Briefly ...
• 0
rd-th hi he t honor
, be to ed by the n lion'
olde t nd I rge t civil
. ri ht or niz tion,
ccordin to
nnouncement from Dr.
. Benj min L. Hoo the
AACP' E ecutive
Director/CEO.
In ti tuted in 1914 by the
I te Jo I B. Spin rn, then
A CP Ch irm n, the
Med I i pre ented
nnu lly to the m n or
worn n of Afric n de cent
nd American citizen hip
who ha made the highe t
chievement during the
preceding ye r or ye r in
ny honorable field of
human endeavor.
Redistricting
hearings et
I •
State Repre entative
Michael J. Griffin
(D-Jack on) today
announced the Special
Committee on
Congressional
Redistricting will hold the
fir t of three tatewide
hearings beginning at 11
a.m. Monday, June 10, in
the Alpena City Council
Chambers, Alpena City
H a II, 208 N. Fi rs t S t.,
Alpena.
The commi ttee will hear
public comments on
redistricting for state U.S.
Congressional di trict .
Ot er hearing
cheduled for thi summer
include:
- 11 a.m. Monday,
June 24, in the Muskegon
Ci ty Council Chambers,
Muskegon City Hall, 933
Terrace.
- 11 a.m. Monday, July
15, in the auditorium of the
Henry Ford Centennial
Library, 16301 Michigan
Ave., Dearborn.
Redistricting, which
takes place every 10 years,
uses population data from
the U.S. Census Bureau to
redraw state and federal
legislative di tricts.
Per ons wi hing to
testify before the
commi ttee should contact
committee staff members
at the hearing site.
,.
Bush push
to curb
appeal rights
The
Bush
administration's proposed
legislation to drastically
curb habeas corpus will be
the subject of Senate
debate this week.
"If the administration
bill passes, federal habeas
corpus will be legal
history," said American.
University law professor
Ira Robbins, who served
from 1988 to 1990 on an
American Bar Association
task force on habeas
corpus in dea th penal ty
cases.
The Bush proposal,
contained in its broader
crime sru, would close
federal courthouse doors
to all Death Row
defendants whose claims
were "fully and fairly"
handled by the state
courts.
"That means," Robbins
said, "that so long as the
tate appeals process was
adequate and fair even if it
led to incorrect results,
that's good enough."
Examples of Death Row
inmates who have been
aved thank to federal
review include those found
guilty by a jury stac�ed
with friends of the sheriff:
•
ye r n
uperintendent in
Milwau ee.
She will begin a
the new chool u­
perintendent July 1,
nd replace John
Porter who had
erved for two year .
School ctivi t
oore Objected to the bo rd p­
provin the 25,0 0 P y incentive.
id the bo rd ould e ited
for cGri to per-
form her job for one
ye r be ore r ntin
the incentive.
Other bu ine ,
the bo rd recognized
en Hill, Detroit
e Pre College En­
ineering Progr m
(0 PCEP) coor-
din tor for hi wor
wi th the program.
ecently 171 DAP-
CEP tudent
received gold rib­
bon t the Metro
Science Fair t Cobo I
H 11.
----------,
•
•
rd pproved tent-
live three-year contr ct ith ne
hool u rintendent Debor h Mc­
Ori la t Tue day for 125,000 a year.
cGriff could e rn n e tra
2 ,000 ye r ba ed on her perfor-
m nc in meeting nnu I go I uch
improving chool fety, tudent
chievement and reducing the dropout
r teo
The bo rd ' un nimou deci ion
w the culmin tion of two month of
contr ct negotiation with McGriff,
quieting pecul tion that one of the
two partie wa going to pull out of
t I .
McGriff will be required to live in
the city, and board pre ident Lawrence
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X exchan e friendly banter during a chance meeting In the
U.S. enate In Wash., D.C., March 26, 1-964. King, president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, and Malcolm X, president -of .the Muslim' Mo que, Inc. and former national
representative of the Nation of Islam, had ob erved the 1964 civil-rights bill debate from eparate
sections of the visitors' gallery. Afterward King addre ed reporters In a nearby conference room,
then left by one door.whlle Malcolm X, who had listened from the back row, slipped through another.
and met him In the corridor. "Well, Malcolm, good to see you," King aid, mlllng and extendln
his hand. "Good to see you," the grlnnln Muslim natlonall t replied. A they book hands,
photo rapbers called out" Hold "to capture the event. Malcolm bent toward King and aid," Now
you're going to get Investigated." It wa their nrst and, apparently, only meeting. M Icolm X was
a sa Inated In New York City, Feb. 21, 1965; King In Memphl , April 4, 1968. (U.s. New. " World
Report Pboto Text and De lin by Paul Lee.)
History
•
postcards
lesson
In
by DERRICK C. LEWIS
StaqWriler
them available to younger people.
Lee, 30, is a native Hi land
Parker. He majored in Histo J'"'oI!"'I ..... __
minored in Broadcast Production at
Howard University in Washington
D.C. and is regarded as one of the
nation's leading scholars on the life
and times of Malcolm X.
LEE SAID HE was interested in
showing something of substance,
which could be used for educational
utility.
If you're looking for postcards
relevant to Black history, something
which just doesn't mention a figure
or moment in time in history, but
goes further by adding sub lance to
that moment or person, Best Efforts,
Inc. has what you want.
A unique new po tcard series
called "Footnotes On Black History"
are now available to enlighten you
on Black history.
The postcards are a response to
two needs in the Black community,
according to Best Efforts founder
and director Paul Lee. Lee said he
wa encouraged by the renewed in­
terest in Black history and culture
inspired by the message of Contem­
porary rappers such as Public Enemy
and Boogie Down Productions
(BOP). .
