VOL XIV NO. 14 FEBRUARY 26 - MARC H 3. 1992 I lh Food Store See HOMELESS, A-10 ud I i .. udes higan' udent givt!s of hom land NATHANI L OTT ... "WtIt!! The concluding profi� in the' African Conneaio« series. DBTRolT-Okezie Iroha is a Nigerian tudent at Wayne State Univenity (WSU). A senior in busi­ . ness management. he plans to study law. lroha is from the lbo Tribe. He said that a large percentage of, enslaved Africans who were transported to Jhis country came from the Ibo Tribe. He believes, the reason w that the Ibo were farmell who were skilled in growing crepe. The main reason for slavery, tbe need for ,griculturallabor, wu con- iltent with the Tho heritage and they adapted to fann life more easily than other tribrA. lroba's "village" is Uzuakoli, with approximately 25,000 people, and in the town market area there is a tree that he said was once the site from which many Ibos were sold into • I oor slavery. Different urveys are showing . conflicting points of view. One indi­ LANSING-Many Michiganians cated that three-quarters ofMicbigan have conflicting feelings over what residents believe all citizens have a . should be done to help fellow ba ic right to sustenance, whf1e cl� during hard times, according another urvey found over b8lf of the to •• Ie-policy analysi organiza- state believes thai people living in .tion. . poverty don't deserve istance be- cause of their unwi lli ngne s to work. William Sederburg, vice presi­ dent of Pu lie Sector Consultants Inc., aid too many people view poverty a chara ter flaw and don't ee that many p ople are victims of circum tanoe, such as poor educa­ tion or dl crimination . Many familie in Michigan are urviving on minimum wages, or are homel with no income at all. In the last year 83,000 people have 10 t h and medical as i tance due to Gov. John Engler' 1991 cuts general . lance. THE TREE DOESN'T have a name but it does have a history, he said. No one knows how long it has been standing, it has just been there generation after generation. And even being toppled during a storm hu not keep it from flourishing, be dded. The tree re-rooted itself, grew at creo eel angle, branched out and givea bade while �ing a living tes­ timony for tbo8e wbo ufCered the debasing ordeal of being sold like chattel, according to lroha. He baa been attending school in America (Detroit and surrolplding areas) since 1987. ' He II married to an African­ American woman and admits that there are some cultural differences between the two countries. Aside from the differences in wi h divide, conqu r .. ' A SURVEY CONDUCfED last June by Public Sector Consultants howed that Michigan re idents are starting to believe job opportunitie will increase in Michigan. In June, 1991,51 percentofre pondents id they expected to be in better hape financially one year from then. Fifty�ight percent of Detroit rest- SPOOR, A-10 Engler win By DAVID NEUMAN admini tration to capitalize on disagreement and ct hes among legislative factions, even if he i n't actively promoting them, said William Sederburg, vice president of Public Sector Consultants, Inc. and a former Republican state cnator. ' "I don't think that he' certainly do n't mind it," . Sederburg aid. Clptl!1 N!W! .mo. LANSING - Some people are lauding Gov. John Engler as a hero for conservative nadonally these days for his budget-balancing efforts �nd "innova­ tive" welfare program solutio . One political analyst contends, how�ver, that be has earned that acclaim by polarizing public opinion and pitting various political factions against one another. Hard economic times have allowed the Engler SEDERBURG AID that during a rece ion, voters become split over the is ues and the majority See ENGLER, 8-8 S STUDENT, A·10 Q:_ What doe Black Hi tory Month mean 0 you?