VOL. XVI NO. 20 An Informed People Is A Free People APRIL 3 - 9, 1994
t . ••
etroitco
By RON SEIGEL
Sp!C'" to tIN Mlchlp.n CltlDn
DE'IROIT - The Detroit City
Planning Commission is study­
ing a request by two cellular
phone companies - Ameritech
and Cellular One - for zoning
changes allowing the construc­
tion in city parks of 100-foot-
high electrical facilities to
provide energy. for cellular
phones in Detroit parks.
Mel White of an organization
called the Justice League of
Michigan, warned that such fa­
cilities could cause dangers for
children who play in the park.
Research conducted by the
Swedish Institute for Mi-
Child abu e often
linked to ex
By ANDREW HENION
C.plml New. Service
- LANSING - No one likes to
think about child abuse, but
more people are.
Highlighted recently by the
disturbing Deckerville case­
where a 9-year-old girl was
found chained to a urine­
soaked bed - the abuse of
children has many upset and
confused, said child-abuse ex­
pert Marjorie Kostelnik.
While most people under­
stand that child abuse can
strip a young ter' pride,
ca e permanent emotional
damage and even death, how
many are aware of the faetora
that drive abusers to lash out?
How can you tell an abuser
. from someone who isn't?
"It's important to under­
stand that most people who
abuse children are pre tyordi­
nary people," said Kostelnik,
chairperson of the Family and
Child Ecology Department at
Michigan State University.
"We often think they're going
to be psychopaths, but they're
no . There is no way to distin­
guish between abu rs and
non-abusers. "
T E RE 0 behind
the attacks - many of which
involve sexual abuse - also
may be difficult to id ntify.
"Every ingle one of our
cases [does not occur] because
the mother or father is a crack
cocaine addict ... because the
mother or father is not well
educated ... because there is·
poverty in the home," said
Michigan Supreme Court Jus­
tice Conrad L. Mallett Jr., re­
ferring to the "tremendous
amount of criminal sexual
conduct cases" passing
through the high court.
About 60 percent of the
. 2,749 cases filed with the Su­
preme Court in 1998 were
criminal. The number of sex­
ual misconduct cases involv­
ing children was unavailable.
Kostelnik said 50 percent
of people who sexually abuse
children are from the child's
household.
THERE WERE 13,091 in­
vestigation into all com­
plaints of child abu e in
Michigan between October
and December of 1993, the lat-
t that figures were avail­
able, according to the
Department of Social Serv­
ices. Of tho e cas , 2,908
were verified by social work­
ers to be .actual child abuse 01'
neglect.
Charles Peller, department
spokesperson, aid the yearly
number of in tigations into
complaints of child ab has
jormedicin, under contract with
the Swedish National Board for
Industrial and Technical Devel­
opment, studied effects on the
population living in any area
within 800 meters from the 22
and 400kv power lines in Swe­
den, between 1960 and 1985.
THE STUDY REPORTED
that these results "provide sup­
port for the hypothesis that ex­
posure to magnetic fields
increases the risk of cancer",
noting this is "most evident" in
childhood leukemia.
The study indicated that
childhood leukemia increased
and seemed to demonstrate a re­
lationship between acute
myeloid and chronic myeloid
By ICHELE RU�HS
C.plm' N.w. S.rvloe
ppear from the e.·
Robb id he could not eon­
firm any other sites yet they
had not yet applied for them, but
the group could know early as
Tu day where its next Michi­
gan efforts will be directed.
JAMES HORN IT, public in­
formation director of th Michi­
gan Civil Rights Department,
said the department ill b
keepingtrac of what is going on
with the ible Charlotte dem­
o tration and will ction
against it.
·We'll be working to monitor
th ituation, • b d,
He said the community m t
com to rand gi th KKK
a m ge that it and i id
will not be tolerated in today'
society.
Gov. John Engler id in a
statement that he would upport
any efforts to thwart the planned
rally.
"I commend the church lead­
ers and others who have already
taken steps to stop this rally," he
said. "If we work "together, we
will send' a clear signal to the'
KKK that their beliefs are offen­
sive. We don't want our children
exposed to their repulsive valu
that defend discrimination and
feed upon fear."
LANSING - The possible ap­
pearance of the Knights of the
Ku Klux Klan in Charlotte on
April 28 has some people up in
arms, but it may be just the be­
ginningofa number of recruiti ng
dri in Michigan.
Thomas Robb in Harrison,
Ark., national director of the
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,
said Michigan will be targeted
for additional ralli this um­
mer.
"Charlotte is the first one
t t' n ppli for, but th
aocVICII.-a.\ oth T ( ocatio � ,\
be holding ralli at throughout
the summer," he said. "So this is
not just one rally, one time and
•
I
o
leukemia for adults.
Representatives from Detroit
Edison challenge the validity of
. the studies.
Rorry Bolger of the Detroit
City Planning Commission said
that there was no "substantial
research" on electromagnetic
waves fqr facilities dealing with
cellular phones, when the struc­
ture would be 100 feet high and
not close to the brain.
"There is not enough research
one way or the other, at least in
our office," he said.
SOME CIVIL RIGHT
leaders and environmentalists
charge there is a system of "en­
vironmental racism," which
causes environmentally hazard-
ous facilities to be built in places­
with a large population of people
of color.
However, it was impossible to
reach any persons in-civil rights .
or environmentali t organiza­
tions by the time of this deadline
to get their views on whether
thi would apply to the issue of
cellular phone facilities.
It was also impossible to
reach' Ameritech and Cellular
One, the companies making the
request for re-zoning.
Bolger said, however, that
Ameritech and Cellular One
claimed there was too little land
designated for industry where
ANGIE LOWRY OF Klan­
watch, a group ba ed in
Montgomery, Ala., that monitors
Klan activity, ugge ted a
counter-demonstration of a dif­
ferent hue to soften any blow the
Klan could make.
One good remedy is an "alter­
native event," uch 88 a group
KLAN, AS
See PARKS, A4
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Na­
tional Political Congress of
Black Women, Inc. (NPCBW) re­
turned to Sam Goody's Record
Store in downtown Washington
to protest the sale of gangsta rap
music. .
The protest was part of the
NPCB W continuing effort to
recei v a respons from the
president of t parent company
of Sam Goody's, Musicland,
based in Minneapolis, Minne­
sota.
Entertai r Melba Moore and
Comedian/Activist Dick Gregory
were among those arrested and
reI by t D.C. M ropoli­
tan Police, ot included: Dr.
C. DeLore Tucker, Chair of
NPCBW; Marilyn Merry, Presi-
ent/D.C. Coalition of Trade Un­
ion Women; and Kemi Morton,
Attorney/Director .of Unfold­
ment,I
Dick Gregory was detained by
t Metropolitan Police on a for-
mer bench warrant that was is­
sued following a prior NPCBW
demonstration and has vowed to
remain in jail until a court date
American Federation of State,
County d Municipal Employ-
See RAP. A2
WASHINGTO • D.C arch 16, 1994 -
oLUId of Sam Goody r cord store.
