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8A
NOVEMBER 1, 2001
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Build the airport
00 many Feople are
I in favor of giving up
on Augusta’s future
and abandoning the
plan to renovate Augusta
Regional Airport. This
kind of thinking is one of
the reasons that Augusta,
Ga., is in the sorry state it
is in.
Diagnosis? Failed lead
ership and failed vision.
The short-sighted lead
ership of Augusta some
how cannot see that Fort
Gordon alone will supplg
the air Fort with enoug
air traffic to justify the
initial expense. Not to
mention ai)l those people
who are tired of driving to
Atlanta, who are tireg of
driving to other cities just
to catch a plane, when we
could have a perfectly good
airport right here.
Conversely, if we fail to
expand the airport, it is
possible that we could lose
Fort Gordon. And that
would be a devastating
blow to our fair city.
Augusta desperately
needs a transplant. It’s a
risky operation, that’s for
sure. Nothing worth do
ing is ever done without
some risk. But it’s a case
LETTER
Editor:
Only the most callous con
science and hardened heart
would fail to empathize with
and have sympathy for those
losttoloved ones as aresult of
the atrocious tragedy of 11
September.
Even so, emotional erup
tions of patriotism must not
blind us to certain questions
and considerations that the
complexities of political in
trigue for purposes of eco
nomic exploitation, cultural
invalidation, and social domi
nance are such that Saddam
Hussein, Manuel Noriegaand
even bin Laden were once
allies of this naticn.
Dr. Frankenstein creates a
monster thatinevitably turns
on his creator. Envy, jeal
ousy, greed and hate are the
demons of human interactions
and the lords of social con
structs, where some have al
ways been sacrificial lambs
for the altars of power posses
sion, material mastery, asset
accumulation, and social sta
tus at the highest levels of
human existence.
A callous conscience and
hardened heart are nothing
new to the experiences of the
impoverished people of the
world. There has alwaysbeen
a design to the perpetuation
of poverty among the major
ity of people in every society,
all over the world.
That design entails the un
dereducation, poor education,
mis-education and un-educa
tion of those who would at
tempt ascension above and
beyond their caste, class or
condition. Sotheliteracyrate
in Afghanistan is 31 percent,
Aungta Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Focus Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
Since 1981
A Walker Group
Publication
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
Sales/Admin. News)Features
4"a RN Tonya Evans RhondadJones
I: ",} Jerome Turner
N‘ A Production/Graphics Copy Desk
Dennis Williams Lillian Wan
\@% Samuel Daniels
William Lucas
of accepting the neces
sary risk versus allow
ing fear to make us sit
back and watch every
thing slowly wither be
cause we just refuse to
move forward.
In other words, with
out the transplant that
Augusta so desperately
needs, its other organs
will gradually quit. Au
gusta can eitl?,ler grow or
die. The choice is ours.
We cannot allow recent
national and interna
tional events force us into
a hole somewhere. We
have to stand tall and do
what it takes to remain
the vital city that we have
fought and clawed to be
come.
It is time to bite the
bullet, pay the price and
take the chance that will
allow us to do great
things. It is time for Au
gusta, and the Aviation
Commission, to show
some leadership and let’s
get this thing done. We
have aggressive leader
ship at the airport now.
We should encourage
them to act — not offer
them 30 more years of a
stale, worn-out vision.
male life expectancy 46! |
The struggles between the |
“haves” and “have nots,” the
ruling elite and the following |
elite, those who are and those |
who want to be, are eternal, |
due to envy, jealousy, greed '
and hate —the precursors of |
confusion, conflict, chaos and
catastrophe. |
Terrorism has been used as
an instrument of playing the
games, waging the wars, mak- i
ing the movies, and doing the |
dances of invading, conquer
ing and controlling the bas
tions of power since the dis
covery of its destructive, dev
astating and death delivering |
physical, psychological and
psychic effects. |
There is no government not |
guilty of having used it at some
point in their history for pur- |
poses of political, economic, reli
gious and cultural advantages.
