"100 'TKNOW," Wichita
id. "Everyore is being hush hush
aboutiL" .
"Lord, God. H lp "Sister
pearl said 'These are troubling
times. H lp us God. Give our
leaders vision"
"It ain't vision they need," the
Right Reverend Deacon Demon
c-Crease J res said: "Trey need to
come down off 0 treir high bor-
"
"I hear you, Reverend, I hear
you," Sam said. "Pontiac can't
decorate its downtown for
Quistmas and Detroit has the
bomel ,tre unemployed and so
many streets in reed of repair that
it will make a preacher curse. But
six. Six! Do you hear'? of Detroit's
council members took the
taxpayer's flight to that gambling
mecca"
"Yeah! I sympathize with the
citizenry of both citi ," Wichita
said. "But who, if any of Highlard
Parle' officials took that tax payer's
champagne flight?"
"Hey! you. Is that all you can
think about, Highlmxt Parl<?" Be­
ie asked.
"YOU GOT that right,
sweetie," Widlitareplied. "We tax­
payers have already sbelled out
$7,150 worth of transition rnorey
and blowing in tre win! is talk
about a lavish inaugwation"
"Pray, child, Pray." Sister pearl
said.
"Pray my Iootl" Wichita hi�.
"If we coreerred citizens don't
watch our city's expenditure, it
rould add up to $20,(0) or $30,(0)
for these events."
"WCNI. I mean WCNI! Foxes.
'Ire hen boiseabd times are getting
tougrer," the Revererd said "AnI
people are always talking about
preachers. "
"Shut up CQease Jones. Let
me lay this on angel piss," Bessie
said. "Wichita. I just heard that
seven of Highlanl Park's eleeed
officials took that taxpayer tlight to
where ire girls dress skimpy am
drinks flCNI and dice rattle all
night long."
"Great day in the morning,"
Sam said. "Who went?"
''THE ONLY roWlCil mem­
bers who didn't go were Quistine
Franklin aoo Greta Johrron am
Qualie P. Davis, woo will take
office in January," Bessie said. "As
I understand it Mayor Martha G.
Soon, tre city treasurer am the
laision person to tre courcil also
went" .
"Girlfriend," Wichita said.
"You mean Highland Park's tax­
payers are footing the bill forseven
people?"
''Yougotthatright,sugarp "
Bessie said. "The cost will be
ssroo or $6,(0)."
"Hey Wrote!': Sam yelled.
"What do you think about all that
getting out of town stuff? It's a
whale of a New Year' present,
huh?"
''Yeah.'' I said. "But �recould
be some good in all of that bad"
"IJl<e what?" Wichita asked
"Uke the CO\lOCil 'being split
three- to two," I said. "If Franklin,
Johrson and Davis rue 'thinking the
same way, the rext fouryearsceuld
be interesting. AnI that is the bot­
tom line."
Subtle bias in
Birmingham
housing market
"
o
BY LEE ITGA G
AP EDUCATION WRITER
N W YORK (AP) - Th pub­
Ii hers of the Schola tic Aptitude
T51t downplay the potential
benefits of commercial coaching
for the college entrance exam, a
new report ch rge. FairTest, a
critic of standardized tests, aid
Tue day that the College Board,
which ponsors the t t, and th
Educational Testing Service,
which admini ter it,
"deliberately underplay th ef-.
fectivene s of coaching, to the
detriment of tudents who could
benefit from that knowledge."
The College Board maintains
that coaching benefits tudents
only minimally, but in "The SAT
Coaching Cover-Up," FairTest
claim coaching can improve
core by an average of 100
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THE DGE OF TOW - When entering Highland Park at the north rn boundary at McNichol' Road and
Woodward Avenue, tbe traveler i greeted by thl " dult Movi " ign. We beli ve th Lion' and th Rotary
nd the Intern donal Club emblem were there first but we wond r what a trang r might think. However
we are In the business of reporting, not making the n w so w wonder what Highland Parkers might think.
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"
point.
"Th Y hav
hidden r m tud nt . And in
their own technical publicati ns,
th y mana c not to includ data
that how that coa hing wor ,"
aid B b Schaeffer, co-author of
th r port and public education
director of FairTe t, ba ed in
Cambridge, M
Th SAT i taken by mor th n
one million olle e-bound tu-
. dent a ye r. Ea h c ti n of the
two-part t t, overing math and
verbal kill , i cored on a cale
of 200-800.
, At least 100, tudents pay
500 or more each year to com­
mercial coaching firms to prepare
for the SAT, a multiple choi e
exam many competitive college
require for adrni i n.
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fRlfNOS OON'l lH fRlfNOS ORIVf ORUNK
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A real­
tor said he was surprised by the find­
ings of a 1989 undercover study that
showed Blacks often are the victims
of subtle racial discrimination in the
city's real estate market.
"My greatest concern is that we
were not aware that this .type thing
was taking place," said Ron Viars of
Alabama Realty Sales, who is presi­
dent of Birmingham's Association'
of Realtors.
The 25-city study conducted by
the Urban Institute in Washington,
D.C., and the Metropolitan Studies
Program at Syracuse University
found that Blacks often were subtly
discouraged - and whites en­
couraged - by agents and property
managers who sell and rent homes.
The study, released Monday to a
biracial committee in Birmingham,
looked at 75 cases in Alabama's
largest city.
It found that blacks in the five­
county metropolitan area received
unfavorable treatment in 60 percent
of the test sales cases and 53 percent
of the test rental cases. That was
higher, on average, than the other
cities. Nationwide, according to the
study, Blacks received less­
favorable treatment in 50.4 percent
of homes ales and 45.7 percent of
rentals.
BLACKS AND whites po ed as
homebuyers with similar economic
and social circumstances, aid Emily
Eberhard t, who supervised
Birmingham's part of the study.
Researchers looked at what home
shoppers were told about housing
availability, wheth r they were of­
fered pecial incentive or helpful
tips, and wh th r they wer tee red
to neighborhood of different racial
makeups, Ms. Eberhardt aid.
The names of agents involved in
the tudy will not be revealed, she
said.
But Operation New
Birmingham' Community Affairs
Committee, which received the
study, said it would work with the
realtors group to stop the bias.
, Viar said hi organization,
which represent most of the
licensed real estate agents in the Bir­
mingham area, would cooperate
gladly.
"We have been on record for
many years as oppo ing discrimina­
tion," he said. "As an a ociation,
we do as much as we possibly can do
to educate our members."
INDEED, TH· di crimination
exposed in the rudy was often 0
subtle that it w not felt by the ac­
ting buyer or tenant, Ms. Eberhardt
said. It only became evident when
comparisons were' made between
white and Black h ppers. "They
would come back aying how very
nicely they'd been treated, but I
would find out they had not been,"
she said. "They had been treated
courteously, but not the arne."
Blacks weren't the only ones who
were victims of di crimination, Ms.
Eberhardt said.
One whi te woman, posing as a
single mother intere ted in a home,
was a ked whether he knew
anybody in the neighborhood and
whether she could handle such a big
yard by herself. In addition, the agent
volunteered to how her another
house in another area, Ms. Eberhardt
said.
More often, however, Blacks
were quietly directed away from cer­
tain home and n ighborhood, he
said.
Ms. Eberhardt aid Black men
were particularly likely to face bias.
44 All the Black males kept dropping
out (of the tudy' work force), they
were 0 di criminated against. They
couldn't even get appointments,"
she aid.
The be t and worst cities (or ale
were Austin, Texas, and Cincinnati,
respectively. Lansing, Mich., fared
the b t for rental, while Miami and
Dayton, Ohio, were the worst.