Iowa Bystander
Presorted Standard
U.S. Postage Paid
Des Moines, IA
Permit #3314
Established 1894
2009 Carl T. Rowan Pinnacle Award Winner
Fear God, Tell the Truth & Make Money • The Oldest Black Publication West of the Mississippi • Vol. 119 No. 42 • October 21, 2009
Questions and answers
about President Obama’s
Nobel Peace Prize award
By KARL RITTER and MATT MOORE
Associated Press Writers
Why did President Barack Obama win the Nobel Prize? Does it have something
to do with Afghanistan? Is the Nobel meant to reward accomplishments, or
encourage future actions? What will the president do with the big cash prize?
From water coolers to Twitter feeds, Americans are buzzing with questions
about the Peace Prize surprise. Here are some answers.
Q: Is the Norwegian Nobel Committee, by giving the award to Obama, trying to
discourage him from sending more troops to Afghanistan?
A: Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland told The AP that it was not
explicitly trying to influence any change in Obama’s thinking about committing
more troops to Afghanistan. But by getting the prize, and the status it confers,
Obama may find himself with more leeway - at least abroad, if not at home - to
seriously debate and decide whether such a surge is needed.
Q: Could the Nobel committee be trying to influence other aspects of U.S.
foreign policy?
A: Yes, even if it is not trying explicitly to do so. The committee said that Obama
had engaged in “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy” and
singled out his effort to “work for a world without nuclear weapons.”
The Nobel Prize carries a certain aura and is bound to make Obama more
relevant on the world stage, particularly when it comes to scaling back nuclear
weapons amid concerns that Iran may be pursuing them. Iran maintains that it
wants nuclear power only for peaceful purposes.
“The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated
disarmament and arms control negotiations,” the committee said.
Q: Why did the committee say it gave the prize to Obama?
A: The committee cited “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international
diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
They wanted to encourage his efforts to reach out to other countries and the
United Nations to jointly address global issues. They singled out nuclear disarmament, but also said that thanks to Obama the United States is playing a more
constructive role in efforts to fight climate change.
Q: Does the award typically have more to do with past accomplishments or with
encouraging future efforts related to peace?
A: Both. The committee often uses the award to encourage and promote a cause
or campaign. The awards to Al Gore and the U.N. panel on climate change in 2007,
or in 1997 to anti-land mine activists, would fall into that category. Other years it
honors people with a long history of peace work. Last year’s prize to longtime
peace mediator Martti Ahtisaari was almost like a lifetime achievement award.
Q: Did Obama accomplish anything prior to becoming president that may have
contributed to his nomination?
A: It’s hard to know if members of the committee were thinking about Obama’s
earlier accomplishments when they decided to award him the prize. But a lot of
what they praised about him - like his calls for more international cooperation, a
smaller world stock of nuclear arms, better U.S. relations with Muslim nations and
stepped-up efforts to combat climate change - was prominent in his campaign
speeches, long before he took the oath of office.
Q: Is the award likely to help Obama politically at home? Or could it hurt him?
A: The prize is not necessarily a big plus for Obama in the tricky U.S. political
arena.
He won election last year in part because voters weary with the nation’s battered
image abroad were attracted to his promise of a new start. But Republicans have
been criticizing Obama as being too much celebrity and too little action, and they
immediately seized on this new praise to try to bring him down a peg.
From Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, for instance:
“It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has outshined tireless advocates
who have made real achievements.”
Q: Will Obama collect the prize in person?
A: Yes, the president plans to travel to Oslo, Norway, in December to accept the
award.
Q: What is Obama going to do with the $1.4 million in prize money?
A: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president will donate the cash
award to charity. He said more than one charity will likely share the windfall,
though Obama hasn’t yet chosen specific ones.
Q: A lot of people - including some in the Obama administration - were surprised
that the president won the award. Have past Nobel Peace Prize decisions been
similarly surprising?
Nobel Q & A: Continued on page 3
October 21, 2009
Iowa Bystander • Page 2
Protests turn violent in South Africa Obama makes first trip to
STANDERTON, South Africa (AP) Ellen Mgaga’s high school final exams
start next week, but her school is closed
as protests against the government’s failure to improve lives of poor South Africans have intensified.
The rioting - with police firing rubber
bullets Thursday to disperse rampaging
crowds - evokes images of anti-apartheid protests. Some believe such tactics
must be jettisoned in a developing democracy.
Over 150 people have been arrested in
protests that have spread from
Standerton, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) southeast of Johannesburg to at
least four other towns in eastern South
Africa this week. A police vehicle was
set alight by protesters near a stadium
that will be used for next year’s World
Cup in the provincial capital of Nelspruit,
the area’s police spokeswoman Sibongile
Nkosi said.
Also Thursday, 19 people were injured when police fired rubber bullets at
protesters in Diepsloot, a poor settlement north of Johannesburg.
“It’s been bad what they have been
doing. How am I supposed to get an
education?” asked student Mgaga, 18,
standing in front of the blackened remains of the library in Sakhile township
on the edge of Standerton on Wednesday.
The protests have left residents too
scared to leave their homes to go to work
and nearby businesses have suffered.
Government clinics have been closed
for fear of staff being targeted, forcing
mothers with sick children or ailing old
men to walk miles.
The residents of Sakhile accuse the
mayor and her council of corruption and
demand they resign. Most residents have
water and electricity but point to the
neglected sports field, dirt roads and
shacks as signs of how little development there has been.
Lebogang Ganye, 23, one of the many
unemployed youths who have been involved in running battles with police in
Sakhile, said he voted for the African
National Congress in April out of loyalty to the party which ended apartheid.
“They promised us jobs, opportunities, a
better life. But according to us it’s a worse
life,” he said. “We have to vandalize things
to get them to act.”
A decade and a half after the end of
apartheid, many South Africans feel that
they have not benefited from economic
growth of the past decade that has made
many government and ANC officials rich.
Jacob Zuma (pictured), a popular figure
among the poor who won the presidency
thanks to the April vote, promised to speed
up delivery of houses, clinics, schools,
running water and electricity as well as
create jobs. But he also has acknowledged
the difficulties amid South Africa’s first
recession in nearly two decades.
“Without a shadow of a doubt the protests have got worse since the elections,”
said Udesh Pillay, head of the Center for
Service Delivery at the Human Sciences
Research Council. “This will escalate and
it will escalate fast.”
Zuma, who paid a surprise visit in August to a town that saw earlier protests, has
been responsive to concerns and is still
held in high regard, but people have grown
increasingly “suspicious and less enthused”
about other party representatives, Pillay
said.
Municipalities have long been South
African’s weakest tier of government. Many
local councils are financially unviable,
mismanaged or riddled with corruption.
They are also carry the greatest loads.
Municipal managers are battling to overcome decades of apartheid planning that
saw white suburbs well-serviced while
black people lived in abysmal conditions
on the edges of towns and cities.
