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mlsA I the PEOPLE’S PAPER (fwil
I NATIONAL BLACK NEWS SERVICE U
MEMBER xX. _
Vol. 3
Mayor Endorses Carrie Mays
Denies He Opposed Her Candidacy
By Andrea Cohen
Mayor Lewis Newman
answered to charges that he
had allegedly sought
opposition against city
councilwoman Carrie J. Mays
this year’s coming election. In
an interview with this paper
on last Thursday, Mayor
Newman dedared “I've never
lifted one finger in an attempt
to work against Mrs. Mays.’’
Commenting further on the
rumors, Mayor Newman said
that he believes that Mrs.
Mays may have once
f liWmb I
SGT. ROBERT TABB
| Our School Offers
| Augustans
I Alternative Education
One of the problems with
Our School is that not too
many people know about it.
One of an approximate
hundred alternative schools in
tiie nation Our School is
definitely interested in
attracting public attention and
support.
We learned about Our
School from Ms. Monica
Biondi, who along with her
husband, Don Arbree,
coordinates the curriculum
and teaches full time at Our
School. Our School is located
on Wheeless Road in Augusta
and is now it its third year of
operation. The school’s
enrollment is now at 30 pupils
from 6 to 18 years of age.
The curriculum at Our
School is based on “the
principle that kids learn more
if they have something to say
about how and what they
learn.” Ms. Biondi explained
that Our School works toward
avoiding the “artificial”
elements that are involved in
tiie public school system.
“The curriculum at our
school is not set she said, “It
is based on the needs of all
the students. The courses are
non-graded and they cross all
levels of learning. A pupil
doesn’t fail a course because
suspected that he was working
against her. “I don’t think she
feels that way now,” he said,
“It was never true.”
“I think Mrs. Mays has
supported my administration
on the whole. The few things
we did disagree on were not
damaging to our personal
relationship. Some of my own
strong supporters once
thought that Mrs. Mays had
stopped supporting me when
she voted against some of my
legislature. I know that Mrs.
Mays votes her own
he works at the subject until
he can comprehend the
subject matter.”
“Parents and children have
a say in the administrative
processes of the school. There
is a 12-member board for
policy making with three
children on the board,” she
explained. “This doesn’t mean
that a six year old can come
.and say that he doesn’t want
to take math and will be
excused from the course. It
means that the child can help
decide how he will go about
learning the subject.”
At the time Our School was
started “by a few parents who
were really interested in their
children’s education,” it was
almost an exclusive rich
people’s private school. Ms.
Biondi along with parents and
staff members have worked
toward changing the old image
of the school.
Ms. Biondi is especially
interested in attracting more
Black students to the school.
She explained that since
tuition is basically the
problem with lower income
families, a scholarship program
has been put into effect. Out
of the 30 enrollees
approximately one-third of
them are on partial
P.O. Box 953
conviction and her voting
against me did not slacken my
opinion of her.”
He added that his trust of
Mrs. Mays runs very deeply
and that he has seen to it that
she be appointed to most of
the various committees that
mean so much to her.
Regarding B.L. Dent, the
Mayor said that he thinks that
Mr. Dent may have been
angry enough at one time to
have sought opposition against
Mrs. Mays. “B.L. Dent was
angry and a little hurt after
scholarships and some are on
full scholarships.
“Sometimes parents in the
lower income brackett are a
little leery of a school that
gives the child so much
freedom m, Ms. Biond
explained, “That is probably
another reason why some
Blacks have never looked into
the program. We spent a lot
of money and time trying to
advertise our program.”
When asked about the
chances for a graduate from
an alternative school such as
Our School being accepted in
college, Ms. Biondi responded
that “chances are very good.”
She further explained that her
husband had helped
coordinate a program which
investigated the attitudes of
colleges of all kinds toward
the alternative school
graduate. She stated that most
schools said that they’d be
interested in such a student.
Some of the schools indicated
that they would require
standard college board
examinations.
Monetary problems face
Chur School as with any other
school. “In the public school,
said Ms. Biondi, “You know
that you are going to get a
one incident which involved
an argument between him and
Mrs. Mays, but I think he has
gotten over it and I also think
he’ll support Mrs. Mays,” said
Mayor Newman.
When asked to comment on
his decision to appoint Mrs.
Mays as acting-mayor during a
recent absence, Mayor
Newman explained that he did
so with two things in mind -
woman’s suffrage and Mrs.
Mays’ birthday which was last
week.
“Even though acting-mayor
Calls Treatment Rotten
Augusta’s Only P.O.W. Speaks
Out Against City’s Reception
By R.L. Oliver
The only returned Viet Nam
Prisoner of war from Augusta,
Black Army Sgt. Robert Tabb,
appeared at City Council
meeting Tuesday and had this
to say, “I have served two
tours of duty in Viet Nam for
my country, maybe with some
of your sons, daughters,
nephews and nieces. Upon my
return I have been treated,
certain amount of money even
though it is inadequate. Here,
we have to raise money
through activities and
occassionally dig into our
pockets in order to buy the
i necessities.”
