Newspaper Page Text
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NI LEDFORD GA NEWSPAPL u‘—
Mgus T:««J)!u CadPS DEPT, MAINTTUGA
ATHENS, GA 0602-1641
Serving Metro Augusta, l
South Carolina and The CSRA
February 17-24, 2005 Vol. 24, No. 1196
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Bush’s new venture
President Bush plans
to celebrate Black His
tory Month by stop
ping bigotry in Ameri
ca.
Page 2A
Nonviolence used in
reforms
Clergy and activists
in LA try to use nonvi
olent tactics to end
Fnlice brutality.
‘age 2A
The true meaning of
love.
Dr. Watkins shares
his opinion on the
most loveable holiday
of the year, Valentine’s
Day.
Page BA.
Still Ray
The legendary and
late piano player and
singer wins seven
Grammys, with Alicia
Keys, WUsher and
Kanye West follow
ing.
Page 1B
Albright becomes
leader
The Georgia District
of /lpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc. elect
Ellis Albright, Deputy
District Director.
Page 4A
INDEX
ARTheat ..........1B
8u5ine55..........6A
City/Regi0n......3A
Classifieds ......6B
Good News ......4A
Happenings ....2B
Living ccosmmeenenn 11A
Nation/Worid ..2A
Opinion ...cceen BA
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Fire chief resigns,Scott passed over
By JESSICA BAPTISTE
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
City Administrator
Fred Russell and fire
chiet Al Gillespie made a
joint announcement fol
lowing the most recent
county commission
meeting on Feb. 15, con
firming the rumors that
Gillespie was calling it
quits.
The resignation is a
result of failed negotia
tions between Gillespie
and commissioners. The
stumbling block is that
Craig-Hothton, congressman
showing a lot of heart
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Photo by Theresa Minor
Congressman John Barrow and students of Craig-Houghton Ele
mentary school spend a moment with ailing veteran, Ulysses
Albriton from Twiggs County. Albriton says he was pleasantly
surprised by his visitors.
Why don’t black men achieve as well academically?
By MAKEBRA ANDERSON
N&PA Correspondent
WASHINGTON
(NNPA) - On campuses
across the nation, it is
becoming difficult to
distinguish between all
female and co-ed univer
sities, Often, the student
government president is
female. It is not uncom
mon for the editor of the
school newspaper to be a
woman. Walk into any
classroom and the over
whelming majority of
the students are females.
While unattached sin
gle males might applaud
that disparity, the
absence of black men in
meaningful numbers on
college campuses is trou
Subscribe to the Augusta Focus, Call (706) 722-4222, extension 225
commissioners are trying
to move away from con
tracts for department
heads altogether. Gille
sple Insists upon a con
tract.
“I have placed him on
administrative leave with
pay,” said Russell, “We
made a policy decision
that we would not have
any contracts with our
department heads and
unfortunately we cannot
reach an agreement with
Chief Gillespie in refer
ence to his compensa
tion package. We obvi-
See Chiles, page 7A
bling to many and has
profound implications
for the future for black
America. If this gender
imbalance continues, it
could impact future fam
ily structures, the type of
role models available to
black boys and the
vibrancy of the African-
American community.
Why are black males
failing to achieve at the
same level as females?
“Boys are much more
influenced by the streets.
The biggest competitors
to education are rap,
drugs and sports,” says
Jawanza Kunjufu, a
Chicago-based expert on
black males. “When you
think about it, of the
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Dep. Chief Carl Scott
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
While many may have been
caught up in the romantic side
of Valentines Day, some stu
dents with the help of Con
gressman John Barrow (D
--GAI2) showed a lot of love to
complete strangers — injured or
ailing military veterans.
The Augusta Focus caught up
with the group during their
visit with veterans at the Veter
ans Administration Hospital,
downtown. Faces of the hospi
tal bound veterans lit up as stu
dents presented them with
home made Valentines Day
cards and wished them a speedy
recovery.
Barrow says hed like to be a
Sec Barrow, page 7A
number of black males in
college, what percent of
them are athletes? Sistas
don’t seem to be tempted
by sports, rap and drugs.
There is no question that
more brothas lean
towards faster money.”
Another problem accord
ing to Kunjufu is the
lack of black male teach
ers.
“We really have to look
at why 83 percent of the
school teachers in ele
mentary are White
females, six percent are
African-American and
one percent are African-
American males,”
explains Kunjufu, who
heads African-American
Sec Males, page 12A
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Charter schools get parents’ vote
of confidence around state
ATLANTA - The ultu
mate measure of a suc
cessful school is how
much students are learn
ing, and a new survey
reveals that parents are
thrilled about the level of
student achievement seen
in charter schools across
Georgia.
“Public charter schools
are one of the most
important tools we have
to help boost student
achievement statewide,”
said State Superintendent
of Schools Kathy Cox.
“They wuse innovation,
creativity, and flexibility
to find new ways to help
all students learn at high
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FIFTY CENTS
levels.”
In Richmond County,
school officials are trying
to get the district’s first
two charter schools out of
the gate. Murphy Middle
School and Jenkins-
White Elementary School
are being prepped to
become charter schools in
the next school year.
School officials are con
sidering same gender
classes among other
things for the schools.
Both have failed to meet
adequate yearly progress
for more than five years
straight.
Sec Charter, page 7A