Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

The Augusta News-Review - December 20, 1973 - JmWalking |l| H With ttF 1 j ? ■ ■ IT ’ ’’ H Dignity jtzß H by Al Irby JI DOCTORS AT ONI TIME HAD REACHED A STATUS-PLATEAU COMPARABLE TO, IF NOT SURPASSING THE CLERGY, BUT LATELY HAVE CAPITULATED TO THE UNIVERSAL LOVE OF “FILTHY LUCRE”, AND PROVED AFTER ALL, THAT THEIR FEET ARE MADE OF COMMON CLAY MEDICARE AND MEDICAID HAVE BEEN THE PROVERBIAL “SNAKE IN THE GRASS” THAT HAS SNARED THE HIPPOCRATIC FRATERNITY. Inspite of the all-powerful medical lobby. Congress slipped a damaging bill through Congress, without the Medical lobbyist catching its significance. On Oct. 30, 1972 President Nixon affixed his signature on what is now known as Public Law 92-603 or the Social Security Amendments of 1972. Buy by now the shock waves are kicking up visibly throughout the medical community. Many medical leaders calf this legislation a giant step down that hated road that all nr :al people violently abhor, socialized medicine. The latest session of the American Medical Association’s annual cl cal convention in Anaheim, Calif, was awakened to the ra ifications of this restricted medical guide-line. The men : d women-in white when they were explained the whole < mfrontation of Public Law No. 92-603, blew their medical coo A whole army of mi lical speakers at the convention lambasted this law as unconstiti ional, as the most far-out health law ever enacted in this co, airy’s history. This law will establish mandatory cost and < rality controls for great segments of the big pile of government 1< >t, to the tune of SBO billion per year. No wonder the lads and lassies that issue out the nation’s antibiotic remedies were incens d with the boys in Congress. American doctors for the first time in the nation’s history will be held publicly ac ountable for the quality,.medical necessity, efficiency and cost- .ffectiveness of the health care they provide. This should not p >se such a problem on a profession, whose ethics are suppose o be above average approach. Even far back in 1898, the Supreme High Court of the United States laid down high ethical standards for the nation's physicians. The High Court issued this mountain-top format to the medical doctors: “it is fitting not merely that the physician should possess a knowledge of diseases and their remedies but also that they should be the ones who may safely be trusted to apply those remedies. Character is as important a qualification as knowledge.” This perspicacious legislation was introduced by hard-boiled Senator Wallace Bennett, a no-nonsense rock-bed Republican from Utah, and it is laced with blunt references to new “obligations that are expected of dollar-crazed physicians.” It requires medical practitioners to open their private files and hospital records to government inspectors and strong financial sanctions are provided for failure to comply. These initial controls will be limited to medical treatments given in hospitals and financed under medicare and medicaid at the present; and implementation will occur in several stages. The target date is set for Jan. 1, 1974. This law is a fore-runner to “get rich quick” un-dedicated medical practitioners, it reflects the Congress of the United States’ determination to get first-class medical value for the poor and uninformed. MANY DOCTORS ARE DEDICATED AND COMPETENT, BUT THERE IS A SHODDY, UNETHICAL, INCOMPETENT MINORITY. A prominent medical consumer group has reported to Congress, that it has documented proof that each year in the United States thousands of patients die needlessly or have the remainder of their lives damaged beyond help, because of careless medical care. The majority of these maimed persons nor their kin have any recourse, even with the courts jammed with medical malpractice suits. In this respect, medicine is different from other businesses or professions, lawyers, contractors, or tax specialists, to name only a few. who accountability can be rebated in dollars; which is easily understood by the man in the street. Medicine is broadly considered to be a science, but in America, it often appears and acts like an amateurish art, intagible and immeasurable. There is no unanimity in the practice of medicine, one doctor will. prescribe twice as much of the same drug as another for the same ailment. Some surgeons are scalpel happy, and wil cut at the dropping of a hat while others will use medicinal therapy as an alternative. Neutral experts agree that hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved each year by proper application of currently available medical knowledge, but they disagree on whether P.L. 92-603, (by the way, that’s Sen. Bennett bomb shell) this is the proper means to achieve this goal. However, Congress was impressed by the results of New York City’s medicaid’s recent savings. If Senator Bennett’s law remains in force it will put into action deep philosophical problems that will change the whole practice of medicine in this country. New York City Medicaid administrators have monitored practitioners for signs of overutilization, fraud and deficient treatments; in 1969, they discovered over S2B billion in public funds squandered by medical malfeasance. The thrust of the new federal controls is