louisiana’sblack college officials said ensuring survival may mean redefining their mission. They must: '@Fight harder with predomi nantly white colleges to recruit top black students. Blncrease entry standards and decrease remedial courses to avoid public criticism. BRaise more money for endow ments and scholarships and straighten financial troubles. ‘Black colleges got a morale boost this year when the Princeton Re view Board named Florida A&M college of the year. Florida A&M, which enrolled more national achievement scholars than Harvard in two of the past five years, is the first black college to réceive the honor. : Louisiana’s four black colleges — Grambling and Southern are public; Xavier and Dillard, both in New Orleans, are private — want toemulate Florida A&M. They are setting up booths, pushing pam phlets and doling out scholarships throughout the state this winter to attract some 1,000 black se niors with at least a 3.5 grade point average and high scores on the ACT. . Grambling officials will be in Shreveport this week as part of a five-city recruiting tour thismonth. But fighting off the private schools ag well as Southern, LSU-Shreve port, Northwestern Stateand Loui R e ; , | » f{h o TR O | Yy o : o b 4 . a“m - e Get : i - ,tﬁmm."'w“"';:;:‘ Ag ‘ ? X - o : ” TAX RIOT People fiee from tear gas fired by police during a demonstration in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday Dec. 9, 1997. Thousands of people protesting tax in creases fought running battles with police last week, turning Zimbabwe’s capital into a war zone during one of the biggest labor strikes ever in the southern African nation. (AP Photo/Chris Collingridge) kers included Attackers included women, ® children and armed men By Dianna Cahn ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer : GISENYI, Rwenda The attackers — men, women and chil dren — came at the refugees from all sides in the middle of the night, swinging axes, machetes and nail-studded clubs. For Bunanihakiza Kivura, the father of 8, and other families cowering in their huts at the Mudende refugee camp, there was no where to run. “Sowe closed ourselvesinto theroom, and waited there to die,” Kivura said Saturday. Kivura, his wife and eight children, ethnic Thutsis from neighboring Congo, all survived Thursday’sattack by Hutu rebels. But when they stepped outside the next morning, the dead surrounded them. Authorities raised the death toll at the northwestern Rwanda camp to 272 on Sat- siana Tech for area students won’t be easy. “We're giving out enough infor mation to make everyonein thecity think about coming to Southern,” said Johnny Vance, a recruiter for Southern, which has campuses in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, “Let’s waive their first semester tuitiontoget themin here, and after that, we could givethema stipend if they make good grades.” State mandates — which raised admission standards and fees at public colleges — are forcing Grambling and Southern Univer sity-Baton Rouge to seek smarter students to offset enrollment drops. The schools lost some 1,300 stu dents this year because so many applicants scored below 17 on col lege entry tests. Dillard and Xavier have drawn top black students in the past, but higher tuition and selective admis sion have stalled enrollment in re cent years and sent many students shopping out of state for college. Then there are students like Gramblingjunior Keila Mack, who enrolled in 1995 with a 3.98 high school GPA and held that average through two years at Grambling. She said she thought about trans ferring because her courses are too easy. “Ihave friends who attend black colleges and the biggest disadvan tage is that we're moving through the courses tooslowly,” Mack said. “I know we're not at the same pace as some of the mostly white schools who we’ll be competing with for jobs.” Colleges with a mostly white en rollment have successfully drawn black students away from black colleges by offering more money “I may transfer to LSU once I get my two-year degree here, but right now, there’s no better expe rience for a black college student than attending a black college,” said SUSBO sophomore Kenneth Smith. Bigger colleges have been able to lure students away from black colleges. Black student enrollment at Centenary, LSUS and Bossier Par ish Community Coliege has doubled since 1986, due to minor ity scholarship programs. About 85 of Centenary’s 109 black stu dents are on partial or full schol arships. But cutbacks in such aid throughout the country — mainly in Texas and California — have also reached Louisiana. For in stance, BPCC’s awards to black students will be cut from 50 tu ition-paid scholarships per year to five starting next year because the college switched from local to state control. “I didn’t want to tell our kids about this myself, and I’'m not happy about this, but it’s a state rule,” said BPCC counselor Lurene Barfield, who supervises the minority scholarship program. “Students who’ve been graduat ing for the past 16 years won’t be able to in the future because the cutbacks may hurt our black stu dent enrollment.” But black college officials don't expect such cutbacks to bring them more students. “People expected the floodgates to roll in for us after all the atten tion over the affirmative action stuff. But that hasn’t been the case and probably won’t be the case,” said Winston Brown, dean of admissions at Xavier. Despite stagnant enrollment over the past 10 years, private colleges have maintained recruit ingefforts nationwide because they have more money to spend. “Money