There is no place where
some form of terrorism isn’t |
alwaysin play upon thestages |
oflife. Since ‘97, Burke County
has had several economic
bombs dropped upon it, with |
various degrees of social reor
dering at best, and destruc
tion at worst, for some family |
structures. }
Where is the war on this |
kind of terrorism? Where is |
the war on the poverty plagu- |
ing the majority of people in |
the world? It’s being diverted |
into a campaign of socio-eco- |
nomic-political-cultural |
gamesmanship, where the |
average citizens are sacrifi- |
cial lambs for the purposes of |
perpetuating the wealth,
power, prestige and privileges |
ofbirth expected by the ruling |
elite.
Willie C. West Jr. |
Waynesboro, Ga. '
AUGUSTAFOCUS
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THE ANER\CAN PUBLIC ON HEIGHTENED ALEET.
GUEST COMMENTARY By Dr. Normal L. Phillips
Uniting to help those in need
nSeptember 11, our na
tion changed forever.
The planes smashing
intotheWorld TradeCen
terand the Pentagon killedand
injured thousands, while shat
tering our comfort zone, that
sense of security we enjoyed as
citizensoftheearth’s most pow
erful nation.
Slowly, we are regaining our
stride. American flags are fly
ing in neighborhoods from
Harlem toßeverly Hills. Ameri
cans are finding strength by
embracingtheir neighbors, and
co-workers. We are suddenly
not anation of self-indulgence,
but a nation of people working
together to protect our loved
ones and our way of life.
If any good can come from
the enormous pain and suffer
ingour nation has endured, let
itbe alegacy of reaching out to
those who need help in our
society. Incommunities across
the country, there are people,
some of them elderly, some of
them disabled, some of them
indigent, who lost their sense
of security long before those
planes struck.
It is unfortunate that many
African Americans havearela
tive, afriend or aneighbor who
can’t physically gettoadoctor’s
TO BE EQUAL By Hugh B. Price
To rescue economy, rescue consumers
he aftershocks from the
September terrorist at
tacks continue to rever
berate seemingly right
from the zone of devastation
that was oncethe World Trade
Center complex andacrossthe
American economy.
From businesses once
housed in the buildings them
selves, to those in the immedi
ate vicinity, to an entire web
of local businesses, New York
City’s economy has suffered a
staggering blow. Official sta
tistics indicate the city’s job
less rate leapt to 6.3 percent
last month, from 5.8 percent
in August and five percent flat
for July.
But the most alarming fact
about the statistic is that, be
- ase the jobless survey was
conducted the wgek of the ter
rorist attacks on New York
and Washington, it’s a mea
surement that yet understates
the wave of joblessness that’s
swept over the city.
Nationally, 490,000 laid off
workers filed new claims for
unemployment insurance last
week, markingthe fourth con
secutive week in which new
jobless claims approached
appointment,orcan’tgettothe
store to buy bread or milk or
Jjustneed someoneto helpthem
up a flight of stairs. One of the
untold, and often forgotten sto
ries in minority communities
arepeople whoneed alittlehelp
Just to get on with their lives or
just alittle help to stay in their
own homes as long as possible.
We need a renewed commit
ment to help them.
At this time of national
mourning, we should reach out
to our neighbors who need a
little help, reach out to make
their lives more meaningful.
Now that we have received a
jolt, one that rattled our very
way of life, is there a better way
to respond than by reaching
out and helping those who are
jolted every day? Let’s band
together and ease their pain.
There are many avenues
available to provide this help.
In 1989, I wasamongagroup
of four citizens who founded a
program called Reaching Out
to Senior Adults (ROSA) in
Atlanta. We approached seven
ministers with our dream of
improving the quality of life for
seniors in our community
throughavolunteer caregiving
program. Today, ROSA is sup
ported by 30 interdenomina
numbers not seen since the
last months of the recession
which ended in 1992. No one
doubts that the nation’s un
employment rateis now higher
than the 4.9 percent it regis
tered in early September be
fore the attacks.
These numbers are no sur
prise, given the blow the al
ready softening economy sus
tained when, after September
11, airlines, hotels and tour
ismindustries allbegan laying
off workers in droves.