a network of regional review boards. Each will be charged with policing acceptable norms of medical aid and insuring that individual physicians and hospitals meet specified standards of performance. Professional Standards Review Organizations will be granted up to two years to demonstrate to HEW their ability to manage. The one-snake, “Aesculapius”, the emblem of American Medical Association, is surely in conflict with the two serpents that every physician so proudly displays. Medical ethics have long been given lip-service by the profession, but obviously it has not been effectively taught in medical schools. DUBIOUS OPERATIONS WILL BE SCRUTINIZED CLOSELY -Because surgeons’ work call for more precision, with lives depending at times with its accuracy, therefore its the first area of medicine to come under severe scrutiny. There is a broad spectrum of unwarranted surgery, for example, the rash of sterilizing hysterectomies and many dubious operations, including quick decisions to remove tonsils, etcetera. The hand-writing is on the wall for arrogant and sometime careless members of the medical fraternity. BEFORE WE COME YOUR WAY AGAIN, OLD SAINT NICK WILL HAVE CONVEYED OUR SEASONAL GREETINGS TO ALL OF OUR READERS HAVE A SPIRITUAL AND MEANINGFUL HOLIDAY! THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY Mallory K. Mittender Editor and Publisher Mailing Address: Box 963 Augusta, Ga. Phone 722-4666 Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30901 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Payable in Advance One Year in Richmond Countys6.oo tax incl. 6 Months $2.50 tax incl. Ohe Year elsewheres6.oo tax incl. ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Classified Advertising Deadline 12 noon on Tuesday I Display Advertising Deadline 12 noon On Tuesday News Items Printed Free Page 4 TO BE EQUAL fypy / * BY VERNON E. JORDAN, JR. k THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: THE OPPORTUNITIES Most knowledgeable people agree that the criminal justice system is a mess. But within the rotting failures of the system lie the seeds of promising alternatives that could make our streets and our neighborhoods safer. This is of speical importance to Black citizens, who suffer disproportionately from the ravages of crime. Black people are in double jeopardy. As crime’s victims we are most likely to be burglarized, mugged and robbed. And as victims of a discriminatory society that closes opportunities to Black people, pushing some into law-breaking, we are the prime victims of the criminal justice system hat discriminates against Blacks. So crime is a subject of the deepest importance to Black people, and it is not something that should be swept under the rug. We have a direct interest in creating a police force that is responsive to our needs, a rehabilitation system that works, and a society that practices equal opportunity. One of the best means of reducing street crime is the creation of a unity of interests between the police and the people. So long as policemen are seen as some kind of occupying army, hostility will be created and crime fostered. So police-community relations are a major factor in fighting crime. On the one hand, the police will have to rigidly enforce equal treatment, combat corruption, and sharply increase the numbers of Black policemen as well as place them in visible, decision-making positions all along the line. For its part, the Black community should encourage its members to enter law-enforcement careers and to increase cooperation with enlightened police departments. Young people ought to consider police careers, which are increasingly better-paid and have good civil service benefits as well as directly benefiting the Black community by helping to make it safer. And there can be no excuse for refusing assistance in catching criminals. After all, the guy who got away because the community did not cooperate may mug your mother next or sell dope to your kid. A second way to reduce crime is to replace the prisons that merely create criminals with community-based rehabilitation centers that will restore offenders to the community equipped with the education, skills and jobs they didn’t have before and so give them the chance to make it in a society that left them few options before. While the prisons are being phased out, this process might start with first offenders. There might be established a system of “no-fault” criminal proceedings in which a first offender, accused of any but the most serious crimes, would be allowed to waive a trial, with its findings of innocense or guilt, and register for a supervised community rehabilitation service that would deal with his problems and instill the skills and motivations to succeed in our society. There seems little point in insisting on a “guilty” verdict or on punishment if by such a program, people can be taken out of the criminal justice system altogether and given the kind of counseling and help in getting schooling or a job that will keep them out of trouble. Finally, it is urgent that something be done about the double-punishment inflicted on people who have been arrested or jailed. Presumably, when a man is released from prison, he is supposed to have paid his debt to society (even though society