The violence has also been blamed on
politicking ahead of 2011 municipal elections. Others say it is the work of unlawful
troublemakers.
“This has nothing to do with service
delivery. This is criminal,” said Chris Nkosi,
a senior official from the district mayor’s
office, as he surveyed the gutted municipal
offices in Siyathuthuka, one of the eastern
South African townships hit by protests
this week.
The building, its wooden beams turned
to lumps of ash and its zinc ceiling twisted
and peeling, was built in 1999. It housed a
library, which had just received a new
stock of books.
“If you are crying for services, how can
you do this?” Nkosi said. “It makes no
sense.”
The Bridgestone Firestone Agricultural Tire Plant in Des Moines, Iowa is one of the
largest manufacturing corporations in Iowa. We employ over 1,500 teammates and
offer excellent career opportunities. Bridgestone Firestone offers a competitive
benefits package, development opportunities, tuition reimbursement program, and
leadership and technical training.
If you are interested in applying for a position with Bridgestone Firestone, you can
apply several different ways:
• On line at www.firestoneag.com
• Faxing your resume to: 515-235-4079
• By contacting your local Iowa Workforce Development Office
• Send a copy of your resume to:
Firestone Agricultural Tire
ATTN: Salary Human Resources
4600 N.W. 2nd Ave
Des Moines, Ia. 50306
Note: If you are sending your resume by fax or by mail, please include the position
for which you are applying. Positions are listed online and at the Iowa Workforce
Development offices.
“Bridgestone Americas Holding is
and Equal Opportunity Employer.”
Bridgestone Firestone is a Drug Free
Workplace and requires a preemployment drug screen, physical,
and background check.
The Leader In The Field
New Orleans as president
WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama,
who criticized former President George W. Bush for
leading a government “that
sits on its hands while a major American city drowns,”
is hearing directly from New
Orleans residents who have
struggled to rebuild their city
since the 2005 hurricane season.
Obama arrives in New Orleans on Thursday on his first
presidential trip to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.
About 1,600 people were
killed in Louisiana and Mississippi by Hurricane Katrina, which caused $40
billion in damages and displaced 1 million people from their homes.
The storm was a catastrophic disaster that turned into a political one for
Bush.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was widely criticized for a
slow response. And local officials have complained that the Bush administration often stubbornly refused to pay for work that should have qualified for
federal aid.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, has credited Obama’s team
with bringing a more practical and flexible approach to the reconstruction
process. “There’s a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done,” he
said in August.
When Obama became president, FEMA said there were more than 120
Louisiana reconstruction projects stalled in federal-state disputes. Since
January, 76 of those have been resolved.
While it is Obama’s first trip to New Orleans, it’s the administration’s 18th
trip to the city. And administration officials have made 35 trips to the Gulf
Coast since March.
By the time Obama took office, the federal government had committed
more than $126 billion to rebuilding Gulf Coast communities affected by
hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In the past nine months, the administration says more than $1.4 billion in additional federal aid has gone toward
repairing and rebuilding Louisiana and $160 million more to Mississippi.
But the impact from Katrina is still visible in places like New Orleans.
Across from a school Obama planned to visit, firefighters work out of a trailer,
and a storm-shuttered community center awaits demolition.
Some residents have criticized Obama for the brevity of his trip - he’s
expected to be in the city just a few hours - and people in Mississippi, which
took a direct hit from Katrina, were miffed the president left them out of his
visit altogether.
“I’m greatly disappointed he’s not coming to Mississippi,” said Tommy
Longo, mayor of Waveland, Mississippi, a town where almost every standing
structure was destroyed or damaged. “There was no city hit harder than
Waveland.”
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said Obama is committed to
Mississippi’s recovery as well.
“From transitioning people out of temporary disaster housing to rebuilding
schools, roads, and bridges, the Obama administration has invested critical
resources in Mississippi’s rebuilding and recovery efforts and has worked to
change the game on the ground for residents,” he said.
“You have to be taught to be
second class, you certainly
are not born that way.”
- Lena Horne
Iowa Civil Rights Commission
Working Toward A State Free of Discrimination
Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws
Education and Training for Groups,
Individuals and Organizations
Raising the Profile of Civil Rights and Diversity
For more information, or questions, or
concerns, please contact us at:
400 E. 14th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
515-281-4121 or 1-800-457-4416
www.state.ia.us/government/crc
October 21, 2009
Page 3 • Iowa Bystander
The item next to these words is called a “union bug.” It appears on printed
materials like yard signs, brochures and cowboy cards. It is used to indicate
that a politician used union labor to produce his or her campaign materials.
If it is not on an item it often signals members in the labor movement that the
politician doesn’t really care about their votes. Black Iowans must demand
no less evidencing of interest from politicians that seek our votes and in the
absence of such proof we should say “NO” to them!
Questions and answers about President
Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize award
Nobel Q & A: Continued from page 1
A: In 1995, the prize was shared by Joseph Rotblat
and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World
Affairs. The two were cited for the work aimed at
eliminating nuclear weapons by diminishing the role
they played in international politics. Though it came
on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the decision brought surprise and, in some cases, utter confusion, because
not many people had heard of them.
Geir Lundestad, the nonvoting secretary of the
committee, still chuckles about the absolute look of
shock and confusion on the faces of reporters who
gathered for the announcement. “Pugwhat?” was the
buzz in the room.
Q: Who’s on the committee that chooses the winner of the prize?
A: The committee has five members appointed by
the Norwegian Parliament. The current members are
Jagland, Sissel Roenbeck, Aagot Valle, Kaci Kullman
Five and Inger-Marie Ytterhorn. The first three have
backgrounds in Norway’s political left, while Five
and Ytterhorn are from the right.
Usually only Jagland speaks to the press, but AP
was able to speak to all of them except Roenbeck.
They all said the decision to honor Obama was
unanimous.
Q: Who can nominate candidates for the award?
And when were nominations due?
A: The committee accepts nominations from former
peace prize winners; current and former members of
the committee and their staff; members of national
governments and parliaments; professors of law,
theology, social sciences, history and philosophy;
leaders of peace research and foreign affairs institutes; and members of international courts of law.
The deadline for nominations was Feb. 1.
Actor Tim Reid talks about blacks in military film
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Actor, director and producer Tim Reid
says his frustration with the lack of
black people in the movie “Saving Private Ryan” led him to do a documentary on black veterans.
“I did not see one black face,” Reid
told an audience Wednesday at
Fayetteville State University. “I
thought, ‘Something is wrong here.’ I
decided to do something about it.”
The first 15 minutes of the film,
“Blacks in the Military,” were previewed before Reid spoke. That part of
the film highlighted the “Red Ball Express,” a steady stream of mostly blackdriven supply trucks that were the lifeblood to Gen. George Patton’s troops
in France following the invasion of
Normandy.
Reid pointed out that every soldier
he interviewed for that segment has
since died, highlighting the importance
of recording such stories.
