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Uity Region
Personal, political interests collide in map-drawing effort
By DOUG GROSS
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - Race,
raw ambition and bare-knuck
les politics are just a tew of the
issues lawmakers invited under
the Gold Dome last week
when Republican leaders in
both chambers rolled out new
congressional maps.
With a majority in both the
House and Senate tor the first
ume in modern history,
Republicans say they want o
undo a fiercely partisan and
badly drawn map Democrats
crafted afrer the 2000 Census,
when they sull held power in
the Legislature.
Democratic critics say
redrawing Georgias 13 con
gressional districts 15 unneces
sary, since tederal judges have
signed oft on the map, and call
it a power grab by Republicans
bent on maximizing their con
trol.
“It can be a paintul and divi
sive expenience,” said Sen. Bill
Stephens, R-Canton, the Sen
ate’s Republican leader. “But |
hope we can avoid that by
doing it nght this ume.”
During the 2001 map-draw
ing session, Democrats were
upfront about the fact they
were dm\\’lng ”]Jp\ o in(rv.l\(.’
their polincal dout.
A panel of tederal judges ulu-
Lowery mending relationship
with SCLC after lawsuit dropped
By LOUISE CHU
Associated Press Writer
ATTANTA (AP) - Southern
Chrisuan Leadership Confer
ence co-founder Joseph Low
ery says hes “very supportive”
of the avil nghts organization’s
attempts to rebuild after recent
reports ot infighting that
included a lawsuit against him
and his wite.
The group board voted earli
er this month to drop the legal
action against the Rev. Lowery
after accusing him last April of
illegally leasing office space to
an organization run by lfis wife,
Evelyn, for $1 a year without
first seeking board approval.
Lowery said Thursday, Feb.
17 he was “pleased to see that
this ill-advised litig.m(')n had
been terminated,” insisting its
claims had no basis. ‘%hc
SCLC, he explained, never
purchased that office building;
it was given to SCLC by Evelyn
Lowery's group,
SCLC/W.O.M.EN.
“It was property that was
deeded to g(l;? > as gift from
the women in exchange for the
long-term lease,” Lowery said.
A job well ‘Dunn’, Laney student-athlete
By MICHAEL BUTLER
Spedal to the Augusta Focus
On any given weekday
evening, at the end of his
evening session Robert
Dunn can be found
pulling a pair of enor
mous, noise-erasing
headphones out of his
backpack. He is usually
listening to Houston
“screw” rapper Slim
Thug's seminal, Nep
tunes-produced debut,
CAPITOL ROUNDUP
mately tossed out state House
and Senate maps, saying they
unfairly crammed voters into
heavily Republican districts
while creating Democratic
majorities in as many other dis
tricts as possible.
But the map for Congress,
which has a stricter standard for
the number of voters in each
district, was allowed to stand,
despite what Republicans
describe as bizarrely shaped
boundaries.
The 13th District, in south
metro Atlanta, snakes its way in
and out of 11 counties, leading
one Cntc to compare it 1o a
squid. The 12th stretches in a
sometimes-narrow line from
Savannah to Athens, while the
Ilth starts in rural Chatooga
County, in northwest Georga,
and slashes into metro Adantas
Cobb County on its way south
to Columbus.
“It it doesnt look right, then
its probably not nght,” said
US. Rep. Lynn Westmore
land, who served as the state
House Republican leader dur
ing the map-drawing session.
It you sit down and look at
that map, you just perceive
somethings not night, and 1t
was done for political reasons.”
Currendy, seven Republicans
and six Democrats represent
Georgia in Congress. Eight
Republicans and three Democ
skl ’ g % . b
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Bt
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i
Joseph Lowery
“SCLC itself has never pad
anything for that building, its
purchase nor its renovation.”
The lawsuit was one of sever
al internal conflicts plaguing
the SCLC, once a leading
activist group, in recent
decades. !Tt.s problems have
alienated some of its best
known supporters — including
Coretta Scott King and former
U.N. Amh.ma(f(‘)r Andrew
Young — and led to the resigna
tion of former president Mar
tn Luther King 111 in 2002.
Many former staffers blamed
the ineffective leadership of for
Already Platinum (Star
Trak).
He pulls a strange
looking Motorola flip
phone from the pocket
of his varsity jacket, and
when he finishes using it
he pushes it back into his
pocket, beneath layers of
shirts and a superstar
athlete’s jersey on top.
He comes off as your
typical student-athlete
next door, but nothing
could be further from
AUGUSTA FOCUS
rats served before the new map
was drawn. L
Both plans introduced last
week would tighten the appear
ance of most districts. But the
Senate map — which lawmak
ers say is backed by Georgia
Republicans currently in Con
gress — and the House plan,
which the author says was not
crafted with particular poliu
cians in mind, are dramatically
different.
If the two chambers approve
different plans, a six-member
committee would be created to
combine them or, very likely,
draw a completely new one.
Protecting the rights of black
voters will be a necessity if any
new map is to become law.
Georgia, like other states
with segregationist pasts, must
still prove to the federal govern
ment that political maps don't
unfairly weaken the ability of
minority voters to impact elec
tons.
Both plans maintain the cur
rent maps two Atlanta-area dis
tricts. where black registered
voters make up the majonty.
But the percentage of black
voters in some other districts
shrinks, potenually watering
down what are legally referred
to as minonty influence dis-
UrCts.
