, I
_ May 20-26, 1990
• . I •
Ichlqan companies rank among Black Enterprise
E YORK - Twenty-two
Michigan firms re among the
leading busine ses listed on
the 1990 B.E. l00s,. BIDck
Enterprise Magazines's annual
ran ings of the nation's top
Black-owned comp nies-the
BE Industrial/Service 100 and
BE Auto 100.
Revenues for the 20
Micbigan firms totaled
$665.350 million for 1989 and
the total employees numbered
6,019. Trans Jone , Inc./Jones
Transfer Company, led the
Michigan companies named on
the BE Industrial/Service 100
with $78.555 million in sales
for 1989. The service company
employed 1,264 people last
year.
Mel Farr Automotive
Group, of Oak Park, led the
Michigan automobile dealer­
ships on the B.E. Auto 100
with $52.100 million in sale
and 160 employees.
The Michigan companie
listed on the B.E. 100s are
listed on the accompanying
chart showing rank and gross
ales in millions.
Ci il Rights studies
udent
The u.s. Commission on
Civil Rights voted to accept
Civil Right Implications of
Minority Student Dropouts, a
report by the Michigan Ad­
visory Committee. The report
is a summary of the proceedings
of a community forum held by
the Committee in Detroit on
May 5,1989.
The Advisory Committee
heard from local school offi­
cials, educators, State officials,
community grou parents and
tudents on discrimin tion that
may be ociated with minority
student dropouts in Michigan.
The information focused on
i sue related to African
American, Hispanic, Native
American and Asian students
discontinuance of school.
Major points of discussion
centered on the causes of stu­
dent dropouts with possible
links to discrimination;. the
reporting policies and proce­
dures used to establish the de­
gree to which minority students
dropout of school; the reasons
for such dropouts; and an as­
sessment of efforts being made
to ddress minority dropout
problems and the current un­
derlying causes related to dis­
crimination.
REO o the
high rate of minority student
dropouts were advanced by
forum p rticipants and in
various research reports sub­
mitted to the Advisory Commit­
tee.
Reasons cited were segrega­
tion, unfair discipline practices,
curriculum bias, teenage preg­
nancy, low achievement and
elf-esteem, shortage of
qualified teacher and poverty.
Specific areas of dis­
crimination cited by par­
ticipants included bias in
curricula that does not incor­
por te the history and culture of
minority group , disciplinary
practices included bi in cur­
ricula th t does n incorpor te
the history and cultural b
grounds of minority tuden
method u ed to track and
dropouts
categorize students,
teacher I counselor attitudes,
and a level of expectations that
denies minority student an
equal opportunity to benefit
from educational programs.
Specialist in the area of stu­
dent dropouts, parents, and
representatives from com­
munity groups agreed that
discrimination, both institution­
alized and disparate treatment
of individual repeatedly cited
the lack of sensitivity and
cooperation exhibited by school
officials that push minority stu­
dents out of school or lead them
into dead-end programs.
The reasons for school dis­
continuance among the dif­
ferent minority groups were
similar . However, there were
are areas of concern cited that
arc unique to Hispanic, Asians,
and Native American students,
such as insensitivity to language
differences, and backlash and
harassment that Native
. American students experience
because of resentment of treaty
rights.
THE CHAIRPERSO of
the Michigan advisory Commit­
tee is Dennis L. Gibson of
Detroit. Other members of the
Advisory Committee is Dennis
L. Gibson of Detroit. Other
members of the Advisory Com­
mittee are: Dr. Janice G.
Frazier, Barbara D. Gattom,
Robert J. Gordon and Larrain
Thomas of Detroit; Roland
Hwang of Plymouth; Peter I
Kobrak of Kalamazoo; Jack
Martin of Bloomfield Hills;
Marylou Olivarez-Mason and
Joan Wevkamigad of Lansing
and Prince E. Holliday of West
Bloomfield. Melvin L. Jenkins
is Director of the Central
Regional Division.
DID YOU OW ... that
despite all the focus on crack­
cocaine, the number one killer
. ckug in America • by far - i
alcohol. One researcher
reported recently that alcohol
ca e least 10 times more -
deaths and illness than all the
illegal drugs combined.