Reid is best known for his role as
Venus Flytrap on “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired on CBS from from
1978 to 1982. He said the legacy of
their forefathers is something black
youth won’t find in hip-hop.
“I don’t fear much, but one thing I do fear is the loss of culture,” he said. “We need to know these stories.
We need to pass them on. That is my quest. That is my mission.”
Reid encouraged those in the audience to tell their stories and seek out the stories of others. He also
warned of the portrayal the black community has in many media, including those outlets run by blacks
themselves.
Music and movies, Reid said, attack the integrity of young black women “more than the Klan ever did.”
Subscribe To: (print or online edition)
Iowa
Bystander
Name
Address
Phone
$80 - 1 Year Business or Organization
$50 - 1 Year Family
$30 - 1 Year Students & Seniors
Subscribe Today To:
Iowa Bystander
P.O. Box 98
Des Moines, IA 50301
Call 1-515-274-1342 to purchase by VISA or MasterCard
Iowa Bystander • Page 4
October 21, 2009
Federal judge Justice who
shattered old Texas dies
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - U.S. District Judge William Wayne
Justice, whose rulings shattered old Texas by changing the way
the state educated children, treated prisoners and housed its
poorest and most vulnerable citizens, has died. He was 89.
His law clerk, Kelly Davis, said the judge died Tuesday in
Austin.
The soft-spoken jurist spent three often tumultuous decades on
the bench following his appointment by President Lyndon B.
Johnson in 1968. To some, Justice was a judicial renegade who
disregarded the public’s will by imposing his own concepts on a
conservative state.
But his decisions are widely credited for creating a modern
Texas. They forced the state to dramatically expand and improve
its prison and juvenile justice systems, and to dismantle racial
barriers in public housing and education. He opened public
schools to the children of illegal immigrants and provided bilingual education in rulings that were later used as the foundation of
national policy.
“Judge Justice dragged Texas into the 20th century, God bless
him,” said former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, who presided over the
Texas Senate from 1973 to 1991. “He was very unpopular, but he
was doing the right thing.”
After only two years on the bench, he ordered the state in 1970
to eliminate racial segregation in public schools after many
districts ignored desegregation federal policies. That ruling, U.S.
v. Texas, affected more than 1,000 school districts and 2 million
students statewide.
Justice ordered Texas to provide free public education for
illegal immigrants and their children following a class action
lawsuit filed in September 1977. The suit accused East Texas’
Smith County of excluding children of Mexican decent from
public schools because they couldn’t show legal U.S.
residency. Appeals led to a landmark 1982 Supreme
Court ruling that extended the right nationwide.
Justice took control of the Texas prison system
after a 1972 lawsuit filed by inmate David Ruiz
alleged overcrowding and inhumane conditions. After a nearly year-long trial in 1980, Justice issued a
sweeping 188-page ruling that said Texas prisons
were overcrowded, understaffed and offered inadequate medical care. Justice also found that prison
officials tolerated rampant violence among inmates,
guards and inmates who worked as guards under a
generations-old system known as building tenders.
He ordered changes and appointed a special master
to make sure they were implemented. Justice found
the state in contempt in 1987. Voters later that year
approved a half-billion dollars in bond for prison
construction, the first step in an unprecedented building program that today includes more than 100 prisons housing some 154,000 inmates.
Justice ended federal oversight of the system in
2002, the same year he rebuked the administration of
then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush for failing to provide health care to children who qualified for Medicaid.
In 2007, state leaders tried to hammer out a settlement in a children’s Medicaid lawsuit to avoid going
before Justice. Republican Rep. Warren Chisum said
during negotiations, “we don’t feel very comfortable
relying on Judge Justice to give us any slack.” Justice
ultimately approved a sweeping settlement aimed at
improving access to medical care for more than 2
million poor children in Texas.
But he paid a personal price for his rulings.
After his segregation ruling, Justice became a social pariah to much of his hometown in Tyler and East
Texas. “Impeach William Wayne Justice” stickers
adorned local bumpers for years, and Justice said his
wife couldn’t even get her hair done in Tyler.
“I do not indulge in self pity,” Justice once said. “I
knew what I was getting into. I could foretell that
things would be difficult. But I didn’t foresee it would go on so
long.”
Some believed that Justice threw the law books away and
disregarded the state’s conservative leanings. Justice denied that
personal ideologies determined his rulings, saying in a 1983
interview: “I don’t have time to evolve a philosophy.”
Justice, who had a penchant for fast cars and rhumba, stepped
down as Eastern District judge in Tyler to take senior status in
February 1998. Although his family had been in East Texas since
1866, when his Confederate veteran grandfather moved there, he
and his wife moved to Austin to be closer to their grown daughter.
He took over the Del Rio federal court docket for the Western
District of Texas.
His father, William D. Justice, was an outspoken and flamboyant Athens, Texas, attorney with a reputation for populist politics, a willingness to take on unpopular cases and a refusal to
reject clients for inability to pay.
On one occasion, a white man shot a black murder defendant
in a crowded courtroom. Will Justice cradled the dying man in his
arms as he shamed bystanders into providing aid, Justice said of
his father.
“I’m just a pale reflection of my father,” Justice said in 1998.
“Now there was a man.”
The elder Justice was determined that his son go into law and
renamed his law firm “W.D. Justice and Son” when his son turned
7. The younger Justice graduated from the University of Texas
School of Law in 1942, followed by World War II service in the
Army. He returned to Athens in 1946 to join his father’s firm. He
was active in the Democratic Party as a youth, though never
sought elected office.
ooo
South Africa to limit trans fats as heart disease rises
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - South Africa’s health department says it will draft regulations aimed at reducing the trans fats South
Africans consume.
Health officials said in a statement Thursday that they are concerned about a rise in lifestyle illnesses such as heart disease and
strokes as some South Africans grow wealthier. The new burden of disease hits a system already struggling to care for an estimated
5.5 million South Africans living with the virus that causes AIDS - the highest total of any country.
The health department said it was following the lead of New York and countries like Denmark and Canada in trying to limit trans
fats in processed and prepared foods. It did not say what the South African regulations would say or when thy would take effect.
1700 Keosauqua Way
Des Moines, IA 50314
515-288-1248
fax: 515-288-1751
e-mail: [email protected]
Donna Douglas Henderson
Licensed Funeral Director
Walt Henderson
Directors Assistant
Psalms 127...For so He giveth His beloved sleep
Page 5 • Iowa Bystander
October 21, 2009
Black ministers back Stroger
as Cook County president
CHICAGO (AP) - A group of high-profile black
ministers endorsed Cook County Board President
Todd Stroger for re-election Tuesday, citing a need
for unity and Stroger’s decision-making on county
budgets.
Clergy for a Better Chicagoland, which includes
social activist the Rev. Clay Evans and Nation of
Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, had agreed to support one of four black candidates running for the post
Stroger has held since 2006 after taking over from his
father.
