Dono
, alcolm
Spi e Lee announced
Tue day that group of
prominent Blac had don ted
an undisclo ed amount of
money to h lp complete work
on hi forthcoming film, "Mal
colm X."
He aid the donors were
Bill Co by, Oprah infrey,
Michael Jordan, Earvin
(Magic) Johnson, Janet Jack
son, Prince, and Peggy Cooper
Cafritz, founder of the Duke
Ellington School of the Arts in
Washington.
At a press conference in
Harlem, Lee aid the Comple
tion Bond Company, which
assumed financial control in
January, refu ed to approve
any more expenditures.
At the time, costs on the
film had climbed to nearly $33
million. Lee has said final
costs for the movie may run
over $40 million.
"This is not a loan," said
Lee, who declined to disclosed
the specific amount donated.
"They are not investing in the
film. These are Black folks
with some money who came to
the rescue of the movie. As a
result, this film will be my ver
sion. Not the bond company's
version, not Warner Brothers.'
I will do the film the way it
ought to be, and it will be over
three hours."
. NAACp
blasts judge
I'
The president of the Detroi t
Branch NAACP, Dr. Arthur
Johnson, today strongly
criticized remarks by Judge
William Hathaway of the 36th
District Court made Monday.
During the trial of Terry
Gaines Sr., Judge Hathaway
said, "Mr. Gaines is in the! same
position we are all in.
He has got to have a gun to
protect himself in this ci ty. "
"This is a shocking and ir
responsible statement from the
bench," Johnson said, "that is
not supported by the facts. No,
were are not all in that position
and I would remind Judge
Hathaway that the majority of
the citizens in this community,
like myself". do not own guns,
and perhaps do not desire to
own guns. Further, to give the
impression that life is violent in
Detroi t that every ci tizen
should own a gun amounts to
gross defamation of this city's
character, and recklessly feeds
the fear that already exists. We
think that Judge Hathaway
owes the good ci tizens of
Detroit an apology."
King asks
settlement
LOS ANGELES - Lawyers
for Black motorist Rodney
King and the city of Los An
geles told ajudge recently they
were seeking an out-of-court
ettlement in King's $83-mil
lion civil law uit against the
city.
King's videotaped beating
by white Los Angeles police
officers shocked the world.
Four officers were acquitted in
the case last month, sparking
several day of rioting. 'II
Some ·3,000 National
Guard soldiers, called in to
quell the violence, contin�ed
their pullout from the city,
leaving fewer than 1,000
military police and infantry.
And incoming police Chief
Willie Williams toured the
city, pledging to put more of
ficers on the streets to help re
store confidence in police.
LAN o-A colle e edu tion
might be the rthe t thing rom th
minds of junior high choole in
high minority re .
ot nece rily nymore.
Young ters from Benton H rbor re
among minori ty tuden t tewide
who have th opportunity to vi it a
colleg c mp , become oriented
with higher education, b in pired
by what th y ee and turn wh t
eemed like an impo ibility into
reality.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. -
Ce ar Chavez-Rosa Par Colleg
Day program ha Howed mor
than 93,000 t dents since'1987,
most of them from the 35 high
minority schools districts, to tour
the campu es of Michigan' 15
tate universities. They thus get ac
quainted with the demand of at
tending any higher educational
institution, be it university, college,
junior college or community col
lege.
The proposed budget for the pro
gram in fiscal year 1992-93 exceed
$1.1 million.
B TON HARBOR School
District ranks ixth in the number of
minoritie , according to 1990-91
Department of Education data, at
83.91 percent. The program ha
enabled more than 200 area stu
dents from Fair Plain Junior High
School to, visit Western Michigan
University in Kalamazoo.
Program coordinators feel their
efforts have been successful.
WMU FOCU D on junior
high tudents, not high chool as
some other universitie do. First,
repre entative at each of the 17
districts that visit WMU work with
the tudent at the junior high
chool and help to get them
riented and prepared for their visit.
When tudents come to a univer
sity, they Jour the campus and then
have activitie at a pecific college
within th university, uch a the
Engli h or education department.