He also aid orne po tear on
Black hi tory had little content and
did not dequately explain a hi tori­
cal moment or what role a person
played in hi tory.
For further
information on Best.
Efforts or if you
want to order
"Footnotes on Black
History" postcards,
. contact Paul Lee
(313)865-2336.
EST EFFORTS, INC. is a
prof ional research erviee which
pecializes in upplying hard-to­
find, unique, and significant histori­
cal documentation on Black history.
F cing the
r IIty of
malnutrition
. Two third of the Horn of
Africa' population live below
the poverty line, defined as "that
income level below which
minimum nutritionally dequ te
diet plu e entiat nonfood re­
quirement are not affor­
dable. "-UNICEF, January
1991
Context is so important to Lee.
that sometime there will be little
room left for writing your own mes­
ge on the postcard.
Po tcards produced by Best Ef­
forts will feature Marcus Garvey, Ida
B. Wells, Malcolm X, Kwame N­
Krumah and other hi toric Blac
figure and momen .
Lee indicated the po tcard have
received a very encouraging
response and would like to make
received
ip from the Parent
School Schol r hip Co
ch ired by queel h ed.
The tudent ere Laron 011 rt
from Pershin Hi h School,
Whitfield from C Tech, rr b
St fford rom urray Wri ht, Callett
W rren from Ch dey, Sonya on
from c enzie, nd Tiffaney illiam
from Ca Tech.
•
c a
a e
e
e
I­
J
By KIRK HAVERKAMP
Capital Nep's Service
LANS) -American chools
have been h rply criticized for
producing ub tandard tudent .
But an official of the Michigan
Education A ociation (MEA)
ay current high chool
graduates are a well-educated
today as they've ever been.
"It's a lot of gam e," aid
Allan Short, MEA dir tor of
government affair, referring to
claim that large number de
today's gradu te are function­
ally illiterate and h ve other­
wise failed to rna ter ba ic
ill.
Short id that while .. tn re are
igllHi.ct8 n t probl m the:
average, tudent today ctually
knows more math and history
than earlier generation .
_ "We're turning out the best
and brightest student in our hi -
. tory," he said.
Not surprisingly. Short'S
'remarks were met with skep­
tici m.
"EMPLOYERS are saying
the talent isn't there, the quality
i n't there, that these gr duating
seniors ar not educated," said
Trisha Kane, a spokesperson for
the Michigan State Chamber of
Commerce.
Kane cited a study that
showed that 47 percent of high
school seniors could not express
the fraction 9/100 as a percent
and that 43 percent did not know
the First World War happened
between 1900 and 1950. She
said the Motorola Corp. in il­
linois reported that only 10 per­
cent of its applicants could pas
a seventh-grade math and ninth-
. grade reading test required for
employment.
Part of the discrepancy may
be due to the fact that poor
school performance wasn't as
noticeable in the pa t. Mary
Christian, MEA president,
pointed out that the current
drop-out rate is close to the his­
toricat average for monotonou
t
t
cated
job.
"Now the e arne
w nt them to u e computers,"
id.
Connie Giarmo of the Gra
R pid Area Chamber of C!o -
merce aid it ppearec to
more of case of tudent n
developing the kills they ne
today rather than an actu
deterioration.
I
I
I
"ARE THEY that mu
wor e than the people we we
producing?" she sked.
Glarmo aid that from h r
per pective, tudents were co -
ing out with the ba ic skills b t
weren't rna tering the Mgh
ones lh t can't be taugbt in
cour e, uch a c:ritical thinkin
logical thinking and ream-bul! -
ing. She aid what wa, need
was for every student to
through what was once call
the "college prep" clalses, aso t
of liberal arts for high scbo I .
student.
Kane aid she didn't belle
there's no major difference b -'
tween today's schools and tho
of the pa t. .
"I don't buy the argument th t
we need more skilled or mo
educated workers than we ha
in the pa t-we've alwa
needed that," he said. --
"Our country wouldn't ha
been as successful as it·s been
we didn't hpve educat
worker ."
FOR SOME, however,
doe n't much matter ho
todays students compare
those of the past.
"The world' changing a
we haven't kept up with it all ..
said Jim Zawacki, president f
Grand Rapids Spring and Wi
Product. •
Zawacki he didn't know h
tcday 's grads compare wi h
those of the past, only th 1
quality wa n't what it need
be.
"If we're going to be wor
leader we'd better graduate b •
ter people.
ustln -welcomes stiffer drunk
dri ing penalties
BY DARREN PHILL.PS
Capital News Servic«
LANSINO- The drunken driv­
ing bills moving through the
Legislature are a welcome' ight
to Secretary of State Richard
Austin, a longtime. proponent of
increased drunken driving
penaltie . .
"We have been trying for
· eight years to get changes in the
drunk driving law," Austin aid.
Au tin aid there can be dif­
ficulty getting bills calling for
changes in traffic afety land­
ard pa sed because of per onal
right many individual claim .
Still, he added, people are inter­
e ted in the government protect­
ing lhem when they are out on
the road.
The bills include a 30-day
driver's license uspension for a
•
fir t offense and either 48 co -
ecutive hours of jail time or
days of community ervice fro
second offense. Together with
provision requiring quick r
j udgment of ca e -a 45-d
limlt from arrest to licensi
anction -the bills will meet
requirement for federal alcoh
incentive fund. providing t
state with $9 million over t
next five years.
Al 0 included is the creation
of two new crime. One c II
for 15-ye r sentence Cor causib.
a ratali ty while driving und.er
the influence. The other •
. quires a five-year entenee r
cau�ing a permanent or lofta­
term injury while drivina under
the Influence, .