MIClnGAN CITIZEN Page 3
.
top 100
Ichlgan Firm on Black Enterprise
Industriall Service Top 100
RANK
7
8
20
22
29
41
43
45
72
77
SALES
(in millions
CO PANY
Trans Jones .. Inc Jones Transfer Company
(Monroe) . .
The Bing Group (Oetroit
The Barfield Companies (Ypsita i)
Wesley Industries, Inc. (Flint)
Trumark, Inc. (t.anstnq)
Williams & Richardson Co., Inc. (DetrOit)
Keys Gro,up Company (Detroit)
*Black River MFG., Inc (Port Huron)
C.G. Enterprises, Inc. (Southfield)
Total
$ 78.555
73.883
38.000
36.500
28.600
20.500
20.200
18.600
9.804
355.042
BLACK ENTERPRISE AUTO 100
CO PANY
Company Mel Farr Automotive Group
(Oak Park)
AI Bennet, Inc. (Flint)
Northwestern Dodge (Ferndale)
*Pochelon Lincoln-Mercury, Inc. (Saginaw)
*AII�gan Ford-Mercury Sales, Inc. (Allegan)
Capital Chrysler·Plymouth, Inc. (LanSing)
Jim Bradley Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC, Inc.
(Ann Arbor)
Conyers Riverside Ford, Inc. (Detroit)
Ferndale Honda, Inc. (Ferndale)
Campus Ford, Inc. (Okemos)
Harrell Chevrolet-Oldsmobile, Inc. (Flat Rock).
Davis Buick-Jeep Eagle, Inc. (Battle Creek)
RANK
5
9
16
17
29
31
37
39
48
50
68
95
• Denote first y on the B. E. 100s
Total
SALES
(In millions)
$ 52.100
46.492
34.900
34.424
24.875
24.700
22.600
21.300
19.700
19.437
17.500
12.280
330.308
State police have new weapon II
to catch speeders
by Jeff Me�rs
Capital News Service
LANSI G- Over the past
nine months, speeding drivers
may have witnessed a first - hand
account of the Michigan State
Police's newest form of law en­
forcement - the Ford Mustang.
But just when you hadn't
been coralled by on and thought
it was safe to ease that pedal to
the metal, brace yourslelf - at
least 20 more Mustangs will be
hitting the highways within the
next year, said Maj. Lawrence
E. Miller, commanding officer
of the uniform services division
of the state police.
The state police began using
the sporty cars last May to catch
speeders quickly and safely,
said Col. Rich Davis, the
agency's director. .
"When we got the Mustangs,
we were doing that really for traf­
fic-enforcement purposes,"
. Davissaid
YET C have be-
come almost popular along the
roads, something you wouldn't
expect from a la -enforcement
vehicle. Davis sid.
�heyre a novelty almost,"
DaVIS said. "They've been well­
. received by the trooper forces,
. are very functional, and the
public seems to like them"
Davis said.
The state police decided to
expand its fleet of 14 Mustangs
after receiving positive reviews
from officers who had been
using the cars. The additional
car will replace the full-size
Chevrolet Caprices that are
ready to be replaced.
The cars are smaller, lighter'
and faster than the Caprice,
said 1st U. Curtis VanDenBerg.
According to a 1990 report, the
Mustangs can accelerate from 0
to 110 mph in .57 miles, com­
pared with the Caprice, which
reaches the same speed in 1.08
miles, VanDenBerg said.
Because of the Mustang
comparatively small size, it is
less conspicuous on the road,
Davis said, especially because a
roof light isn't used.
'MANY PEO LOO in
that rear vie (mirror) and,
even when they're decked
OU ••• they don't pi up on that
profile all. They drive right by
them, " Davis said.
While the cars don't h ve
lights on the roof, they are
marked and are fully equipped.
There are two car in each of
_ the seven state police districts
aero s the Lower Peninsul ,
and the additional cars also will
be equally distributed.
The cost of a Mustang is
within $100 to $200 of the cost
of a Caprice, which costs the
state police about $12,000-
$13,000, VanDenBerg said.
While officers have the
chance to patrol in Mustang.
many prefer to use the full-sized
patrol cars.
"THE PEOPLE THAT feel
that they work well and are
comfortable with the car, they
are th ones that are driving
them," VanDenBerg said.
There are some disad­
vantages to the cars.
The Mustangs are no big
'enough for two officers because
of their small size and the
amount of equipment they
carry, Miller said.
Because of their size, i also
is difficult to transport p