has not paid its debt to him by giving him the tools to stay clean). Instead, his record follows him for the rest of his life. Every time he tries to get a job, he’s nailed by his past. And he is automatically barred from n increasing number of jobs even if he just has an arrest record and has not been convicted. It is clear that if we want to cut crime repeaters then arrest records should not be revealed to potential employers and special efforts ought to be made to hire former inmates, with governmental employers taking the lead by hiring themselves and by offering inducements to private firms to hire people with prior records. Some people may think these suggestions are too soft, but the hard line has proven wrong. A little humanity will go a long way toward cutting crime. Garden City <os, and Gtft Shoppe ALL OCCASIONS 3310 Victor Rd. Call 793-9119 B * LET'S STOP TO BE THANKFUL FOR OUR BLESSINGS - THEN GO ON TO THE BETTES PAYS AHEAD. Quogue CCeaiteits LET VOGUE DO IT FREE STORAGE 1803 CENTRAL AVE. PHONE 733 1798 Jo JBfi AS WE MOVE INTO A NEW YEAR, WE SAY “THANKS" FOR LETTING US SERVE YOU AND THIS GREAT COMMUNITY. •Sauoiu GwtingA 1213 Broad St. Ph. 722-4851 INGOING | I PLACES I I* with Philip Waring W SPIRITUAL RETURN HOME TO AUGUSTA OF OUR INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS BROTHER As a former student and patron of Paine College I too rejoice in Frank Garvin Yerby’s recent generous gift of invaluable papers, literary works, ec. to Paine College, his alma mater. Frank is now one of the greatest novelists of all times. The physical presence of the new Frank Yerby Collection will be of meaningful literary and cultural service and great prestige to Paine College and the overall Augusta Community for many generations. And It know that my friend, Dr. Lucius Pitts, his able faculty and student body coupled with dedicated alumni around the nation will use this priceless gift - just as a Yale or Harvard would - as a major lever for the forthcoming centennial. Our readers will recall that in the August 30th edition of the NEWS-REVIEW 1 mentioned Frank Yerby when I advanced the proposal to rename Gwinnett Street “Laney/Walker Blvd.” and one part of it near Paine College “Tobias/Yerby Circle”. All of this to give honor and recognition to Black Augustans for the forthcoming Bicentennial. In my reminiscence of 1937 when Frank and I would often talk walking down Gwinnett St. enroute home from Paine College, I observed in my August 30th column that he dearly loved Paine and Augusta but expressed cold fury with racism of that era. And one could well understand this quality within a talented and sensitive artist like Frank. I am so glad to note that now 36 years later he remembered and has been generous with his heritage and birthroots. I can see the results of training and guidance by such persons and institutions as: the former Haines Institute, the beloved Luch C. Laney and Rev. A.C. Griggs. And also figuring closely in Frank’s development were Paine College, the late Emma C. Gray and Willie Graham coupled with his aunts, the Snythe Sisters, the Yerby Family and others who must be remembered. While this was a long, long time ago my dear friends such as Louise Ross, Viola Harris Evans, Ike Washington, Livingston Wallace and Horatio LaMar will know from where I write in how the past has helped shape the present and future. MY RETURN TO ST. LOUIS MY SECOND HOMETOWN As you know last spring because of health it was necessary for me to take an early retirement. Later in the summer it was found that I could return to work. I accepted an invitation to return to St. Louis for a position with its nationally famous Urban League. I left the East recently and am now here in the Gateway City. May I take this occasion, however, to again thank all of my Augusta friends, relatives, Urban League associates and other friends for their kindness and participation in the honors accorded me last June in Stamford, Conn. My brother, Andrew and his wife, Nellie flew up from Augusta, brother Lou flew in from San Francisco, and seven Urban League associates came in from five states. I shall always remember and appreciate this. St. Louis is the center of some two million people. Its Urban League is 56-years old and ranks among the “big ten’ of the 101 Urban League affiliates. Its Executive Director, Bill Douthit, and I started with the Urban League Movement some 20-odd years ago and have been close personal and professional friends. The growth of this League since he assumed Directorship in 1963 has really been “story book”. He has been able to expand budget from $89,000 to almost one million annually. Staff has gone up from about ten to over 80 full time workers. From one office to six throughout St. Louis city and county, serving over 325,000 Blacks in this area. I am Director of the Department of Community Organization having to do with health, social services, and community life. One of our departmental programs gives technical service to the St. Louis Federation of Block Units, a 40-year old group which is now the largest neighborhood improvement urban group in the nation. We will also help St. Louis observe the forthcoming Bicentennial. Sincere “Thanks” To Our Many Friends And Customers, fiL) J jUh 1 > -Curtis McKie