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4
he Augusta Black History
Committee’s Awards pro
gram last Sunday at his
toric Bethel AAM.E. church
was quite a success!
Some 463 persons heard Judge
John H. Ruffin’s stirring and his
toric address on the U.S. Consti
tution and Black Georgians. Dr.
Yvonne Shaw gave an excellent
overview of the contributions of
the A M.E. church to the Ameri
can nation since its 1787 found
ing. It was also an overview of the
struggles and achievements of
Black Americans everywhere.
Our sincere thanks to the many
persons who helped make the pro
gram a success. A broad cross
CHILD WATCH By Marian Wright Edelman
Politicians must satisfy child care nest now!
ou wouldn’t leave your
house without ensuring that
your child care needs are
satisfied, would you? Well,
we need to make sure that Con
gress doesn’t leave the House of
Representatives and the Senate
without making sure America’s
child care needs are satisfied.
This is an election year. Con
gress will be coming back to Wash
ington after the summer recess,
but they’ll be focused on adjourn
ing early and getting back to their
states as quickly as possible to
campaign for reelection. They need
to hear our voices. They need to
know that we don’t want to see
themback homeuntil they’vetaken
care of important business for chil
dren and working parents.
Spread the word in your commu
nity: We’re asking all children’s
programs, day care homes and cen
ters, and summer camps, libraries,
religious congregations, commu
nity centers and children’s advo
cates to create hand-drawn ban
ners, posters, and pictures includ
ing the message “Act Now! We
Need Quality Child Care and Safe
After-School Activities!” on each
drawing. Mail them to the
Children’s Defense Fund “Child
Care Now!” at 25 E Street, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20001. We will
The Augusta Focus
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Address i e i e s
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Augusta FOCUS, P.O. Box 1282, Augusta, GA 30903
Augusta Focus is a Walker Group Publication
See what the organizer of Augusta’s firsfHiome-Based Business Expo said about being a Focus advertiser:
«... 1 had advertised in other local media with minfimal results, but my Augusta Focus advertising resulted in positive responses and
quality leads ... These readers noticed the well-displayed advertisements and immediately saw an opportunity for promoting and
expanding their own home businesses. If I everjpromote another expo in the future, I'll definitely begin my advertising campaign
: with the help from the friendly staff of the Augusta Focus.” -
Hal Reeves
‘ Expo Coordinator '
You can FOCUS your successful adver§isements here, too. Call our talented marketing execs at (706) 724-7867.
J. Philip Waring © Gaing Places
Memorial Coluimnn
Black Bicentennial Sunday asyccess
section of our organizafions and
individuals were involved.
Augusta is one of the few cities
with so little recorded and writ
ten material on its rich history.
For almost 10 years our annual
mid-summer ABHC awards pro
gram has made solid change in
thefield. Asyouknow, the ABHC
gave solid support to the very
fine “Paths to Liberty” exhibit
here on August 8 on the Munici
pal parking lot.
But there is widespread agree
ment that much valuable infor
mation on an important facet of
American life was put on the spot
light by our Black Bicentennial
be holding a national press confer
ence this fall and will deliver your
drawings to Congress. We hope to
present them with thousands of
drawings from all over the country
asking them to do what they need
to do to keep our children safe and
positively engaged when parents
have to work.
There are so many children and
families affected by this urgent
need. Each day, over two million
Black children under six —or two
thirds of all Black pre-school chil
dren who are not yet enrolled in
kindergarten — spend some or all
of their day being cared for by
someone otherthan their nts.
Children of working motg:rr: are
entering care as early as six weeks
of age and can be in care for 40
hours a week until they reach
school age.
Child care and early education
have become a fact of life for many
Black families. In 1997, 72 percent
of Black women with children un
der six, and 77 percent of Black
women with children between the
agesofsixand 17 yearsold, werein
the labor force.
Child care is a major household
expense for working families. Full
day child care for one child costs
$4,000 to SIO,OOO per year — more
A Closer Kook
The following memorial column by the late J. Philip Waring was fist published for
Augusta Focus on August 27, 1987. We are republishing it so thel Mr. Waring's
admirers can reminisce and those who missed his columns a glimpse of
recent black history.
Sunday, and do not forget it ei
ther.
We will attempt to get Judge
Ruffin’s address, which was so
warmly applauded, for local pub
lication.
Congratulations on one-cent
tax
Warm congratulations to Com
missioner Henry Howard, his
commission colleagues, and all
others who helped score the 57
percent vote win on a project de
signed to advance badly needed
transportation improvements. It
was also interesting to note the
reactions within our own Black
neighborhoods.
than what many families pay for
college tuition at an in-state public
university. Forexample, the aver
age annual price of child care in a
center for a four-year-old is $4,630
in Los Angeles, $4,990 in Atlanta,
and $7,700in New York City. Child
care for infants and high quality
care is often even more expensive.
Many hard-working Black fami
lies earn too little to be able
afford the high cost of child care
About half of Black families wit
children earn less than $23,000
year, and half of Black famili
with children under six earn ]
than $20,500 a year. The cost
providing child care can easily ¢¢
ceed a family’s rent, mortgage,
payment, or groceries. A f
earning $25,000 could easily
one-quarter of their income y
for child care for one child d
the average family has two phil
dren. Families simply canngfaf
ford the cost of good qualityjhild
care in addition to all of the@her
demandson their monthly bjdget.
