FromA7
continu d from A3
able to offer."
Currently, the 0
I $27.8 million to sup rt i tate
p . Only 5.1 million, bout 20
percent, of tbat com from the
tate' general fund. the other 80 per­
cent eom from the ONR's earn-
1O�, mo t of that from r fe paid
by park vi itors.
According to Tom Jenkins, an of­
ficer of the tat pa in the Lansing
office, user fees h ve gone up tead­
ily over the p t 20 years to help pay
for the upkeep of the parks. In 1960
an annual permit w $2 aIX1 a daily
permit $.50. This year the annual per-
- mit is $18 an increas $3 over last
year and the daily co 3.50.
, There is even talk I the Legisla­
ture of po ibly rat Ing the annual
permit to $20 by 1995, Jenkins ay .
IN 0 MB the DNR be-
gan a new "cluster ystem'" to help
tretch its do liars, elimi nating 40 off­
ite environmental education pro­
grams and haltthg orne service at
me parks for the winter.
These haltings inc uded the Pic­
tured Rocks National Lakeshore,
clo ing the Grand Sable Visitor Cen­
ter and Maritime Musuem for four
weeks.' The I le Royale National
Park would shortenits operating ea­
son by closing island facilities and
bringing ta{f off the island three
weeks earlier than normal.
Although there have been im­
provements and expansions on the
parks over the past decade th num­
ber park employees has decreased
because of lack of fundi ng, Jenki rs
said. in 1980 there were 278 perma­
nent field employees on the tate park
pay roll. In 1992 this number de­
creased to 186 field employee .
"There has been a reduction of
programs and employees down to
bare bon eniials." Jenkins aid.
"The public deserves more."
"Our citizens don't want their
parks to go into despair," said Rick
Jameson, deputy executive director
ofth Michigan United Conservation
Cl ubs and a member of the Ci tizens
Committee for the Mi higan State
, .
aid he w tryi n to
i titute afety m ur , u h
met detecto . at
\
Parks, the group that drafted th al
tax plan.
J 0 AID that Michi-
gan's parks are among the fine t and
unique in the nation with th ir hi -
to ri and natural � ources,
"They bring in thousand of tour­
ists from out-of- tat each year"
Jameson aid.
Jam on ay th re need to b a
permanent funding for par and he
has no hang-up on how the parks are
funded long as they are funded.
Although the al tax i th
DNR's main propo al, other options
u h as i ncreased user fees and per­
haps orne other ort of taxation, are
being looked into, Gordan aid.
"It will depend on what kind of
support we find and what oth r is
are on the ballot," Gordan aid. "The
more i ues there are on the ballot the
more confusing and history show
voters to vote no."
The NRC' currently n
support in the Legi lature (or its pro­
po al.
J 0 AID that Michi-
gan's parks are amon the finest and
unique in the nati n with their hi -
toric and natural resource .
"They bring in thousands of tour­
ists from out-of- tate ea h year,"
Jam on aid.
Jam on say there needs to be a
perman nt funding for parks and he
has-no hang-up on h the parks are
funded as long as they are funded.
Although the al tax i th
DNR' main propo al, other ptions
uch as increased user fe and p r-
h p me ther ort of taxation are
bein looked into, Gordan aid.
"It will depend on what kind of
support we find and what other i u
are on the ballot," Gordan aid. "The
more i ues there are on the ballot the
more confusing. and hi tory how
vot rs to vote no." '
Th NRC i currently eking
support in the Legi latur for Its pro­
posal. .
continu d from A9
int ns g root mobilization w
ag d by the Right, which appealed
to Chri tian groups by declaring that
the Bible condemns homo exuality
as a sin.
De pite overwhelming oppo i­
tion t the measure from liberal citi
u h as Denver, Aspen and Boulder,
Am ndrnent 2 passed with 53 per­
c nt of th popular vot . Many gay,
and liberal group have r ponded
by calling (or a nationwide boycott
of Colorado. 'On January 15, a Den­
ver judge granted a t mporary in­
j unction blocking the
implementation of Amendment 2
until a trial is held determining
wheth r it i constitutional.
homopho­
bic languag of Color 0' Am nd­
ment 2 i being used as th basis for
new statewide measures in at least
ten other stat targeting gay and
lesbian. Corn ervativ s convinced
thousand' of voters that they were
only voting against " pecial rights"
for lesbiars nd gay , which really
wasn't a statement favoring theirdis­
crimi nation.
But what .progre siv should
have argued in Colorado and el e­
wher is that the far right is trying to '
destroy the basi for all civil rights
legislation, not just agairst gays and
"
le bians, but women, people of
color, people with phy ieal di Ili­
ties, and others, Gay aoo lesbians
were targeted first, only because ho­
mosexuals were perceived most
vulnerable politically The argument
that a "majority" of voters hould
hav the right to take away a minor­
i ty group' rights i not only false but
dangerous. We must have the cour­
age to state clearly to the public that
sometimes the majority can be
'wrong. A majority of white South­
erners in the 195CB undoubtedly fa­
vored Jim Crow segregation law ,
and they were wrong .. The battle for
full human rights for all is not just an
i sue concerni bians, gays, Lat­
iro , African-Americans, and other
minoriti ,but everyone. Bee if
the righ of any Ingle person in our
ciety are in jeopardy, it i only a
matter of time before our own rights
will be destroyed.