The group has said they fear splitting a black vote
could lead to the election of the sole white candidate.
Census data shows county has the country’s largest
black population with 1.4 million.
“This community needs a unified front to address
the issues that are pressing against our people,” Rev.
John Richard Bryant, senior bishop of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church, said at the historic
Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church
on the city’s South Side.
The event resembled something between a church
service and political rally as ministers and bishops
listed Stroger’s achievements, political lineage and
cheered him on with chants of “You da man!”
Farrakhan was not in attendance, but one of his
advisers, Leonard Muhammad, said the other three
black candidates in the race would be more effective
in their current political positions and suggested they
drop out.
“Farrakhan wanted me to tell you that his call for
unity is serious,” he said. “When we are getting to the
point where we can’t stand in unity, we’re becoming
obsolete.”
The challengers in the Feb. 2 primary include
black Democrats Congressman Danny
Davis, Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle
and Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown. Cook County Water Reclamation District President Terry O’Brien, who
is white, also is running.
None of the other candidates gave any
indication Tuesday of dropping out.
Davis, who was first elected to Congress
in 1996, said another group of ministers,
mostly from the city’s West Side, have supported him and he didn’t think Tuesday’s
endorsement was particularly powerful.
“There is a need for a kind of political
leadership that President Stroger hasn’t provided,” Davis told The Associated Press.
Stroger, who officially announced his reelection campaign Tuesday, has been widely
criticized as ineffective and his administration has been plagued by allegations of
patronage hiring. The scrutiny has included
how Stroger got the job.
When John Stroger retired in 2006 after
suffering a stroke, he asked his son Todd,
then an alderman, replace him on the ballot.
Democratic leaders granted the request.
Todd Stroger dismissed the criticism
Tuesday and said the endorsement will not be taken
lightly. He touted his efforts at balancing county
budgets after inheriting a $500 million deficit and a
controversial 1 percent sales tax he said kept hospitals open.
“People don’t know how well the city is being
run,” Stroger told reporters.
The group, which has about 300 black religious
leaders, met last month following interviews of the
four black candidates. A smaller contingent of about
90, the group’s executive committee, voted with
overwhelming support for Stroger, officials said
Tuesday.
Preckwinkle, who was first elected as alderman in
1991 to an area covering portions of Chicago’s South
Side, said she didn’t agree with the ministers’ approach at unity.
“This is not an African American primary, it’s a
Democratic primary,” she told AP. “I’m in this race
to the end.”
Brown, who was first elected court clerk in 2000,
said voters are more concerned with hospital system
funding, lowering the sales tax and ending patronage
spending.
“We will continue to tell voters about Dorothy
Brown’s proven track record, of reform, fiscal responsibility and bringing innovative solutions to the
problems of Cook County,” Brown campaign manager Julienne Uhlich said in a statement.
O’Brien said he was not contacted by the Better
Chicagoland clergy group.
“It’s one endorsement, it’s not the end of the
world,” O’Brien told the AP. “We’re going to continue to reach out to all the communities.”
ooo
AGING SERVICES FUNDS AVAILABLE
Aging Resources of Central Iowa is seeking agencies to apply for funding to provide
services to people (60+ and older) in Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Polk, Story
and Warren Counties. Currently adult day care, advocacy, chore, congregate meals,
counseling, home-delivered meals, homemaker, home repair, legal assistance, mental
health outreach, personal care, preventive health/promotion, and transportation services
are funded in the area.
Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here.
Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of
history the majestic words of the Declaration of
Independence, we were here. If the inexpressible cruelties
of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face
will surely fail. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
FREE COUNSELING AVAILABLE
CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING
TOO MUCH DEBT?
Not enough money
left after meeting
household expenses
to make your loan and
credit card
payments?
We offer
confidential
counseling for
•Debt Payment
Programs
TOM COATES
Funding is available under Title III of the Older Americans Act (Federal), Iowa Elderly
Services (State), Senior Living Program (State). Funding is for two years beginning July
1, 2010.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
For additional information or to request an application form, contact Margaret DeSio,
Contracted Services Director, at Aging Resources of Central Iowa, 5835 Grand Avenue,
Suite 106, Des Moines, Iowa 50312, (515) 255-6142 ext. 318 or email
[email protected]. Completed applications are due to Aging Resources by November 23, 2009.
6129 S.W. 63RD STREET
DES MOINES, IA 50321
FAX 515-287-0430
WWW.CONSUMERCREDIT-DM.COM/
CALL: 287-6428
Iowa Bystander • Page 6
October 21, 2009
October 21, 2009
Page 7 • Iowa Bystander
Key events in Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Barack Obama’s life and career
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Hussein Obama’s long, winding path to the White House was strewn with a mix of personal and social obstacles, victories and defeats, comebacks and comeuppances. A summary of key points in his life, his quest for the presidency and key themes and goals he’s articulated while in the White House:
•
Aug. 4, 1961: Barack Hussein Obama is born in Hawaii to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas.
His mother is Stanley (her father wanted a boy) Ann Dunham. The Kenyan-born father is Barack Obama Sr. They met at the University of Hawaii, got married and had a son, Barack - “blessed” in Arabic.
The father departs two years later to study at Harvard. He returned just once when his son was 10.
•
1967: Obama moves from Hawaii with his mother to Jakarta, Indonesia. He returns to the United States when he is 10, and lives with his grandparents in Hawaii. He spends much of his youth struggling
with questions about his racial identity - and an African father he barely knew. He acknowledges he experimented with drugs in his teen years, a revelation made in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father.”
At Occidental College in Los Angeles, he started using his given name, Barack, instead of Barry - and took his first plunge into politics, speaking at an anti-apartheid rally. Obama later transfers from the
small liberal arts college to Columbia University in New York. “I didn’t socialize that much. I was like a monk,” he would say years later in an interview with Columbia alumni magazine.
•
1983: Obama graduates with a political science degree and holds various jobs in New York. It was there he received a call from an aunt in Nairobi notifying him his father had been killed in an auto
accident. The news eventually led Obama on a journey to Kenya and a tearful visit to his father’s grave. After New York, Obama heads to Chicago, where he knew no one. He starts out there as a $12,000a-year community organizer, walking the run-down streets of the South Side that had been decimated by the loss of steel mills and factory jobs.
•
1988: Obama makes giant leap from the South Side to Harvard Law School, the training ground for America’s elite. He made history there, two years later, as the first black president of the Harvard
Law Review, perhaps the most prestigious law journal in the nation. After his first year, Obama was a summer associate at a corporate law firm in Chicago where his adviser was Michelle Robinson, another
Harvard law graduate and a product of a working-class family. They subsequently marry and have two daughters, Malia, now 10, and Sasha, 8.
•
1993: He joins a law firm specializing in civil rights and becomes a lecturer at University of Chicago law school. Two years later, he published “Dreams From My Father,” a well-reviewed memoir
about growing up in America with an absent African father.
