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NpinH-Kpvjeut 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 Page 2