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8A SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 Upinion Perdue’s deferral is unconstitutional Last week in the Augusta Focus, guest columnist Grady Cornish revealed a situation that demands fur ther examination. It involves political cronyism in its worst form. The results have proven to be detrimental to the Univer sity System of Georgia. The actions are patently unconstitutional and should be recognized as such by the people of Geor gia. Governor Perdue’s plan to balance the state budget on the back of the universi ty system is a fundamental threat to academic freedom and democratic principles. It follows a path traveled by legislators before and deemed illegal by lawmak ers and citizens alike. In 1941, the university system lost accreditation because of political interfer ence. In 1943, a constitu tional amendment removed the threat of such interfer ence by granting all aca demic and financial author ity to the Georgia Board of Regents. This amendment was overwhelmingly approved by Georgia voters. Today, as in 1941, it is of paramount importance that teaching and research in colleges and universities be guarded against political influence — whether that influence is liberal or con servative, democrat or republican. The governor must bal ance the state budget. There is no question about this. But he cannot do so Augusta Focus! A Good Read for 2] Years... Call 724-7855 to Subscribe! AugUSta Charles W. Walker Focus Publisher . Frederick Benjamin i \.S;lnlcke 1é 81 Managing Editor alker Group . Publication 1143 Laney Walker Blvd. Sabrena Ryan Rebecca Zellars / Ebony Brown A 2 Gale Hamilton Al ] N Theresa Minor N A Lillian Wan Tracy Willingham Haley A. Dunbar by giving preference to cer tain programs in our state colleges and universities. That’s the responsibility of the board of regents solely. For the governor to even consider eliminating or cut ting funds for projects and programs is a slap in the face of the First Amend ment. Georgia has one of the nation’s best systems of public higher education. Even with budget cuts, it can remain one of the best. But it cannot be the servant of politics, no matter who is governor or who is elected to the general assembly. By deferring action on an item, Perdue is able to pick and choose projects within the regents’ budget to leave in limbo. The legislature’s hands are tied. Lawmakers have no authority to over ride a deferral as they have the ability to challenge a veto. This process clearly circumvents the constitu tion. The governor can now reward his friends as he did when disbursing state high way funds and punish his political foes as he did with the regents’ budget. It should come as no surprise that the university pro grams in jeopardy largely involve academicians and administrators who are not counted among the gover nor’s allies. The law is clear. The gov ernor recommends the gen eral assembly appropria tions. The leadership in the House and Senate should be outraged. Advertising Rep. Classified Advertising Office Manager Sales Administrator News Editor Copy Editor Graphics designer Staff Writer AUGUSTA FOCUS [ WHoe CAN FIGURE THIS VWOWARD DRAN THING?. N o DR e e MAYBR Teof(e L'Ke WIS \DeAs ! k. 'a WITNESS FOR JUSTICE by Bernice Powsell Jackson Did George Bush really ask for SB7 billion? I couldn’t believe my ears. President Bush stood flat footed and looked straight into the camera and asked for an additional 87 billion dollars to fund his daddy’s war. The congress had previ ously approved 79 billion to fund Mr. Bush’s war but that didn’t do the job. Cowboy Bush thought that the caval ry would run into Iraq, shoot up the town and then the towns’ people would wel come the new sheriff. He has since found out that the will of the Iraqi people is set firmly against the American occupation. The Bush administration grossly underestimated what they would face in Iraq. The terrorist attacks against American troops are a daily occurrence. More soldiers have died after the supposed end to the war than during the intense period of early conflict. The death toll mounts daily and there still WITNESS FOR JUSTICE By Bernice Powell Jackson Labor Day 2003: The Immigrant Freedom Ride Labor Day is always a time to reflect on the working men and women who have built this country and the enormous contributions they have made to our life today. Many of these workers have been immigrants (those who came involuntarily as well as those who sought a new life here). Many of them have faced exploitation and oppression and have fought for the right to organize and to work in dignity for a living wage. This year there is another way to be involved in sup porting these workers. You can support the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride which will be occurring later in September from nine dif ferent cities across the nation. These modern day freedom riders, modeling themselves on the civil rights freedom riders of the 19605, will board busses