•
1996: Obama is elected to the Illinois state senate. But as a member of the Democratic minority, his legislative proposals are consistently thwarted by Republicans. Some dismissed him as an ivory
tower liberal. However, he ultimately scores several legislative successes, pushing through measures to limit lobbyists’ gifts to politicians, and expand health care to poor children. He also is instrumental
in changing laws governing racial profiling, the death penalty and the interrogation of murder suspects.
•
Aug. 2000: Obama arrives at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, having been beaten badly by Rep. Bobby Rush a primary election, thwarting his bid for Congress. He has difficulty
securing a convention floor pass and watches most of the proceedings from the sideline.
•
Aug. 2004: Obama attends Democratic convention - this time to deliver the keynote speak role as his party’s nominee for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois, which he wins. Still a relatively obscure member
of the Illinois Senate, his words ignite the crowd.
•
Aug. 2006: Obama publishes “The Audacity of Hope,” a book detailing his views on national affairs; His narration of “Dreams From My Father” wins a Grammy Award for best spoken album of
2005.
•
2007: Obama launches presidential campaign; raises a record $100 million in campaign contributions.
•
Jan. 3, 2008: Obama wins Iowa Democratic caucuses; becomes the front-runner for the presidential nomination, eclipsing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, previously considered the premier
candidate for the nomination. He locks up the nomination by June 3 and accepts it on Aug. 28 in Denver.
•
Nov. 4, 2008: Obama wins presidency, and delivers his acceptance speech in Chicago, his adopted hometown. “And to all of those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and
palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those - to those
who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you.”
•
Jan. 20, 2009: Before a jubilant crowd of more than a million, Obama claims his place in history as America’s first black president, summoning the nation to unite in hope against the “gathering clouds
and raging storms” of war and economic woe. “We gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord,” the 45th president proclaims after taking the oath of office.
•
Feb. 24, 2009: Obama makes his first speech to a joint session of Congress, evoking a “day of reckoning” for a nation facing a grave financial crisis, and calling for shared sacrifice and costly new
endeavors to pick up the economy, overhaul health care, improve schools and clean up the environment. “The time to take charge of our future is here,” he declared. “Tonight, I want every American to know
this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”
•
April 6, 2009: Obama uses a speech to the Turkish Parliament to push for renewed negotiations to bring peace to the Middle East. “We share the goal of a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.
Let me be clear: The United States strongly supports the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. That is a goal shared by Palestinians, Israelis and people of goodwill
around the world. That is a goal that the parties agreed to in the road map and at Annapolis. That is a goal that I will actively pursue as president of the United States.”
•
May 26, 2009: Obama nominates the first Hispanic to the U.S. Supreme Court: “And when Sonia Sotomayor ascends those marble steps to assume her seat on the highest court of the land, America
will have taken another important step toward realizing the ideal that is etched above its entrance: Equal justice under the law.”
•
June 4, 2009: Obama extends a hand to the Islamic world in a speech in Cairo. “So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace,
those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end.”
•
July 11, 2009: In Accra, Ghana, Obama tells Parliament: “I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world - as partners
with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect. And that is what I want to speak with you about today.
We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.”
•
July 23, 2009: A survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center finds that Obama’s popularity has boosted America’s image abroad even though deep suspicions about the U.S. persist in the Muslim
world. Positive opinions about the United States have returned to higher levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001. The Bush presidency marked a steep decline in U.S. popularity
overseas, notably after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, because of a perception that the post-9/11 war on terrorism was targeted at Muslims.
•
Sept. 22, 2009: Obama tells the U.N. Climate Change Summit: “Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history. If we fail to meet it — boldly, swiftly, and together — we risk
consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe. No nation, however large or small, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change.”
•
Sept. 23: Obama tells U.N. General Assembly the United States cannot - and should not - pursue a go-it-alone policy in the world. He exhorts other nations to help solve global problems. “It is my
deeply held belief that in the year 2009 - more than at any point in human history - the interests of nations and peoples are shared. ... We know the future will be forged by deeds and not simply by words.
... We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
•
Sept. 24: Obama shepherds a historic resolution through a rare U.N. Security Council summit meeting - an all-embracing document on the world’s nuclear future, a statement with a clear made-byObama label. By an unanimous vote, the world body endorsed a sweeping strategy to halt the spread of atomic arms and ultimately to eliminate them. Obama proclaimed that he and other world leaders would
leave New York “with a renewed determination to achieve this shared goal.”
Iowa Bystander • Page 8
October 21, 2009
Cities lag in preparations for high-stakes census
WASHINGTON (AP) - With the 2010 census looming, major U.S.
cities whose residents are at high risk of being missed are struggling
with a shortage of money and manpower to prepare for an accurate
count.
A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, released Monday, found
several cities with substantially fewer resources than it had in 2000.
City officials also expressed concern about a possible poor turnout
next year, citing difficulties in finding displaced residents due to
home foreclosures and skittish immigrants wary of filling out government forms.
Earlier this month, the Commerce Department ruled out seeking a
temporary halt to large-scale immigrant raids as a way to boost
participation in hard-to-count communities.
“Nobody is expecting a good census in 2010,” said Joseph Salvo,
New York City’s population division chief. “I’m not optimistic.
Since the last census we had 9/11, privacy issues, trust of government
issues. And there’s been no public declaration that we’re going to
suspend immigration raids like in 2000.”
Pew’s review of preparation efforts in 11 major cities, which had
undercounts of residents in 2000 of up to 1.5 percent, found only five
cities had committed public funds to census outreach - Los Angeles,
New York, Houston, Phoenix and Baltimore. Even when cities had
allotted funds, most were at sharply lower levels compared to 2000,
due to the recession that has made state budgets tight.
Los Angeles faces difficulties of finding many of its residents who
are now living in foreclosed houses and recreational vehicles, or
“doubling up” with friends and relatives in single-family homes. Yet
the city’s $770,738 budget for outreach work is about half the amount
it had in 2000.
Chicago, which missed an estimated 32,000 residents in 2000,
spent nearly $1.3 million in city funds a decade ago; this year, it has
allocated no money.
Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth largest city, has been particularly
slow in getting preparations under way, although officials insist they
can catch up. A decade ago, the city set aside $200,000 for the census
effort, but it has no such funds this time. Philadelphia also has not yet
put in place a city outreach committee - unlike many other major cities
- and has been relying on some support staff from the Census Bureau’s
regional offices.
Other cities with no public funds for census outreach include
Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh.
To boost participation, the Census Bureau is mounting a $300
million national media campaign and partnering with more than
80,000 groups to help get the word out that filling out the 10-question
census form is safe and easy. But Census director Robert Groves has
acknowledged that the risk of error and missteps in counting remains
high, depending partly on factors beyond its control.
Among them:
-Whether there is a major outbreak of the H1N1 flu, which could
isolate large segments of the U.S. population.
