Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the 2016 Spalding County SPLOST via the Flint River Regional Library System.
About Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1977)
Nick can’t see, but goals are plain A person can do anything he sets his mind to do if he has the faith and courage to keep on trucking along, no matter what obstacles may befall him. Nick Thomas believes that and has the first of his goals plainly in reach, despite his blindness. Thomas, blind after impaired vision in his high school sophomore year, is completing his requirements for his high school diploma. He is taking a special edition examination for his General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Passing the GED will mean Thomas can set another goal: to do further study at an institution of higher lear ning. Thomas is the first Spalding County student ever to take advantage of the special edition examination for the blind or sighted. The materials tested are the same as those for any person desiring a high school diploma equivalency. The tests are, however, recorded on cassette tapes. Special testing booklets in Braille are used for checking the correct multiple choice answers. Thomas said the test which is com pleted in a day’s time ordinarily will take him at least a week to complete. Others throughout the state have been known to take the test for a longer period of time. Test administrator Larry Dunn of the Adult Education Center feels optimistic that Thomas will pass the examination. PSC chief to study investigator’s charge ATLANTA (AP) — The chairman of the state Public Service Commission says he’ll spend part of the weekend studying a former Georgia Power Co. security investigator’s charge that an index to the company’s security files contained names of persons opposed to utility rate increases. PSC Chairman Ben Wiggins said he also will direct commission staff members to examine the allegation as part of their audit of the utility’s ex penditures for security. The sworn statement by John H. Taylor of Atlanta was delivered to Wiggins Friday by an attorney for former state Rep. Larry Thomason, one of several persons whose names Taylor says he found in the security file index. Thomason’s attorney, John Vansant Jr. of Albany, contended the statement refutes Georgia Power’s contention that it has maintained files only on persons and groups considered threats to company equipment or personnel. The existence of a security division within the utility was revealed several weeks ago in a newspaper story which said the company used a sophisticated intelligence-gathering operation to Andrew Young says he’s so committed to job he feels guilty for getting paid ATLANTA (AP) — Andrew Young, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says he is so committed to his job that he “feels guilty for getting paid for what I do.” Young’s comments came Friday night as he was honored by the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for his “standard of courage and determination.” “It’s an honor and privilege to receive this award and yet... I don’t need an award...if there was any way I could send my children to school and feed my family, I’d do it for nothing,” Young said. The NAACP presented him The Walter White Award for “the individual in public service who most aptly DAI I A NEWS Daily Since 1872 Thomas said he felt pretty confident about certain parts of the test but certain areas of the exam gave him some trouble. The testing covers English, math, science, social studies and literature. After sitting through so many hours of testing, Thomas when asked if he would pass, candidly remarked, “I’d better after all of this.’’ Having completed the 12th grade but not graduating because of failing sight, Thomas stuck with it as long as he could. By his senior year, his sight was letting him put written words together only a letter at a time. But the dream still was there. Just how to obtain the dream did not come into being until Mrs. Linda Akins of the Educational Opportunities Center showed Thomas how he could get his diploma. Her preparation of Thomas for the GED test included talking books relevant to testing requirements. With her help, he knew what to expect of the test. An Atlanta native, Thomas, 31, said he has grown tired of accepting the minimal career choices open to a disabled person. He said he knew he could improve his condition but it required an education and that meant he had to prove himself. The GED is that proving ground which may set Thomas on a course to include matriculation at a state sup ported school then a training program obtain data on a variety of persons and groups. Georgia Power spokesman Terry Leedom said Taylor’s statement “is the same old tired stuff we have been seeing since November 1976 when Bill Lovin was fired.” Lovin, a former Georgia Power security employe, accused the utility of firing him for disclosing alleged irregularities at one of the company’s plants. Communism worst crisis in Europe, Wilson warns COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — The threat posed by communism is potentially the worst crisis faced by Europe in the past 25 years, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson warned Friday. The important question is whether the Communist parties of Western Europe really are independent of Moscow, the former Labor Party leader told about 600 persons at represents the standard of courage and determination” exemplified by White, a former Executive Secretary of the civil rights organizaton. “Andy Young dares to tell the truth,” said Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson who introduced him, calling him “New Orleans’ gift to Atlanta and Atlanta’s gift to the world.” I “You put me where I am,” Young told the crowd of several hundred i persons in a downtown Atlanta hotel ballroom. “You dug down deep.” “The very dollars that make it possible for you to be here would not be in your pockets were it not for the NAACP,” he said in a speech filled with > anecdotes but no foreign policy [ statements. r But Young gave Jackson, who is GRIFFIN Griffin, Ga., 30223, Saturday Afternoon, October 1, 1977 with perhaps the Social Security Administration. After a considerable lapse of time since he really devoted his efforts to studying, Thomas feels it