which will converge in Washington, D.C. on Octo ber 2, 2003 where they will meet with Congressional leaders and staff, and then travel to Liberty State Park in New Jersey for a rally on October 3, and then to Flushing Meadows Park in New York City for a mass rally on October 4. Along the way, the Immigrant Worker Freedom Riders will make some 80 stops to tell their story. More than most Ameri cans, immigrants are vul s W SRR G o intrwy i b T v’ i Reov. Or. Ratph €. Wathins "} are no signs of the weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Lad den. What did we gain from fighting this war? The results of this war obviously were not an end to terrorism. Terror is on the loose in the Middle East, Africa, Iraq and in America. After all who knows who turned the lights out up North? Bush’s reactionary politics and vendetta foreign politics is putting America further in the hole. America isn’t seen as the police of the nerable to exploitation in the work place and, especially since September 11, they face an increased erosion of their civil rights. The Immi grant Workers Freedom Ride hopes to focus attention on legalization and citizenship issues of immigrant workers, as well as protection of their civil and workers’ rights. Government raids on work places and homes, punitive detention for long periods of time, constant threats of deportation and the abrupt loss of jobs characterize immigrant life in the U.S. today. This is especially true for “undocumented” work ers. Yet, immigrant workers contribute much to this nation. You know who they are — they work in the most back-breaking, unpleasant, undesirable and much need ed jobs. They work as migrant farmers, they clean [.-We'S DRAWING CROWPS, 3 RAVSING MoNeY, PoIUNG weLL .. i é 2 ' S Q § L e g &Sls ) o WHO CAN FIGVRe WeRT . _& ° . g% > y ‘ & ? - 3 o | “ i . 0), i e N international community but rather she is seen as the bully. The United Nations holds America in suspect sta tus. America is suspected of lying about the Iraq situa tion so that they could go in and fight a war to secure oil fields. While Bush was off using American money to destroy a nation’s infrastructure at the tune of $79 billion, North Korea was doing their thing and telling America to go to . The hypocrisy of President Bush’s foreign pol icy was never more evident when he decimated Iraq but didn’t even wink at North Korea. The unevenness and underhanded foreign policies of the Bush administration are so gross that Stevie Won der can see through them. Now President Bush is once again playing cowboy as he lobbies for 87 billion dol lars to build up what he destroyed while at the same our hotel rooms, offices and homes, they work in restau rants as dish washers and bussers. They even serve in the armed forces and some have been killed in Iraq, only to be given citizenship posthumously. They pay taxes (an estimated $133 bil lion in 1997, for example) and start businesses. Indeed, many American cities, including parts of New York City, have experienced revi talization because of the arrival of new immigrant communities. Many immigrant workers live in poverty, despite some times working several jobs. Yet, they are ineligible for welfare and in some states their children are not eligi ble to receive financial assis tance for college. In some states, immigrants are fight ing for the right to have a driver’s license, a fight made more difficult since Septem Need a job? Try Georgia Personnel ~ Services Call 722-4222 time the American economy is going to the dogs. Employ ment in the African-Ameri can community is rising faster than other sub-groups in the nation. Presently African-American unem ployment is twice that of whites and President Bush claims all is well. The econo my has been destroyed on his watch. President Bush has brought evil on this nation. From his stealing the election, 9-11, the continu ing war in Iraq and the death of an economy it is clear that the axis of evil is in the White House. America needs to take a critical look at the Bush administration and ask the question: can we take four more years of this? Dr. Ralph C. Watkins is a sociology professor at Augus ta State University and the president of Unity Council Inc.. He can be reached through his web site: www.ralphwatkins.org ber 11. Families of migrant farmers face many chal lenges, including the difficul ties of traveling from place to place, making it hard for their children to be educat ed. The Immigrant Workers Freedom Rides have won the support of religious groups, labor wunions, immigrant advocates and organizations such as the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union. There will be rallies in support of these new Freedom Riders in the next few weeks. The busses will leave from Seattle/Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Min neapolis, Chicago, Miami and Boston. For more infor mation or a map of the routes, you can go to www.iwfr.org. Bernice Powell Jackson is executive minister for Justice and Witness Ministries.