-Heated rhetoric over immigration reform, which could incite
either side of the debate to seek a boycott or other ways to deter
participation.
-Distrust of the government, possibly seen in last month’s slaying
of a part-time census worker in Kentucky, who was found with the
word “fed” scrawled on his chest. Door-to-door visits in Clay County
have been suspended until more information is known.
“Whether cities can beat the census participation or mail response
rate from 2000 is going to be tough,” said Thomas Ginsberg, project
manager of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative and author of the report. “Cities will have to rely on unpaid
organizing and grass-roots networks that are already out there.”
The stakes are high since the population figures are used to
apportion House seats, redraw congressional districts and distribute
more than $400 billion in government funds for schools, roads,
hospitals and other vital programs.
But there are also broader financial consequences if there is a poor
turnout, since the Census Bureau has committed to spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to locate residents with repeated
visits if they fail to immediately mail in their paper form.
In 2000, the bureau noted for the first time an overcount of 1.3
million people, due mostly to duplicate counts of more affluent whites
with multiple residences. About 4.5 million people were ultimately
missed, mostly blacks and Hispanics.
Editor’s Note: The 2010 Census has all but written off Iowa’s
African American community. This decision will cost our state
millions and have dire consequences to Iowa’s Black population.
Shame on them!
Iowa Bystander Mission
The responsibility of the Black press is to empower the Black
community through meaningful communication and leadership
nurturing, and to keep the Black community informed of those
issues most vital to us as a people.
Iowa Bystander
President, CEO & Publisher • Jerald Brantley, Sr.
Associate Publisher • Gaynelle Narcisse
“Communicate to Educate”
Guidelines For Submitting Copy:
Iowa Bystander is published weekly. Copy must be typed.
Editorials, news items and press releases should be 600 words or
less. Public service announcements, thank you notes, etc...should
be 300 words or less. All copy is subject to the editorial policy of
Iowa Bystander.
Pictures submitted with articles become the property of Iowa
Bystander unless otherwise specified at the time of submission.
All photos should clearly identify those in the picture, their order
and the relevance of the photo.
Finally, all submitted copy or photos should contain a phone
number and the name of the contact person who can be reached if
questions arise.
High Definition Radio
Listen to:
Tell Me More, Michelle Martin, Host
News & Notes, Farayi Chidyea, Host
Like It Is, Dr. Robert Franklin, Host
Iowa Bystander Is Published Weekly By:
IPJ Media, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 98
Des Moines, IA 50301
Phone: 515-288-7677 OR 515-770-1218
[email protected]
Celebrating over 30 years in broadcasting
across Iowa and beyond
Streaming “live” at
www.kbbgfm.org
Jimmie Porter, Founder
1931-2007
KBBG-FM 88.1
918 Newell Street • Waterloo Iowa 50703 • 319-235-1515 • toll free 888-We R KBBG
Visit our website for more programming information or to make a contribution www.kbbgfm.org
KBBG-FM is a 501C3organization
Advertise your jobline in Bystander!
Leading Iowans in
caring for our
natural resources
To learn about opportunities
at the DNR visit
employment.iowadnr.gov
EEO/AA
October 21, 2009
Page 9 • Iowa Bystander
Education chief appeals
for great new teachers
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan
appealed Friday for a new generation of extraordinary teachers,
calling education the civil rights cause of our time.
In remarks prepared for delivery to prospective teachers at the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Duncan said veterans,
retirees and professionals seeking a second career must heed the
call to teach. He said the need is especially acute for black men in
the nation’s classroom.
“Put plain and simple, this country needs an army of great, new
teachers - and I can think of no better place to start recruiting them
than in Thomas Jefferson’s hallowed halls,” he said.
Duncan stressed the importance of teaching as the U.S. competes with an increasingly educated global work force, saying
strong education is needed to reduce dropout rates among African-American, Latino and low-income students.
“I believe that education is the civil rights issue of our generation,” Duncan said in his remarks. “And if you care about
promoting opportunity and reducing inequality and social injustice, the classroom is the place to start.”
Duncan was to speak Friday afternoon to Curry School of
Education students in the Jefferson-designed Rotunda, the academic heart of U.Va.’s Charlottesville campus.
The Virginia address is the first of several Duncan will make in
October to press for bright candidates to enter teaching. He’ll host
a virtual town meeting with teachers from around the nation on
Oct. 20, then deliver a major address on teacher preparation two
days later in New York City.
Duncan noted that a “massive exodus” of baby boomers retiring from teaching in the next decade will only increase the need
for new educators. He said the next four years alone could see
one-third of the nation’s teachers and administrators leave.
The departure of veteran educators will create huge demand for
new teachers - 200,000 annually in good economic times, he said.
Duncan stressed that the demand for teachers is greatest among
“high-poverty, high-needs” and rural schools, as well as in
subjects such as math and science.
“It is especially troubling,” he added, “that less than 2 percent
of our nation’s teachers are African-American males.”
Duncan said the nation cannot rely alone on schools of education to produce the next generation of teachers. He called for
expanding alternatives such as Teach for America, which recruits
recent college graduates to teach in schools in poor communities
for at least two years.
NY judge dismisses school
bias case, $400K award
ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) - A judge says the state Division of Human
Rights didn’t have the authority to award $400,000 to a black student
who complained she was harassed by white schoolmates while an
upstate New York school district did little to intervene.
In May, the division ordered the Ithaca City School District to pay
Amelia Kearney and her daughter, Ephipany, $200,000 each.
The district appealed the ruling in July, claiming the division
didn’t have authority to hear and determine complaints against the
school district. State Supreme Court Justice Robert Mulvey agreed,
citing state law that the district is a municipal corporation, not an
education corporation.
The Kearneys’ lawyer is holding a news conference Wednesday to
discuss the ruling.
Iowa Bystander
Church Directory
...how are they to hear
without a preacher?
Romans 10:14
Burns United Methodist Church
Address: 811 Crocker Street • DSM, IA 50309
Phone: Church 515-244-5883
Pastor: Pastor: Rev. Dr. Willy L. Mafuta
Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:45 a.m.
Wednesday Bible Study: 12:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
Cornerstone Family Church
3114 SW 61st Street
Des Moines, IA 50321
Phone: 515-243-2852
Business Office
Monday – Friday, 8:30-4:40
Church Office 515-243-2852 ext 75
Our Purpose
Helping ALL people find and live their
lives for Christ, bridging ethnic, cultural
and denominational lines.
Sundays
Worship at 9:00 & 11:00 a.m.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Youth Elevate 9:30 a.m.
Pastors Dan &
Real Life – Ministry for Singles 18-29
Anne Berry
Each Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Transportation to Sunday worship services at 9:00 & 11:00 a.m.
Wednesdays
Bible Study: 7:00 p.m.
SpiritLife 7:00 p.m.
One Youth 7:00 p.m.
Saturdays
Worship at 6:00 p.m.