will take some effort on his part to get into the swing of studying again. He also plans to brush up on the Braille which he learned in 7 months at the Georgia Rehabilitation Center. To find his place in society and to make a living for himself, Thomas said he even invented jobs to keep from living off the state. “I even trained once to work as a darkroom photo finisher,” Thomas said. He has worked part time in Griffin at the Georgia Factory for the Blind. “I felt that there is something better I would enjoy to make a living,” Thomas said. Making a living is important to Thomas because he married his wife, Claudia, last November after they met at the Georgia Rehabilitation Center. Mrs. Thomas who has rheumatoid arthritis is presently under therapy as a result of a broken neck due to the disease. She is taking the therapy at the Georgia Warm Springs Hospital. Thomas knows what his future en deavors must include to make a change in his lifestyle. Passing the GED is his stepping stone. People ...and things Referee munching on hamburger and soft drink' while waiting for game to start in Pike County., Lady living on fixed income digging into the bottom of her purse to get pennies to pay for purchase at grocery store. Man and 2 boys entering hamburger restaurant then leaving when they see long line. They get into truck and go through drive-in much faster. Columbus College. Wilson, who resigned as prime minister in March 1976, discounted communism as a problem in Britain. No Communist has been elected to Parliament since 1951, he said. He said he is more concerned with an increasing number of splinter groups which are committed to violence in trying to subvert British institutions. seeking re-election Tuesday, a tongue in-cheek endorsement. “I tell you all you preachers better work very hard to get Maynard re-elected mayor. If not one of you is going to be out of a job.” Special honorees at the 20th Annual Freedom Fund dinner were Roy Wilkins, former executive director of the NAACP, and Benjamin Hooks, the president executive director of the organization. However, while the NAACP was honoring Young, a conservative Georgia congressman reportedly was seeking to impeach him. In an interview before his speech, Young said the Atlanta Journal story Friday that U.S. Rep. Larry McDonald, D-Ga., was seeking signatures on the resolution was “nothing to worry N Nil { ■r J JI / BSP wk ' U.S., Soviet breakthrough near on Peace talks representation UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (AP) - The United States and the Soviet Union are on the verge of announcing a proposed breakthrough in the deadlock over Palestinian representation at Mideast peace talks. Details of the proposal were worked out Friday by Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko. It represents the highest degree of cooperation between the two cochairmen of the Geneva peace conference since it convened Wilson praised the European Com mon Market, but criticized the bureaucracy with its “avid and unremitting search for work.” He said he favored joining the Common Market because of Europe’s diversity and assailed efforts to standardize such items as bread, sausage and beer throughout th-j economic community. about.” Young said McDonald, a staunch political conservative, and others who might be backing such a resolution “are the same people who have been trying to hurt me all my life.” “These are the people that tried to keep me from voting, from eating at lunch counters or even from being at this hotel,” he said. In light of publicity the matter might draw, he said, “I really think he might be doing me a favor.” McDonald, whose Georgia district adjoins the Atlanta district Young represented in Congress before being named U.N. ambassador earlier this year, spoke against his appointment as ambassador. Vol. 105 No. 233 Nick Thomas is blind, but his goals are plain. briefly in December 1973 following the last Arab-Israeli war. Terms of the proposal were not revealed. Informed speculation was that its strategy centered on per suading Israel to permit Palestinians linked to the Palestine Liberation Organization but not widely identified with it to be seated at the Geneva conference. With Gromyko at his side, Vance told reporters at the United Nations, “Both of us believe very strongly that we should use our utmost effort to bring about a convening of the Geneva conference before the end of the year.” Success of the plan depends on Washington’s ability to sell it to Israel, which has repeatedly refused to deal K Balls for fans Miniature footballs were thrown to the fans during the halftime activities of the Pike County homecoming game Friday night. Cheryl Caraway was one of the cheerleaders throwing the balls. The Pirates defeated East Coweta, 18-6. See details of this game and other area games on today’s sports pages, 6 and 7. Weather FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA— Sunny, warm and humid today with a slight chance of thundershowers. Partly cloudy, breezy and warm tonight and Sunday with a chance of thundershowers. Low in the upper 10s. High Sunday in the middle 80s. with the PIG, and Moscow’s ability to persuade Syria, a staunch PLO champion, to accept a compromise. After his talks with Gromyko, Vance met with Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan. U.S. State Department spokesman Rodding Carter said those discussions were continuing and he could not “go into specifics on what was said.” Dayan said he would see Vance again next week. The PLO issued a statement at the United Nations saying its represen tation of all Palestinians “is non compromisable and not subject to discussion.” The U.S. effort to reconvene the peace conference by Christmas con tinued with a breakfast meeting today ter Hasan Ibrahim of Jordan. The Palestinian issue has been the principal roadblock to reconvening a peace conference this year. President Carter called Thursday for “adequate Palestinian representation” and said the PLO “represents certainly a sub stantial part of the Palestinians.” But Carter noted that there are other possible representatives who are not members of the PLO who could represent Palestinian interests. The Country Parson by Frank Clark h M'S IO A jjj. “The reason you have a path to follow is that someone went where there wasn’t one.”