Ms. Biondi and her husband
came to Augusta from
Lakewood, New Jersey where
they had originated an
alternative program for a
public high school and junior
high school. Mr. Arbree is a
graduate of Princeton and Ms.
Biondi is a graduate of
Goddard College, an
alternative college.
Confident that Our School
does something that most
public and private schools
don’t do, Ms. Biondi said,
“We make some provision for
what learning here will have
to do with the child’s future.
We work closely with all
students, including those who
are not college bound.”
While Ms. Biondi and her
husband are the only full time
instructors, volunteers from
Augusta College and the
Medical College of Georgia are
always on hand to help
provide instruction. Parents
also volunteer to conduct
classes.
All interested parents are
is not a very important
position because all important
things are scheduled for a
time when the mayor is in, I
would not appoint a person to
fulfill the position if I could
not trust that person to make
the right decision,” said the
mayor.
When asked if Mrs. Mays
has his endorsement in her bid
for re-election the mayor
replied “Oh yes, yes she
surely does”.
because I am Black, as a
second class citizen. To the
government of Augusta, to the
government of America, if I
am to be treated as a second
class citizen then, let let me
pay second class taxes.”
In an earlier interview Tabb
told the News-Review, when
I |W 'MmLS THEM || J
S I
VOTER REGISTRATION AT PC
Over two hundred Paine College students became registered voters this week.
Deputy Registrar Linda Beazley is shown above assisting Lester Paige in filling out
registration form.
Student chairman Michael Thurmond said almost all of Paine’s student body
are now registered to vote in local elections.
Chat With
I Ray Charles
Charles. who is
I concluding a week ai James
Brown s
ciub
Hie
interview between
Wednesday night. Charles
discussed rumored
‘endorsement President
Nixon, drugs, and the pains
1 pl easures his life.
O Char les explained that
\ M although he was pictured in
k \ the news media visiting with
V \ the President shortly before
the ‘72 election, he did not
endorse him. “The President
WK invited me to come to the
wl White House because I was
Augusta, Georgia
.. . . * f
< F*' ~ wb
MAYOR LEWIS A. NEWMAN
asked if he was bitter about
the treatment he has received,
“ Well, yes but to this point, I
feel as being a soldier Augusta
doesn’t owe me anything.”
Tabb, a helicopter
reconnaissance observer was
shot down on August 12,
1970, while serving just four
months of his second tour of
duty in the Viet Nam War.
September 6, 1973 No. 25
He was discovered by the
Viet Cong the next day
suffering a dislocated knee, a
broke hand and multiple
lacerations. He noted, “They
(the V.C.) set my kee, but did
nothing medically for my
hand or lacerations the entire
thirty-five months of
captivity.”
The eight year veteran
the Honorary National
Chairman of Sickle Cell. The
other reason was that I had
done some work for The
National Retarded Children’s
Foundation which is also a
government program. 1 was
invited strictly for that. There
were no political intentions
whatsoever.
“As a matter of fact, Mr.
Nixon was very much aware
that I was a Democrat. He
made it very clear to me
before I came that I didn’t
have to feel embarrassed, that
this was not an endorsement
and he was not asking for
one. He just wanted to talk to
me about the two
foundations.”
Noting that any President
will be critized, Charles said
that as a Black man, things
are pretty bad under Nixon,
pointed out, “Black or white,
I feel this city is wrong, it i
were white, they would have
gone all out for me. Heck, I
pay taxes just as they do.”
In conclusion Tabb said,
“The city of Linden, N.J.
wanted to give me a parade,
but I could not go because
my step-father was murdered
at that time. “Why the local
bank there gave me two shares
of stock and I don’t even
bank with them.
“1 will say being a native
Augusta-Richmond Countian
(He was born at Fort Gordon
in 1945), the treatment I have
received since returning home
has been pretty rotten.”
NAACP MEETS
The local chapter of
NAACP will meet Mon. Sept.
10th 7:30 p.m. at the!
Tabernacle Bapt. Church.
Everyone Welcome.
but it goes beyond the Black
man - it is economic.
“1 think that for whatever
reasons, Black people are
certainly having an awful lot
of trouble finding jobs and
being able to make some
money. It is very bad in that
sense. I just don't know what
to say about Mr. Nixon. I
would say that he is certainly
in a postion where he could
have done more, quite a bit
more.”
A native of Albany,
Georgia, bom September 23,
1930, the High Priest of Soul
has had a widely publicized
battle with herion. But he is
not sure that his success in
overcoming drugs would be
inspiration for others not to
use drugs.
“Just like it might be an
inspiration, it also could say
to some people, ‘Well, look,
let me go out and use it
because if Ray got over it, I
can get over it too.’ You see,
it can go two ways.
“When you get right down
to it, I don’t think that
people need to drink whisky
for that matter, unless they
are doing it because they
enjoy it, period. But if they
think it makes them perform
better or do anything better,
then 1 think they’ve got to be
kidding. I don’t think there is
any drug, whether its heroin
SEE
Ray Charles
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