Merge – Ministry for Singles over 30
2nd Saturday of each month 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Radio Ministry
Fri. 11:30 a.m. & Sun. 7:30 a.m. on Praise 940 AM
Website: www.cornerstonefamilychurch.org
Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church
Address: 1552 E. Maple Street • DSM, IA 50316
Phone: 515-262-1931
Pastor: Rev. Keith A. Ratliff, Sr.
Sunday Morning Worship: 8:00 a.m. & 10:45 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 p.m.
Free Medical Clinic: 1st, 3rd & 5th Tuesdays - 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church
Address: 1338-9th Street • DSM, IA 50314
Phone: 515-280-9163
Pastor: Rev. Bobby Young
Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday Church School: 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Philadelphia SDA Church
Address: 1639 Garfield Avenue • DSM, IA 50316
Phone: 515-262-7467
Pastor: Rev. Marlon T. Perkins, Sr.
Sabbath (Saturday) Morning Worship: 11:00 a.m.
Sabbath (Saturday) Church School: 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting Service: 6:30 p.m.
Sunday Radio Ministry: 9:00 a.m., Praise 940 AM
Union Missionary Baptist Church
Address: E.Univ. & McCormick • DSM, IA 50316
Phone: 262-1785
Pastor: Rev. Dr. Henry I. Thomas
Sunday Morning Worship: 8:00 a.m., 10:40 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday: Prayer and Bible Study: 7:00 p.m.
...how shall they preach,
except they be sent?
Romans 10:15
To get your church in our directory call Jon at 515-770-1218!
Iowa Bystander • Page 10
October 21, 2009
Louis Farrakhan to call on
followers to address violence
CHICAGO (AP) - Minister Louis Farrakhan said
earlier this month that the beating death of a Chicago
high school student, captured on video as he was
stomped and struck with splintered railroad ties,
should be a call to action in a city where youth
violence has escalated.
When the 76-year-old Nation of Islam leader
takes the stage in Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, he is
expected to urge followers to help reduce crime in
neighborhoods across the country.
“We want to help with the situation with crime
among our people, crime in the streets. That’s the
No. 1 issue,” Leonard Muhammad, an adviser to
Farrakhan, told The Associated Press. “We are looking forward to working with mayors across the
country to try and bring peace in our neighborhoods.”
Farrakhan will deliver the keynote address at the
Chicago-based Nation of Islam’s Holy Day of Atonement, which also will commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Million Man March, when hundreds
of thousands of black men gathered in Washington,
D.C. to promote self-reliance and responsibility to
the family.
“We need to revisit that pledge and rededicate ourselves to the principles that the march was all
about,” Muhammad said.
Farrakhan is known as a fiery orator, and past speeches have touched on issues including the
disparities blacks face in areas such as education, health care, voting and incarceration.
The Nation of Islam, founded in the 1930s on the ideals of black nationalism, has made efforts to
recruit other ethnic groups to its cause in recent years, including Latinos. The highly secretive group
does not release its membership numbers, but it has one mosque and several study groups in Memphis.
Muhammad said Memphis was chosen to host this year’s Holy Day of Atonement because
thousands of men from the city attended the 1995 march.
“We believe that it is also in the South where our people, in many ways, need encouragement. We’ve
had meetings in the North, commemorating on many occasions,” he said. “This time we decided it
would appropriate to be in the South.”
Muhammad did not give details about the Nation of Islam’s plan or focus for crime reduction. But
in recent weeks, Farrakhan has had a strong presence at events addressing a rise in youth violence.
Farrakhan spoke at the funeral for the slain Chicago teen, Derrion Albert, saying he was “deeply
pained” by the boy’s violent death. Four teens have been charged in the boy’s death.
“Let’s go get our young people,” Farrakhan said.
DIRECTOR, IOWA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) is appointed by
the Governor of Iowa subject to confirmation by the Senate. The Director serves at the
pleasure of the Governor and directs all operations of the Department. The position is
located in Des Moines, Iowa.
The mission of the IDED is to engender and promote economic development policies and
practices which stimulate and sustain Iowa’s economic growth across the public and
private sectors. This mission is carried out through a variety of programs that involve
business and community development.
The Director works with an eighteen- member economic development board to develop
a long range comprehensive economic development plan and a shorter range strategic
plan for economic growth.
Job Requirements: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master’s
Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics Planning or the
equivalent and ten years of increasingly responsible level experience in business or
economic development that includes at least five years of management and supervisory
responsibility.
The desirable candidate will demonstrate advocacy, leadership, competency, dedication,
planning and visionary skills, resourcefulness, ability to work with others, develop and
organize goals and carry them out.
Annual Salary Range: $100,840-$154,300 plus a comprehensive benefit package.
Application Deadline: October 23, 2009
Please send cover letter and resume to:
Economic Development Search Committee
[email protected]
THE STATE OF IOWA IS AN EOE/AA EMPLOYER
e
e
Corinthian
Fr
Health
Clinic
Corinthian Baptist Church
9th & Freeway
3rd Tuesday of Every Month
4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Immunizations
Physical Assessments
Diabetes Education/ Support Sessions
6:00 - 7:30pm
* diabetes resources
* counseling
* Literature/supplies
Co-Sponsored by:
Blank Children’s Hospital
Iowa Department of Public Health
Corinthian Baptist Church
Free Clinics of Iowa
For further information
phone 243-4073
October 21, 2009
Page 11 • Iowa Bystander
Professor
lobbies for
stamp for
scientist
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - An Oklahoma State University professor is working to have an African-American entomologist honored with a U.S. postage stamp.
Psychology Professor Charles I. Abramson says Charles
Henry Turner is deserving of the honor for his perseverance, as
well as his work in entomology, the study of insects.
Turner, who died in 1923, is regarded as a leading authority
on insect learning and behavior. Also, Turner was the first
African-American to earn a Ph.D. from the University of
Chicago.
Abramson says he has lobbied various postal and government agencies, but so far without success. Abramson says
Turner stands as an example for people who refuse “to lie
down and take no for an answer.”
Tiger Woods hangs out
with Dallas Cowboys
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Tiger Woods worked out in the Dallas
Cowboys’ weight room at their Valley Ranch facility a day after
watching the U2 concert at Cowboys Stadium.
During the concert U2 singer Bono mentioned Woods, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (pictured with Woods) and right
end Jason Witten being there. They all shared the same suite.
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said he enjoyed the opportunity
to speak with Woods, who “talked about being a leader.”
Please call for a free consultation TODAY!!!
Joni VanOutry
Project Manager
515-423-1110
[email protected]
Iowa Bystander • Page 12
Public Safety And A Drug
Interdiction Strategy
By Jonathan R. Narcisse
AnIowaWorthFightingFor.com
We must keep Iowa’s communities safe from both
external threats and internal collapse. No vehicle brings a
greater threat to destabilize our state than the drug trade.
Iowa has become a hub of national drug activity as an
intersection of America and we have a domestic drug
enterprise that is destabilizing our state and communities
from within.