Dusty Baker Willie Colquitt Walker FORD Will Be Closed Monday 24th - Tuesday 25th Ab v Kft: K RS I WW Speaking! IjJIKi 1 out | Roosevelt Green, Jr. It is once again Captain Marvel time for the poor in this country. Instead of “Shazam” the magic word is “Christmas”. The lightning has flashed and the thunder has boomed in the hearts of hypocritical anti-welfare newspaper editors and civic clubbers. Poor people are now deserving, whereas they have been welfare bums and chiselers the past eleven months. Empty stocking funds, turkeys, and the proverbial “one good meal” are fashionable band-aids on the open poverty wounds of the poor. While these measures are helpful, they are wholly inadequate and reflect the unwillingness of affluent Amerikka to move beyond seasonal compassion and good will. Poor people have needs twelve months a year and not just at Christmas. Giving hundreds of poor people the benefits of empty stocking funds is like giving one drop of water to a person dying of thirst while keeping the person from getting to the oasis. It is like pouring a glass of water on a duck’s back, or telling a hair-raising story to a bald headed man. Most of, if not all the people who lead in once a year “love” have the power to influence legislation or other measures that could be designed to help people fill both of their stockings the whole year, while eating good meals daily. There is something dreadfully wrong when people want other people to have a taste of their “heaven” on one day while those getting the taste live in hell daily. It is similar to the Biblical rich man giving the poor Lararus one crumb from his table of plenty once a year. We should be our brother’s or sister’s keeper rather than seasonal teasers. The poor should get sticks and run the bleeding seasonal do-gooders from their doors when they come knocking with empty hearts carrying one good meal and turkeys. The commitment to really help the poor is just as empty as the stocking funds. Another “empty” practice is telling the one big lie about Santa Claus to children who invariably miss the real meaning of celebrating the birth of Christ. It is further ridiculous for Black parents to tell their children that a white man will give them something for nothing when those same parents express their hatred and contempt for white racism the whole year. Santa Claus in Amerikka is another white racist trick used by white businesses to rip off gullible consumers once a year. The after Christmas so-called “sales” reflect the extent of the “big rip-off’. Including Santa in Christmas celebrations is like giving a birthday party for a person and inviting everybody but him or her. One has difficulty imagining a white Santa going into Black ghettoes and slums giving toys to the poor. Parents will go into debt up to their eyeballs for one holiday and then tell the “big lie” about Santa. Finance company managers and employees greet the poor with smiles at Christmas and “hound and harass” them the rest of the year. Since banks will not make loans to the poor, they have to depend on the higher interest rates rip-offs of loan and finance companies. It is unfortunate that the poor get caught up in the “lie” for some even steal to gain a “good Christmas”. The true message of the Christmas event is needed “now more than ever” in his country. The racism and corruption of our social institutions leave us with unprecedented personal and national crises. Christmas this year should be like a balm in our evil Amerikkan Gilead. The Santa Claus lie is one of many lies about our reality that has caused us to love lies rather than truth. The lie that three is justice and equality for all blinds us to the fact of justice for the rich and jail for the poor. The lie that our country is a “melting pot” betrays the fact that it is a “stew pot”. The lie that ours is a free enterprise system betrays the fact that we now have monopolistic capitalism. If a politician gets elected by lying to one group he will lie about other groups and betray all groups. In the final analysis, we must move beyond the Captain Marvel practices of hypocritically transforming reality into non-reality hoping to magically deal with our basic problems. A magic word will not substitute for the will and courage to bring about needed changes in our political and economic institutions. Transformation is needed more by those with power and resources than by the poor. The spirit and activity of Christmas is needed daily rather than yearly, As long as our love and good will is seasonal and coated by lies we will always have the problems we now endure. Season’s greetings to my editor and publisher, fellow columnists, all of my readers and best wishes for a more productive year in 1974. Harambee!!! BLACK GODFATHER'S MAD l®ia_ m ...and that’s BoFk REAL BAD! MBMli M Hr Black Caesar Gibbs has the Mafia on the run, Wy the man on the lam W>-•■. and he’s taking ’ S %J L 1 over the town. • > >? Ji? .- ' - WisO falßbt ’’lwia - x <. Waw i':' Samuel Z. Arkoff presents mK% FRED WILLIAMSON „ “HELL UP IN HARLEM” Also Starring JULIUS W. HARRIS An American International Release A GLORIA HENDRY MARGARET AVERY D'URVILLE MARTIN TONY KING GERALD GORDON BOBBY RAMSEN now SHOWING! B Shows: 1:45 - 3:45 -5:35- 7:25-9:15 | phone 722-1866