On the current map, there
are three districts where black
mer board chairman Claud
Young, who resigned last year
shonf)" after a power sml.ggfc at
the SCLC national conven
ton.
Newly elected president
Charles Steele Jr. said Wednes
day that dropping the lawsuit
had been a prionty since he
took over last November. “It
was the right thing to do,” he
said.
Lowery, who founded SCLC
with the Revs. Martin Luther
King Jr. and Ralph David
Abernathy in 1957, said he was
glad to see the group moving in
a more positive direction under
Steele.
“I do hope that Mr. Stecle
can rescue the organization
from the floundering that it
experienced under that
board chairman, and that
the board will now stop try
infi to micromanage and set
policy and support the
executive lcadcrs%ip." he
said.
“That’s the way the
organization found its place
in the sun, and that’s the
only wag it’s going to make
its way back.
the truth.
Your typical student
athlete next door does
not get named the con
sensus player of the year
by the state’s number one
paper, the Atlanta Jour
nal-Constitution. Your
typical student-athlete
next door definitely does
not surprise national
pundits by signing with
(as of the end of the
2004 NCAA football sea
son) the number two
voters made up roughly 40-46
t of the registered voters
g 2002, and ‘;n.od;‘a where
y 4
i
wi next-
Eighm fi voting popula
tion at 27 percent.
Outside Atlanta, the House
map creates two districts where
black registered voters total
about 40 percent. The next
highest total would be about
27 percent.
“That’s a pretty big shift and
a pretty big difference for the
people who have had an oppor
tunity to have influence in who
their elected official is going to
be,” said Carolyn Hugley, D-
Columbus, who chaired the
House redistricting commuittee
until Republicans ook over
this year.
Republicans say their plans
maintain minority influence
according to rules previously
laid out by the state.
“The state testified that an
influence district is anything
between 25-50 percent,” said
Senate President pro-tem Eric
Johnson, R-Savannah. “The
courts have not defined what
an influence district is, so we are
adopting what the state of
Georgia said, under Democrat
ic rule.”
Lawmakers also will have
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Photo by Jessica Baptiste
Students at Murphey Middle School celebrate the tail end of Black History Month by showing their
artistic side with an African-American art showing. In this painting done by Rochelle Timpson,
African-American folklore is shown with a woman dressed in Gullah attire holds a bowl. The show
ing will be at the school on February 24 from 4:30-7:00.
finishing senior year with a bang
school in the country,
the University of Auburn
Enter Robert Dunn.
He’s a giant among stu
dent athletes though he
stands just five feet, ten
inches tall. The dazzling
wide receiver, defensive
back and all around play
maker that helped lead
small, inner city Lucy
Craft Laney High School
to the playoffs each of
the last four years under
the tutelage of Coach
e
and in mind as
i g e
ine of Georgia’s 13 current
members of formetly
served in the Legi — four
from the Senate, four from the
House and one who served in
both.
“You can walk into the back
of the Senate and say, ‘Hello,
Congressman’ and 56 heads
will turn,” Stephens joked
about the 56-member cham
ber.
Moments after the two new
plans became public, rumors
began swirling at the Capitol
about which incumbents are
targeted under the plans and
which lawmakers, past and
present, may be able to run and
win in the new districts.
“Everyone keeps an eye on
it,” said Westmoreland, whose
congressional district indludes
rural and suburban countes
south of Atanta. “These are
districts that we all just got
through running and being
clected in. Weve got people
we've worked awtul hard with
in every county in our dis
tricts.”
Republicans, who were able
to sit back and watch Democ
rats fight among themselves
during the 2001 map-drawing,
now must balance their own
Eric Parker. After con
sidering all that, Robert
is far from the typical
student-athlete. 1 had
the opportunity to pick
his brain recently, and
my conversation was evi
dence of just that.
Focus: Give us some of
your vital statistics...
Dunn: My name is
Robert Dunn, and I am
5°10” and 175 pounds. I
play wide receiver and
defensive back.
February 24, 2005
competing interests as they try
to craft a plan that will eam a
majority of votes in both cham
bers.
With half of the Legislature’s
40-day session already gone,
they'll have t work fast while
still addressing the rest of their
work, including the crafting of
a 2006 state budget. Democ
rats already accuse Republicans
of floating the maps, in part, to
distract the public from what
they call harmful policies in
other areas.
“They're using these maps as
a smoke screen for what they're
doing this session,” said House
Democratic leader Dubose
Porter, of Dublin, who accused
Republicans of slashing educa
tion funding, the HOPE schol
arship and health care. “There’s
really no point; they already
have a majority of the seats (in
Congress).”
Republicans acknowledge
that map-drawing wont be a
simple process, but say that it
wont be too much of a distrac
uon.
“I think we can do all of the
above,” Stephens said. “Sen.
(Chip) Rogers is reapportion
ment chairman. He's been del
egated the authority that goes
with that. The rest of us are
keeping our eye on the ball.”
What made you pick
Auburmn?
I just (really) like the school.
USC versus Auburn. Who
do you pick in a championship
game?
Auburn. (Just) ‘cause...
We'll beat ‘em next year, too!
(Laughs)
vfi are your rhoua:ts on
underclassmen (like USC star
wide receiver Mike Williams)
entering the NFL draft after
3A