While Iowa remains safer than many places in our
nation, there is no area where the disconnect of bureaucracies is more pronounced. As a result we are much less safe
in Iowa than we were a decade ago, and the rise of
methamphetamine, economic downturns, etc. have made
matters worse. In addition to drugs, we must focus on
those areas of public safety that have not always been on
the radar but must be placed there, such as domestic
violence and elder abuse.
A Drug Interdiction Strategy
Iowa must develop an aggressive drug prevention, interdiction and treatment strategy before the impact of our
flourishing drug culture alters the character of our state
permanently.
While Iowa may or may not be the “Meth Capitol of
North America,” it is unquestionably a hub of drug
activity. Located at the intersection of America, this “Capitol” status has spawned localized networks that threaten
the stability of communities. In addition, the growth in
both immigrating and migrating populations has created
unique challenges. A good five years before the state
figured out heroin had returned with force to this state, I
published a report on its rise in places like Davenport.
Long before the state acknowledged increased drug trafficking and growing rival factions in places like Iowa City
and Cedar Rapids, we tracked, monitored and reported on
the return of cocaine to those communities. So when the
state announced these things years later, I sat back amazed
at our leadership being so out-of-touch.
While all crimes have increased slightly, incarceration
for drug-related crime has exploded. At one point all nondrug crimes had seen a growth in incarceration by 13%
while drug-related crimes saw an increase of 200%. And
at 130% of capacity we will be ordered to build more jails
and prisons. In short, a 5,000 inmate increase triggers
either a multi-billion-dollar jail and prison expansion in
Iowa or bizarre remedies like early release of violent
felons.
For this reason Iowa needs a comprehensive public
safety and drug interdiction strategy that looks at everything from enhanced treatment and prevention to more
sophisticated and coordinated law enforcement efforts to a possible end on the prohibition of pot.
With drug profits on the rise and criminal gangs gaining potency in our state and cities, particularly those with ties
to drug cartels based out of Mexico, we may have to pick our poison. Would the legalization of marijuana, for example,
deal a devastating blow to organized crime and growing crime factions, divert a lot of the southern drug trade from
Mexico away from our state, create a legal alternative to more destructive drugs like crack and meth that also nurture
other criminal activities, and free up tens to hundreds of millions in state resources to be used more effectively in general
and in fighting the growing menace of an addicted population? Or in fact is marijuana a “gateway” drug that inevitably
leads to increased use of the harder drugs?
The time is coming when leadership will be required to ask questions like this. That’s why the next administration
must study this issue seriously and do what’s best for Iowa and Iowans, be it tougher pot laws or ending pot prohibition.
We also need to look at how we can more aggressively punish the traffickers of drugs while we look at alternatives
to prison for drug users, like treatment and more accessible detox facilities. Our county-run mental health system is
truly overburdened, but no one argues it is driven by substance abuse, particularly meth driven.
Get Serious About Meth
While I support treatment, not prison, for addicts, I also support locking up anyone dealing meth for a long, long time.
Life sentences for those who sell meth to minors, the needle for those who sell meth to children under 14 years old –
the electric chair is barbaric — and treatment for addicts.
As for our prisons, they have become finishing schools and universities for criminals. Instead of making society safer,
our current system just builds better, more efficient, more effective criminals. We must change this.
Bring Back The Beat Cop
Finally, the one area where I do support increased funding is community policing. I do not want to fund storm troopers
but I do want to put an additional $100 to $200 million into funding the type of city cops who walk beats, help out the
elderly, coach athletic leagues and take personally what happens on their blocks. The kind of cop kids look up to. The
kind of cop kids want on a baseball card or poster.
I also want to provide some of those funds for small-town cops and deputies. Again, the kind that help you change
your tire and get to know all the people in the community on a first name basis. The kind that uses wisdom and judgment
to protect his or her community. The kind kids say “I want to be them when I grow up!”
October 21, 2009
Spelman announces $150
million capital campaign
ATLANTA (AP) Spelman College has set
the most ambitious
fundraising goal in the
128-year existence of the
historically
black
women’s institution:
$150 million by 2015.
President Beverly
Daniel Tatum says the
school’s capital campaign
announced this week
would help educate 5,000
women, many of them
first-generation college
students, over the next
decade.
“The economy is not as
robust as we wish it were,
but there are still individuals ready and willing to
invest in human capital,”
Tatum said. “Now more
than ever, our nation needs the talent of the kind of women we have at Spelman.”
Tatum said she is encouraged that Spelman is already more than halfway
toward its goal, having raised $80 million during the silent phase of fundraising,
beginning in 2008, when Spelman quietly sought funds from loyal supporters.
Annual tuition at Spelman is $20,926. Spelman’s endowment stands at more
than $351 million - among the largest for historically black colleges - and is a
source of financial aid for students. Many of them need it: 44 percent of Spelman
students are eligible for the federal Pell Grant, a key indicator of economic
hardship.
Tatum said she is especially focused on resources to help ensure that current
students aren’t forced to drop out due to financial need.
“I’m worried about the student who finds herself in her sophomore or junior
year in a very difficult place where she has run out of money and she hasn’t
completed her education,” Tatum said. “That is the worst possible scenario. It
may as well be $12 million if you don’t know where you’re going to get it from.”
Campaign co-chair Veronica Biggins, a 1968 Spelman alumna, said student,
faculty and alumnae giving is up, and giving is becoming more a part of the
Spelman culture.
“We must all take responsibility for giving back,” Biggins said. “The need is
great, and the need is now. I tell my sisters, ‘That pair of shoes, you don’t need
them. You need to give that money to Spelman College.”’
TRANSITIONAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST
The #1 Ranked Re-entry Program in the United States is looking
for dedicated, compassionate and qualified individuals for Transitional Support Specialist position. This position entails working with
offenders released from various institutions around the State of Iowa.
Under general supervision, you will be performing program activities
for the re-entry project. The Transitional Support Specialist will be
responsible for doing assessment of inmates needs prior to parole.
Prospective employees will need to have some knowledge of the use
of Assessment tools and will be trained on the intake process, offender
service needs, and how to properly assess potential participants. This
process is to ensure that housing, substance abuse, mental health;
social service, education and employment needs of clients are met.
You must have the ability to represent Spectrum and perform duties
in a professional, responsible and trustworthy manner, establish
contacts, and develop community partners among service providers
and apply best practice standards as they relate to programs, services
and follow-up.
Minimum requirements: Master’s degree in social work, education,
counseling public health or related area; or any equivalent combination of education and experience, which provides the required knowledge and abilities. Salary is commensurate to workforce industry.
Ex-Offenders are welcome to apply
www.spectrumresourcesdsm.com
Interested parties should contact:
Ericka Wiley, VP of Operations at
[email protected] or 515/281-9630
Allen Spencer, VP of Programs at
[email protected] or 515/288-1023