There they will learn the pertinent
information 'which many had no
idea about. Seal told the story of a
student gaining a whole new focus
and attitude after learning what
o BOUT K-
C-P nd i purpo e:
It i a motivation 1 program that
im to in pire targeted pupil -
namely Blac ,Hispanics and na
tive American -to pursue an
education, aid Joyce Seals, coor
dinator of the program that is ad
ministered through the Michigan
Office of Minority Equity.
K-C-P i necessary because uch
a small percentage of the college
population re minoritie , and even
fewer are college graduate . How
ever, the program is not limited to
minorities. Anyone of any race can
participate, but minorities greatly
outnumber others because more are
from the targeted districts.
Although the program i only
five years old and long-term effects
are difficult to gauge, Seals said it
i working. She pointed to in
creased numbers of minority
Schola tic Apti tude Test (SAT)
takers and more students taking col-
•
-VI
a
By JENNIFER FOSS
C.plt.1 NfIW. S.rvlc.
LANSING-Will the residents
of Michigan ever approve of the
death peanalty as punishment for
vicious criminals?
Some lawmakers say forget it,
but others feel that it may not be
such a far-fetched notion.
In Michigan, the state con
stitution prohibits the Legislature
from enacting death penalty laws.
Howerver, if the issue were puton
a ballot, state residents could vote,
to legalize capital punishment.
Efforts to initate a petition to
have the death penality put on a
ballot have not been successful in
mnay years.
THE MOST recent attempt
wa: led in 1989 by Sen. Gil Di
Nello, D-East Detroit. In 1986,
former Oakland County
Prosecutor L. Brooks Patterson
also tried to being the death penal
ty to a vote.
Rep. David Jaye, D-Shelby
Township, said that both �ere off
to a good start, but neither man
was abl to get the 256,457 valid
si s needed in time.
I "It's tough to collect enough
(signatures) because you only,
have six months," Jaye said. "In
fact, it' enormou ly difficult."
De pite the failures of the
petiton initiative , Jaye, who
favors the death penalty, feels that
the people of Michigan want to
see the capital puni hment Iagal
ized.
"In poll after poll," he aid,
"well over 80 percent of the
people statewide are in favor."
JAY BlAM the failed in-
itiatives in part on the influence of
Rep. Perry Bullard, chairman of he aid. "It cost S 0,000 to
the House Judiciary Committee. $90,000 a year to keep someone
Jaye aid that Bullard, a liberal on death row."
Democrat, ha uccessfully en- McGinnis compared this fig-
couragcd lawmakers to oppose ure to the $25,000 it co ts annual-
the death penalty. ly to house a prisoner who is not
"In fact," he aid, "he has on death row. '
single-handedly quashed any How do orne residents of
chance to get it on a petition." south Oakland County react to the
Jaye said that when Bullard issue?
leaves office this year, the Legis- . Drayke Dondero, a Royal Oak
lature will probably support the resident, said that he favors the
death penalty more and be able to death penalty and would be will-
convince their constitituents to ing to pay additional tax dollars to
support petition initatives. bring it to Michigan.
Kenneth McGinnis. director of "Everyone should be willing to
pay to make their state safer," he
.said.
"EverY()I1C
should he
\V ill i 11 11 t o
�
pay to
make their
f "
state sa cr.
, I, �, l . �, � .
the Michigan Department of Cor
rections, however, doe not agree
with Jaye's logic or predictions.
McGinni aid that the people of
Michigan do not favor the death
peanalty and, therefore, he does
not forsee it becoming legalized.
McGinnis added that those
who do favor the death penalty
need to be educated on how co tly
it would be to tate taxpayers. .
"WE NEED PEOPLE to see
what the consequence of it are,"
DONDERO AID, however,
that he thinks the system needs to
be reformed in order to make the
death penalty more co t effective.
Jason Hill, an Oak Park resi
dent, disagrees. .
Although Hill does not think
that putting violent criminals to
death i a bad idea, he said that he
would not be willing to pay extra
taxes.
"If it's going to cost us more in
the long run," be aid, "then it's
not worth it."