But they have intensified
concern at atime when states’
revenues have plummeted —
“fallingoffacliff,” inthe words
of one official — and numer
ous states face a dire possibil
ity of having to cut spending
andraisetaxes simultaneously.
Loomingin the background
are the Congressionally-im
posed deadlines for moving
people off the welfare rolls by
next year. A recent federal
study has found that many
states’ welfare rolls were in
creasing even before Septem
ber 11 — a trend almost cer
tain to intensify now because,
overwhelmingly, most of the
2.5 million adults who’ve left
tional churches, 200 volunteers
and 50 federal, state and local
agencies. We have built a sup
port network that reaches
17,000 seniors. We bring a
dash of joy and fulfillment to
their lives.
A key sponsor and financial
supporter has been the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation’s
Faithin Action program. Since
1983, Faith in Action has qui
etly established 1,000 volun
teer caregiving networks all
across the country. Congrega
tions of all denominations and
faithshavebanded together and
built volunteer networks that
have helped more than 10 mil
lion people in need.
Through its research and
experiences, the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation has de
termined that thereisacritical
need for more volunteer
caregiving networks in minor
itycommunities. Thisyear, the
Foundation announced that it
will spend SIOO million to cre
ate an additional 2,000 volun
teéer care networks, with a spe
cial emphasis on starting pro
grams in minority communi
ties across the country.
This is a tremendous oppor
tunity toimprove the quality of
the welfare rolls since 1996
hold the low-skilled positions
that are the first to go in an
economic downturn.
The Bush administration and
Congressare debatingthe key
features of an economic stimu
lus package to jump start the
U.S. economy. Ideas under
discussion include tax cuts for
corporations, cut in the capi
tal gains tax, and even relief
for investors who have lost
money in the stock market.
However, federal and state
governments must also help
those victims of the economic
downturn whose case is most
compelling but whose voice is
almost always the quietest:
hotel workers, waiters, clerks
in small shops, people who
worked for cleaning services,
and others at the lower end of
the wage scale.
Many of these workers, a
significant proportion of whom
worked part-time, barely made
enough money to make ends
meet to begin with. Now, few
haveany savings to speak of to
tide them over, and many are
up to their eyeballs in credit
card debt.
You’d think these workers
- ;
life in our communities. We
need for churches and civic
groups to contact Faith in Ac
tionat 1-877-324-8411,and ap
ply for grants that will help get
their programs started. And,
more importantly, we need for
citizenstobecomeactive volun
teers. It may be for one hour a
week, but everymoment of your
time can become hours of joy
for someone else.
Everyone is soul-searching
after this devastating tragedy.
Many have lostloved ones, rela
tives or friends. Their memo
riesremain with us. Sowill the
American spirit. Our faith is
strong, undaunted by this
event. It has awakened our
passion for our nation, for our
families, and for our neighbors.
Let’s act on that passion. We
will show the world that
Americaattackedemergeseven
stronger. Let’s reach out a
helpinghand tothose whoneed
it most.
Rev. Dr. Normal Phillips is
the co-founder and director of
caregiving ministries for Reach
ing Out to Senior Adults and
the founder of a New Thing
Ministry in Atlanta. Contact
her at 404-212-7900 or
www.anewthing.org.
would be prime candidates for
unemployment benefits. But
asthelegendary Cab Calloway
used to croon, “it ain’t neces
sarily so.”
According to a recent story
in the New York Times, states
are rejecting many of these
workers’ applications for un
employment benefits because
they didn’t earn enough money
over the recent 18 months to
meet the state’srequirements.
Harvard University econo
mist Richard B. Freeman has
a simple — and correct — as
sessment of this system, under
which these workers have paid
unemployment insurance
when they worked, but now
can’t get unemployment ben
efits. Hesaid: “It’snot right.”
Any sensible economic
stimulus plan crafted by Wash
ington should start by quickly
repairifig the social safety net
so that it shields these unem
ployed wage earners from sud
den poverty.
Then, Congress should move
ontoliberalize unemployment
insurance in order to help the
laid off workers who are bear-
See RESCUE, page 9A ;