isn’t the only factor that keeps us competitive. We go on our reputation and job placement record,” said Brown, whose uni versity has sent more black under graduates to medical schools than any other college in the country. “You will pay more by coming here, but in the end you get a lot for your money.” urday, up from 234 on Friday. Another 230 refugees remained hospitalized, many in criti cal condition with head wounds. Kivura was a school principal in Congo, until attacks by Rwandan Hutus there sent him and his family on the run after mid-1996. At the Mudende camp, he taught refugee children. In August, the Kivuras fled to safety when Hutu rebels raided the same camp, killing at least 140. But when the attackers surrounded the camp last Thursday, setting alight huts, hacking and shooting, flight wasimpossible. The next morning, “Everything was burned, and so many people were dead, massacred,” Kivura said. Barefoot and dirty, the refugees remain ing from the 17,000 who had been at the See MASSACRE, 14A F h| ‘ w L : Iy -" ,‘ - 3 "'? ¥ b : g p T\ ; V . i 4 : ! : , ‘ e | . P b ; 3 ‘ > i e & B : A 1 £y ‘ 4 - - L & o /i ‘ > : @ P +... things happen. _ \ i e “Restoring traditional s R e N family values is one of our , . e main objectives for the 905.” . E £ 3 Derothy 1. Height g > ] 4 , ] TN ¥ ‘ T e - TN National Council of Negro Women A 3 P % Dornt.hy Height 1s a symbol of . B TeLI L SR ¢ Y I (e BYO AN gt . TP ‘i e o | ABT RCIRT TTOole is] FTE : r— W women s organizations for over 4 30 years. With innovative pro & grams such as the annual Black | 1 W Family Reunion Celebrations, ' G T A} hg v by ! Height and the NCNW are keep s Q 0 : : ; 4 gAY s ing alive the history, tradition and culture of the Black Family. That's why Anheuser-Busch supports the National Council of Negro Women, just as we support other educational and cultural programs, community projects : and the development of minority N bhusinesses: '\\ : At Anheuser-Busch we're » commited to a better (lll;liii,)’ 0} W »\ - w hie "'g)!‘k“u‘l",wlu' b, b b o ‘ 't"’ ‘v S i ' a 4 ]%LR RV TV @] ‘ \%{, ‘ : i) \.» ‘Y: v(\ .1 p i “( % ( ()M"‘\N”S ’- y \ P 1997 Anheusér-Busch ompanies, 1n . PR T 1 4 g Py 5%, , o . : ¢ it y:'.‘-"fr vt;‘nr Bill would curb bounty hunters operating in Ga. By Dick Pettys ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer If they want to work ir Georgia, want to wor bounty hunters would have to ob tﬁnmhmmmdwmwuh lhnpmuctr;ctiomu ?:‘m being prepared for next year’s Leg islature. Rep. Kem Shipp, R-Kennesaw, said Friday the bill was prompted in part by a home invasion in Phoe nix, Ariz., last fall by men claiming to be bounty agents. Two people were killed in the gunfight that followed. Shortly after that, Shipp said he learned that the daughter of a con stituent had been accosted in her apartment in a pre-dawn “raid” by shouting, gun-toting bounty hunters seeking a man she did not know. “I was shocked to find we have absolutely no regulation in the state whatsoever” over the actions of bounty hunters, said Shipp. Free-lance bounty hunters and employees of bonding companies are allowed to hunt down bail jumpers in Georgia without a li cense. The contract an individual signs when he gets a bonding com pany to post his bail allows the company to use any means neces ;:xl'ly to recapture him if he jumps Under Shipp’s proposed legisla tion, no one could work as a bail recovery agent after July 1, 1999, Poll watchers cited for ignoring blind man MIDWAY, Ga. (AP) Two officials will face a judge for allegedly ignoring a blind man’s plea for help while he fumbled in an election booth dur ing last month’s election. The state election board Wednes day cited City Attorney J. Sidney Flowers and City Clerk Lynette G. Cook in connection with Charles Cady’s complaint. The citations mean that the case will proceed to a state administra tive lawjudge next year, said Chris Rigeall. spokesman for Secretary without a license from the Peace Officer Standards and Training . Council, the state agency that cer- - Thoap wouldhave the right touqmntrdmltm ' fit before granting licenses. { Bail enforcement officers would not be allowed to carry weapons without a weapons permit issued ' by the council. And beforeattempt ing to capture a bail immper, they would have to notify the local sher iff or police chief. Also, bounty hunters from other states would have to obtain a war rant before attempting to capture someone living in Georgia. Raymond Krebs, who owns a bond agency in Marietta, said the industry favors some type of regu lation after the headlines created by the Phoenix killings. “We want to attempt to police ourselves and the people we hire,” he said. “Like any industry, 95 percent of the people do what's right but you’re going to have 5 percent who hire people that are yahoos. Like there are certain people who should not be police men, there are certain bail bonds men who should not be in this business.” Shipp said he expects little trouble passing the bill. “I'haven’t had any negative com ments about it whatsoever. People Jjustdon’tunderstand whyit hasn’t been done sooner,” he said. of State Lewis Massey. Flowers and Cook face fines of up to SI,OOO. Cady said that once in the booth he searched for a magnifying glass that had been provided in other city elections but could not find it. He reportedly asked for help after election workers unsuccessfully searched for the glass. Election officials did not offer their assis tance and refused to let Cady’s sister help him, he has alleged. Cady said he voted anyway but walked out not knowing who he had voted for.