Because for many familiegthere
seems to be no other choicgit has
been estimated that nearly fe mil
lion children nationwide gre left
unsupervised by an ady#t after
NUR R ACCIDENT & PERSONAL
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IDr. Scott E. Sherman and Staff
The Sherman Clinic of
Chiropractic
Look for she African-American Astronaut display at Augusta State University Reese Library, 2nd floor!
Will Blag American music
be includ¢d Sept. 25?
We netefthe forthcoming pro
gram expgssion of the Sept. 25-
26 Arts igthe Heart of Augusta
annual epnt. This year, how
ever, the friday night section will
include gsalute to the U.S. Con
stitutiogvith special music. This
is beingarranged by the local
chaptegef Military Orders of the
World Wars. There were many
persong who saw the article in
last Sunday’s paper and com
mentdd on the selection of cul
tural fiongs and music. Many
quesfns have been raised as to
whetier it will include Black
Am { ? ’
| each week. Research sug
that children who are left
e alone are more likely to use
hol, marijuana, and cigarettes,
it is a fact that juvenile crime
between 3 and 7 p.m., when
y children are unsupervised
r school.
Since Black youth are overrepre
sented at every level of the juvenile
justice system — they comprise
only 14 percent of the total popula
tion but 28 percent of those ar
rested, 41 percent of those detained,
and 52 percent of those waived into
adult court — it is particularly
crucial to offer safe and affordable
quality child care for our children’s
after-school time.
Write to your representatives in
Congresstoday. And send usthose
drawings by your children. Those
we elect to represent us must re
spond to the child care crisistoday.
We have to make them listen!
Marian Wright Edelman ispresi
dent of the Children’s Defense
Fund and a working committee
member of the Black Community
Crusade for Children (BCCC). In
1998, CDF celebrates 25 years of
advocacy, service, and leadership
to build a movement to Leave No
Child Behind.
AVGUSIA FOCUS SEPTEMBER 1 DDE
Trained workers another
factor for the year 2000
by Dr. Carolame Williams,
vice president, Academic Affairs, Aiken
Technical m
As people gear
up for thenew mil
lenniumthere has
been much con
cern expressed
about the Year ¥
2000 Conversion. 4
People every- ;
where, including
private citizens Dr. Williams
and those working in business,
industry, agencies and organiza
tions, are putting time, energy
and vast sums of money into plan
ning and preparing for what they
consider tobe theinevitable—the
year 2000. Of course there are
grave consequences for not being
prepared, and those consequences
will affect virtually everyone in
the United States.
Never the less, the upcoming
millennium also brings yet an
other critical issue with ramifica
tions that are just as serious. This
issueinvolvesthe need foratrained
and educated work force. Accord
ing to a recently released survey
conducted by the S.C. Chamber of
Commerce, the state’s leadingbusi
ness executives considered “the
availability of a prepared work
force” as the greatest challenge
facing their companies. The sur
vey further stated that in the fu
ture, employers are going to de
mand even more specialized train
ing and qualifications from em
ployees. Inaddition, businesslead
ers expect that more than 80 per
cent of their future managers and
other higher paid employees will
need more than a high school di
ploma.
Ithink most people would agree
that, just as we cannot wait until
the year 2000 to convert our oper
ating systems, we most certainly
cannot wait until the year 2000 to
start training employees for year
2000 jobs. However, while many
would agree on the above point,
there would be just as many differ
ing views on what exactly consti
tutes a “prepared work force.”
And, since no one entity such as
education, business or industry
can properly define the concept of
a prepared work force, reaching
agreement on a definition has to
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include various perspectives.
Therein lies the importance of co
operative, collaborative partner
shipsbetween individual stakehold
ers.
True education is a lifelong pro
cess that entails much more than
formal schooling. Therefore, in
order to have available a cadre of
trained, qualified employees for
tomorrow’s jobs, today’s instruc
tion must include both classroom
and on-the-job experiences. Co
ops, Supervised Work Experiences,
and Internships are classic ex
amples of education, business and
industry partnerships in action.
They provide excellent opportuni
ties for students to apply the skills
they’ve learned while at the same
time gaining practical experience.
Employersbenefit from having ac
cess to workers who are knowl
edgeable and interested in their
chosen career fields. The feedback
provided by students and employ
ers, as a result of these Co-ops,
benefits educational programs be
cause it allows faculty to review
and revisethe curriculum tobetter
meet the needs of business and
industry.
One other little known but suc
cessful partnership involves fac
ultyinternships or “industry expe
riences.” Faculty spend a certain
amount of time (usually duringthe
summer) working in business or
industry. These experiences not
only allow faculty to remain cur
rent in their field, but they also
gain valuable, first-hand knowl
edge that can be incorporated into
the curriculum.
Fortunately, these typesof part
nerships are not new to Aiken
County. Many local businesses
and industries currently have
meaningful and mutually reward
ing associations with Aiken Tech
nical College. Still, the bottom line
seems clear. Ifbusiness and indus
try in our county are to grow and
remain competitivein the market
place, we can’t afford to leave well
enough alone. We must continue
to prepare for the inevitable —the
year 2000 and beyond.
Any employer desiring more in
formation about becoming part of
such partnerships, please contact
Dr. Carolane Williams at Aiken
Technical College, (803)593-9954,
extension 1216.
9A