Currently, no state lawmakers
have petition intiative in the
works supporting the death penal
ty. However, Rep. Wilfred
Webb, D-Hazel Park, aid. that
one could very well arise in the
future.
WHAT WILL happen then?
Webb, who oppo es 'the death
penalty, aid that's tough ques
tion.
"One thing's for sure," he said.
"There are no easy answers."
..
·
" .
. .
HE ID the program is more
motiv tion 1 nd inspiration I, and
doe n't pecifically te ch kill
development. Students tour the
chool neare t th m, and are not
recruited for a specific chool.
"We don't care where they go, as
long a they go," Nelon said.
"I feel the program ha a direct
impact on kids," McKee said.
"When the day is done, they ask a
lot of que tions. They want to come
back."
On being a role model from Ben
ton Harbor, McKee aid that offers
them extra encouragement.
"They think, 'If he' doing it, I
can do too, It, she said.
McKEE WILL BE a student
facilitator for the ummer program,
which begins in June.
Hernandez said the summer p 0-
gram is more extensive and lasts
one week. Students live in dor
mitories, have a schedule of dif
ferent eta se , attend a
multicultural workshop and con-
centr te not jut on demic :
now led e, but Ie m the impor-:
nee of oci 1 nd cultural pee •
ell. :
While 11 involved in pro- :
gram t Ik of i po itive influen e :
on minoritie nd their increased:
opportunitie , one legi I tor em
phati lly oppo th program in
uch difficult economic times
which include Michigan' ne rly
800 million de icit,
"Why hould we pend $1.2 mil
lion to motivate high chool kids to
go college?," Rep. D vid Jaye, R
Shelby Tow hip, ed."I think
(the program) i raci t. It' ab-
olutely wrong to target for certain
race ."
Jaye que tioned why Italians,
Ukrainians, Poli h, Chine e and.
American Indians weren't included:
and aid uch a program hould cen- •
ter on the tudent' economic back- •
ground, not on race or ethncity. :
•
•
JA YE AID high chool :
educators are to motivate students •
to attend college anyway. He said:
K-C-P waste the government' :
money and would rather see it used:
for student loans.
"I would like to cut the entire :
(K-C-P) program," Jaye said, as one:
of his 13 attempts to trip the deficit. :
McKee, on the other hand, hope :
it tay and wi he the program had.
tarted even earlier. :
"A lot more of my classmates :
would be in college right now (had:
we had K-C-P then)."
. GRADUATION EXERCISE. - Doctor Arthur M. Carter III,
interim deputy superintendent of DMslon of Community Con
fiendence with Detroit Public Schools, told graduating class
number 80 of the Job Training Partenership Act's School of
Practical Nursing Friday, March 13 at Murray-Wright High
School, ·You are going to become a part of an $80 billion
Industry.· The one year nursing program began March 11, 1991
and 47 graduated.
Jackson pushes schools over prison
GRAND RAPIDS, Micb. (AP) -
America needs to reverse the trend
that sends more Blacks to pri on
than to college, said Jesse Jackson
Jr., son and namesake to the well
known civil rights leader.
I I It co ts less than $10,000 for a
single year to go to Michigan State
on a full academic scholarship,
while it costs slightly more than
$100,000 for a single year to go to
Michigan state penitentiary on a
full penitentiary cholarship, "
Jackson told about 1,000 Black tu
dents on Thursday. '
Meanwhile, he aid, President
Bush plans to budget more money
to build pri on than to build
chools. Jack on encouraged the
teen-agers to register to vote.
Jackson, president of the Keep
Hope Alive political action corn-]
mittee and the younge t member of:
the Democratic National Commit-·
tee at 27, spoke for an hour at the �
West Michigan African-American '
Male Conference 'at Orand Rapids:
Community College. •
"THIS CONFERENCE is so:
well-timed," he aid. lilt fall at a:
time when the media, because of the :
ROdney King verdict, i mo t inter
e ted in what' on the minds of
young Black male. "It falls at a
time when, with clear evidence
before a trial, we can convict
Marion B rry on video, but an a11-
white jury cannot find that beating:
Rodney King was not exce Ive :
punishment," Jackson aid.
Lawmaker
wdeah
co t cu