Dr. Manning Marable is Profes­
sor of Political Science and History,
University of Colorado, Boulder.
''Along the Color Line" appears in
over 250 newspapers and is broad­
cast by more than 60 radio stations
throughout North America, Ja->
maica; Costa Rica, England, and ln­
diG.
ATTENTION
De oit Merchants, Professionals And Small
BUSinesses Here's Your Chance To Reach T e
DetrOit Consumers' $100 Guarantees You A
Space On This Page, For 13 Weeks, Send
BUSiness Card (3) Only, Plus $100 Chec Made
Payable To.
125�1 '
Highl. nd P:U°h, xn .higan � 2
CAlENDAR
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
or 0
on call or write , Center for Urban AI.f
chfpn 49C5()3.3123 (616) 46 0 .&M�:m
eawrJoopportwlity,
. ,
"The whol id mak them (the
c
1 d
pub-
'd t t we
get the
logized
t e're
e, wher­
ntion to
continued from P g8 A6 -------------
d Par . citizens) were very con-. "It' important to keep th pres-
fus (about Board policy)," Ham sure on, " Wheeler said.
aid, ut I don't believe it was told During Public S ion of the
to them (that they could peak during March 1 t Highland Park Ci ty Coun-
the d y)." cil meeting, Johnny Benson, a senior
"Ibelieve they did not call before citizen, founder of the city'
they came in, because everyone who Mother's Club, said, "we only want
wor fo the board knows the pol- you to join with us to go to Lansing,"
icy," h added. she said. "We just want a showing
"I thought when th y were done, For the young people - anyone -
they got a better unders tanding of the who wants to go to college." she said.
situation," he said.
Lloyd expressed satisf ction that,
they had the conversation on video
tape, so that they coul old Root to
account [or what he said.
The Highland Park Advisory
Committee, nicknamed the Survival
Committee, will be bussing citizens
to the Michigan Board of Education
u 5 p.m. h 10 in
Room 35 of th main HPCC build­
ingiocated on the southside of Glen­
dale between Second and Third, so
they can express their concerns
about th state freeze on funding.
TAX
DISCU ING THE civil rights
struggles of the past, she said. "A lot
of you were kids and weren't even
born when we were out here." she
said. "A lot of you don't know, but
some of your poor parents have told
you. Som may have helped."
Sb added, "My kias were in ele-
1, bu y
chance to go to college. I went night
to Wayne Stat University and that
helped me get a better job."
A man in the audience said, "We
ought to be up there in droves."
continued from Page 1
The NAACP alleges that AAA
Michigan divide the ci ty of D troit
into several rating territories, such-as
a few blocks, 01 on aid. The maller
territories ate used only to collect
lo� and damage tati tics and, the
claim that different rate are charged
in these areas is imply not true, Ol­
son aid.
However, Detroit attorney Melvin
"Butch" Hollowell, who.conducted a
rate study for the AACP, aid there
i are significant rate differences
charged neighborhood by neighbor­
hood.
The tudy started on Michigan
Avenue at the we tern boundary of'
Detroit and found that the average
premium was approximately 1,700
per year, Hollowell aid. F.ollowing
Michigan Avenue east into Dearborn
the rate dropped 50 p rccnt, but
crossing into In ter, which is pre­
dominately Black, premiums in­
creased again by more than 50 per­
cent. Moving into Wayne, which is
les than 1 percent Black, rate again
dropped by .. approximately $600,
Hollowell said.
THE ECOND ANNUAL
. ,
WEST MICIDGAN AFR�CAN AMERICAN � CONFERENCE
''BUILD G BRIDGES COLLECTIVELY"
ALL OF THE RATE changes
took place within a five mile area,
Hollowell said.
Hollowell added that a tandard
1988 Ford Escort and clean driving
record were used to obtain all of the
premium quotes.
There were no .signiflcant differ-
enc between the neighborhoods
except for race, Hollowell aid.
Cro -referencing police records
showed that there were no Significant
differences in auto theft between the
areas, which is a common factor that
insurance companies cite for rate dif­
ference in the city of Detroit, Hol­
lowell aid.
Classitied
a(1 vertisement
is available,
869-0033.
The Society of African
American Poets .
presents
"Poetry In-The Ark"
at spm
Every tst & 3rd Wednesdays at
,
. 03 0
00
oodwa d/ alv
featuring
Poets - Musicians - Speakers and
Community/Business Le ers
Programs are FREE and open to the public
For information call (313)342-9129
ask for Malika Davis.
tI'
Dr w Brown. (orTner U. _ Naey Jet Pilot
0881 Rube Dovl, tartl o( cr en and t levllJlon
YOtIef n--Jochannan PhD., Cultural Anthropologi t and �uthor
Ro ,., ur.', 0, Michl an Bell
Joehua I. Smith, .Ident. Maxima, Corporation
¥oldh Rally, S minor and Wor ho and ore
