CHILD
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Fairness in Defense
One i ue th t pre idential candi­
d te are tre ding on lightly this year is
fairne "- hether a nation we are
making any progre in treating the young
and old blac and white, rich and poor
equit bly. nd that' too bad because
there em to be a lot of unfairne going
round these day - e pecially when it
me to the defense budget.
In recent years defen spending
h increa d roughly 30 to 40 billion a
year, hile dome tic pending ha been
cut by about the same amount. Contrary
to b lief, all of the expenditure do not
contribute to national curity. Some of
them are simply fueling military wa te
that ould be considered inexcu ble in
dome tic progr ms or are supporting
military "luxuries" at a time when mil­
lions of poor omen and children are
being forced to do without in order to
help " ve" federal deficits. Consider
the example:
• Your tax dollars help support
four executive dinning room in the
gon t an an ual cost of 1 million. Th t
same money could buy 800,000 school
lunche for needy children.
• Each year the Defen Depart­
ment spend $6 mUllon on personal ser-
nt for generals and elmira}. Each ser­
vant costs 21 000 a year-plu military
retirement and non-cash benefits. This is
three times the cost of training for po­
tential elfare recipient. The yearly $6
million bra servants program, hich
could train 1,000 dolescent mothers for
productive job, is left untouched. Job
training and jobs for poor mothers are
being cut.
• e are outraged when "welfare
queen' rip off for a few hundred dollars
month nd sigh resignedly when the
vy approve a payment of 8] 4 for the
tinie t tr" sistor you and I can buy for
bout sixty ven cents t our local dio.
Sh ck.
• e t year the Pre ident proposes
to cut 41 million from foster care and
doption assistance. He i leaving un­
touched the 80 million annual new fur­
niture expenditure the Defen Depart­
ment, which is four times the new furni­
ture purcha s for the rest of the entire
Federal Government.
• Gallaudet College ha operated a '
model elementary and high school for the I
de f at an annual public cost of 11.7
million. President Reagan must feel
Gallaudet's deaf students are getting a
. fre public 'ride. He is proposing that tui­
tions be imposed to r place the 10 mil­
lion he wants to cut. We could save the
same amount by getting the Department
of Defense to re trict the use of chauf- .
feured car to military officials rather
than their family members.
It's easy f � • all of us to think about
fairness in our � live -that's why the
image of food. stamp recipient using their
tamps to buy vod . works so well. It's
harder to think about fume when it
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comes to defen expenditur s of mil-
lions and billions of dollara ] ey're so
intimidating they make us fee: maybe we
don't know what we're talking about. But
it' precisely in these in tances where is­
sues of fairness are so important. Tho
are your tax dollars and mine feeding top
military officers, driving their families to
nd from the department st es, and sup­
plying tile rvants to clean general's
room. If we think those dollars could be
better pent feeding poor children, ttan -
p rting them to the doctor's and putting
roof over their he d it's time we said
so - and loud enough for our representa­
tives to really hear.
•• •
Maritln Wright Edelman is president of
the Children's Defen Fund, a national
voice for children.
Pub II
by
219 E st
THE CITIZEN PAGE SEVE ,0
DIY Enterprises
in str - Benton tUrbor, Mich
Phone: .616/927-1527
n 49022
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-:-EDITORIAL-
•
ac
James Cleaver executive editor
of the Lo Angeles Sentinel, recently
commented on what he termed the
'new low" in Bl ck manhood.
. In a recent Sentinel editorial, he
wrote,' e seem to have reached
new low in the way we deal with our
manhood. We send the women to the
door to deal with the bill collectors
and ... send our women out to get
jobs and support the family when we
can't flnd what we want in the way of
a 'job. Whatever happened to the man
who was the man of the house and
who took that resp nsibility eriously?
... It's sad to e a parent at an
arraignment wiping away tears and
asking What h ppened to my baby?'
hat happened was nothing happen­
ed. The child had no °role model and
no rea on to aspire to greatnes or
even mediocrity. There ere no goal
.for the child becau e there ere no
.goals for th parents. 'Like father
like on' became th rule rather than
the exception."
The wo ds hold true no Ie s for
Benton Harbor. Here, there i a lot f
di cu sion about gang. Five p li e
departments wer called in to break up
a bat-wielding crowd at a Fnday night
'dance. The mayor ha convened a
commission of police and juvenile
experts.
. But when all is said and don it
come back to the home.
Benton Harbor city is t 0 small to
talk about gang. Gangs in the cold
life-taking meaning of the word is a
big-city phenomena. Anonymity
nurtures gangs.
e are a small community here
thugs, goons and g ng-bangers 0 cannot
hide - unless the parents-don't want
to see.
o
a
o
I The role-model crisi h�s created
our' gang" ituation. From city hall,
to the corner church, to the cIo st
home, we face crisis of leadership.
For the youth who stay here and
do not leave for an education, the
majority have two p ths to follow:
an early violent death or frequent
incarceration.
Ill-prepared by the school system
for gainful employment, the youth
congregate on the corner.
Those ready for the world of
work find nothing. Their city govern­
ment pends federal development
dollars with out-of-town firms: makes
no demand on suppliers that they hire
city youth' develop no pi n for small
bu ines growth within and among the
community residents.
The youth turn to th church, but
s the f cu there is on the collecti n
plate.
Returning home the youth ind
a steady diet of the oap abs rbing
indifferent parents.
Th police ignore the curfew' are
strang rs to mo t of th city youth
sin e they them el�e c me from other
communitie .
The crisis of "gangs" in this com­
munity is the crisis of a leadership .
vacuum in the adult community. It
is a crisis of will.
The announcement by a I cal
group that they are going to begin to
explore the po sibility of opening the
YM A for community recreation is
a p sitive step forward.
We hope church busine s and
civic leader will join in the effort.
The group will find a way if there is
th will.
ppreciate
Van· Bur'e 0 elm
Dear Editor:
Please pass my letter to the
J columnist whose wit and satire en­
liven your fine paper with his article
"Meanwhile Out in Van Buren Coun­
ty." I have seen only two copies of
your paper but felt the truer-than-
• true column were surely the high­
lights.
Those of us who live in Van
Buren County are exasperated and
frustrated with crisi government and
"little boys" playing with what is
meant to be the backbone of ichi­
gan, township government. I particu-
1 rly enjoyed the columns about the
folly of another airport anything
involving Duane Packer of Honee
Bear would be su pect) and the
sheriff's department.
The writer forgot to mention the
decorator feature of the sheriff's
office. I have often en mirrored
wall but never an office done wi
all four walls that ay! Tho of
us who endure mediocrity in VB
hope your column keep us cheered
while it spurs tho who are being
poked at to sit up and t e ttention.
For special laughs attend a Porter
Township Board of Trustees meeting
when the trea urer, E. Shugar vote
a ainst the welfare of the people ho
elected him becau It ha apr nal
grudg .
Joy Andr
93756 Streeter Dr,
La ton. I