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VOLUME 18 No. 883 ) ‘ “‘ L" ‘; TR Cochranenters Hampton case g Lo A ,‘;"fia”’.’g ¥ (“‘i,a‘ L ‘ e i’ i n O : a:r:“‘ ¥ A o ® Attorney Johnny Cochran, left, and attorney Faye Hardy- Lucas, who will assist Cochran, face reporters, in Hampton, Va., Monday Dec. 7, 1998, where they announced that they will represent Hampton University women'’s basketball coach Patricia Bibbs, her husband and an assistant coach in a awsuit against police in Lubbock, Texas. The police wrong fully accused the three of being part of a scam on Nov. 16 at a Wal-Mart. The basketball team was in Lubbock for a game lagainst Texas Tech. Story on page 2A. (AP Photo/The Daily Press, Dave Bowman) ‘Judge approves raising ‘Alabama scholarship . - n requirements for whites 4 MONTGOMERY, Ala. " (AP) Alabama State University, which sought to ‘attract more white students by giving them schol arships if they have a 2.0 grade point average, now plans to make whites have a 2.7 grade point aver _age, the same as for blacks seeking scholarships. The university plans to raise the minimum re quirements for whites applying for the Diversity Scholarship Programstarting spring semester. High school senigrs with the minimum GPA qualify for . tuition scholarships, ASU officials said. Other cat egories within the program have more stringent requirements and offer more money, up to full tuition, room and board and books for students with a 3.76 GPA. ' Only the minimum-level scholarships in the pro gram had different requirements for white stu dents and for black students, officials said. “We want to have no differential by race because it does cause some problems, and it is unfair on the face of it,” said Alabama State Vice President for Academic Affairs Roosevelt Steptoe. | ~'The Diversity Scholarship Program was started in 1995 as part of the settlement of Alabama’s long running college desegregation lawsuit. U.S. Dis trict Judge Harold Murphy ordered the Alabama Legislature to set aside $1 million annually to help " integrate ASU and Alabama A&M. The scholarship program quickly brought a record 10 percent’ white enrollment to the Montgomery campus, but the 2.0 minimum GPA caused some * resentment among traditional, or black, ASU stu -dents. 4 A Micah Johnson, 18, an ASU freshman, said high school graduates with a 2.0 GPA are “dumb.” “If I'm dumb and you’re dumb, you shouldn’t get free tuition just because of the color of your skin,” Johnson said. G «A 9.7 is still too low,” said Shimika Brooks, an ASU student who won a scholarship with a 3.5 high ~“hool GPA. R HBO PRESENTS *See 2B Baby Boomers are yearning (o relax o 10) Sa\lin:AMemgg&gtErfind the Cen&fi&vlerfieu mNational/International .................. 2A @Local/Regional News ..........ccceueeie BA BPOODIE i i citipiiivasiinisnssiososast it A WBROELE ....ccvveicrisnssivssnsnisssisaivossssioss OA mEditorial/Opinion ..........ccceeuere. SA-9A BChurch..........ocooosivcuesnnreneioneee 12A-13A BWBUSINESS ......c.ccvenevenenssconeres 14A-15A WARTA-~ /T i N DECECEMBER 10 - 16, 1998 Massage anyone? DEAD ON ARRIVAL A grandmother searches for the truth in the tragic death of her 3- year old grandson. Police say the killer ~ was her daughter, - but she maintains her daughter is a RN ([« 20 By Frederick Benjamin Sr. AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA When Robert Clark carried his three-year-old stepson, Elijah Ray, into the Emergency Room, the child’s body was limp and his little head dangled over the man’s arm. An emergency room atten dant noted that the child was not breathing and his heart was still; the pupils of his eyes were fixed and dilated; his hands had no pulse and his feet were pale and cold. Black vomit guarded the mouth and nose area and ugm'] _small bruises were on hisfummy.- It was 3:30 a.m — at -4/08 &m.;’ Elijah was pronounced dead. His mother, Tahiti, sat nearby, stiff and crying. That was April 30, 1997. At the time, Clark was a private-first classin the U.S. Army and he had brought Tahiti and the child from Augusta to be with him at Fort Irwin, California. They lived on post. Shortly after the child’s death, Robert and Tahiti became sus pects. Both requested the services of an attorney and refused to talk to San Bernadino County sheriff’s INSIDE High School Sports: Take a Peek See 6a TN YTICY R IGTN | e y P : e e Elijoh Ray: a happy child. detectives. Asheriff sdepartment report noted that the child had apparently been normal and healthy. It further stated that, according to Clark, the child fell playing football four days prior to his death. He said at that time, however, that he was not injured. The child fell again, the day before he died. This time, he fell offa curb and hit his shoulder, but reportedly told the father that he Death penalty opponents plead for Canadian’s life in Texas By Renae Merle ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer AUSTIN, Texas Pleas from an international delegation might not beenough tosave thelife of a convicted murderer who this week could become the first Canadian executed in the United States since 1952. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and oth ers have asked Gov. George W. Bush to prevent Thursday’s execution of Jo seph Stanley Faulder, 61, who confessed to killing the ma triarch of a wealthy oil family in east Texas. Rick Halperin of Amnesty International on Monday cited what he called outra geous trial procedures, a lack of qualified attorneys and a flagrant disregard of inter national treaties. “Just about anything that you can think ofthat is wrong with the death penalty as an institution is in place in this state,” Halperin said. Bush seemed unaffected by the criticism. “No one is going to threaten the governor of the state of Texas,” he said during an appearance in San Antonio. “We’re not going to let people come into our state, commit capital murder and get away with 362 Linda Edwards, a spokeswoman for the governor, said he will not make a decision about Faulder’s case until he receives a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. : If the board suggests clemency, Bush can either accept or reject the recommendation. If they recom mend execution, Bush’s only alternativeis togrant a 30-day reprieve. Victor Rodriguez, chairman of the Board of Par dons and Paroles, did not return a telephone call Maonday. \ Elijah’s mother Tahiti Clark (R) and his step-dad, Robert Clark, have been convicted of murder. was okay. Later that day, wit nesses interviewed by the sheriff's department reported that Elijah did not look well and seemed up set. According to the step-father, he child complained about stom ach pain throughout the day and twice had vomited blood, the fa ther said. Shortly after, they had lunch at Taco Bell, still on April 29. ~ The night he died, Elijah was sleeping with his stepfather who reported the child was restless and still complaining about stom ach pain. By about 3:30 a.m., the child was taken tothe Weed Army Community Hospital on the base. Eighteed months later, Elijah’s grandmother, Beatrice Burns of Augusta, whowas three thousand helpless miles away, the night Elijah died, now finds herselfhur tling headlong inte the depths of frustration, unanswered ques tions, and fear, as she contem plateslife withouther only grand son — and just@scruel —without her only daughigr, Tahiti, who along with herhusband, was charged and convi¢ted of the mur der of the three-year-old. But although a California jury found herdaughter and Mr. Clark “Just about anything that you can think of that is wrong with the death penalty as an institution is in place in this state.” — Rick Halperin, Amnesty International guilty of the same offense, felony murder and assault on a child, Ms. Burns is convinced that her daughteris innocent and the U.S. military is withholding informa tion. “My daughter did not get a fair break at that trial,” Ms. Burns said Tuesday in Augusta. “The military knows more than what they are saying.” Ms. Burns neither trusted, nor liked Robert Clark from the very beginning.~She had known him only six months hefore he had' spirited her dn_u,fihber away tothe ~ other side of the country. “He never came to me to say he was taking my daughter,” Ms. Burns said. Ms. Burns wonders why Robert Clark had asked a friend about legal advice less than 24 hours before Elijah’s death. Police re ports state that the child’s bruises, were a topic of a discussion m tween Mr. Clark and a friend of See £LUJAH, page 13A 5g Former boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter speaks during a news conference on Monday, Dec. 7, 1998, in Austin, Texas. Carter is executive direc tor of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted, from Toronto, Canada. He is partof Canadian delegation that traveled to the state to moke a plea for the life of Texas Death Row inmate Stanley Faulder. (AP Photo Harry Cabluck) * Albright said Texas may have violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by not notifying Faulder, a former mechanic from Jasper, Alberta, that he could have contacted Canadian consular officials after his arrest. Texas officials said they did not know Faulder was a Canadian because he was carrying a U.S. driver’s license when arrested. He was imprisoned for 15 years before his whereabouts were discovered by the ~ v «~vernment and his family, who said they BTN 3 R L RPN ot PWt oh e W e N Forecast : ® See 24 BULK RATE : U.S. POSTAGE PAID NO. 302 AUGUSTé‘GA i t e ~ " i W &