Economic Development

By Staff

Vol. 1, No. 1, 1978, p. 25

An order which was issued recently by the Secretary of Transportation, is expected to substantially increase opportunities for minority owned firms. However, the order has sparked a controversy in Atlanta over the definition of who is a minority.

The order, which is now being prepared as a guideline for state highway departments, will require that each state establish specific goals for using minorityowned businesses as contractors and subcontractors. The regulation is expected to require that state transportation departments appoint a compliance officer and staff to implement the goals. A policy statement expressing “a commitment to utilize minority business enterprises in all aspects of procurement to the maximum extent feasible” will be required of all recipients of federal DOT grants. Because of the size and priority that transportation department budgets usually receive, the order could open numerous opportunities for minority contractors.

The problem with the order is that a minority” company is defined as one 51%, or more owned and controlled by racial minorities, or by women, regardless of race. A coalition of civil rights and feminist leaders have vowed to have a “head-on tight” with the federal government over this definition.

In spite of the obvious uod in tentions of including women as minorities, many people feel that it will have a negative impact. Aside from pitting women against minorities in competition for contracting opportunities, the definition also permits the spirit and intent of the order to be violated while carrying out the letter of the law. An established contractor, by signing 51% interest in his firm over to his wife or daughter could become an “instant minority-owned firm,” thus thwarting the efforts being made to assist fledgling Black and other minority owned businesses.

At this point the order is still in the process of implementation by the operating elements of the Department of Transportation. The Department is still open to comment about the regulation for aid recipients, interested groups, and the general public. Comments should be addressed to Gary Gayton, Special Assistant to the Secretary for Minority Business Enterprise, Department of Transportation, Washington, DC.

The Atlanta group, known as the “Coalition on Minority and Female Participation in Government Contracts,” is composed of more than 25 civil rights and feminist groups. They are proposing that DOT issue two sets of regulations, one setting goals for racial minorities, and another setting goals for women, with neither group being forced to compete against the other. Surely this regulation can be adjusted in some way so that it will accomplish what was intended and prevent abuse by greedy contractors looking for loopholes. Again public comment is the means by which this will happen; write the Transportation Department and let then’ know what you think.

Despite the possible flaws in the order, this new regulation is an important ruling that warrants one’s full attention. The order allows DOT to terminate or deny federal funding to recipients who fail to carry out “an adequate minority business enterprise affirmative action program.” The order also requires that recipients (state transportation departments and others) must inform their contractors and subcontractors that failure to carry out this program may constitute a breach of contract which could result in termination.

Because the order has only recently been issued. implementation by state departments of transportation has not yet begun. However, several states, including Georgia, are now actively seeking minority firms to prequalify and list as contractors and subcontractors. As is the case with most government projects, the prequalifying, bidding and contracting process can be complex and demanding. Companies wishing to take advantage of contracting opportunities should start now to familiarize themselves with the process. P copy of the order as issued by Secretary Brock Adams can be obtained from the Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC. Ask for DOT Order #4000.7A, dated March 3, 1978.

Southern Women

By Staff

Vol. 1, No. 1, 1978, p. 25

A group of individuals gathered in Atlanta recently with Karen Nussbaum of the Working Women Organization Project (WWOP) to discuss the problems of Southern working women in the office place. This meeting represented the Project’s first attempt to. start new organizations of women office workers in the Southern region.

Ms. Nussbaum, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said, “Women earn .56 to every dollar a man earns on the average. When it comes to expenses, however, women have to pay a full dollar for every dollar a man pays.” She further stated, “Discrimination is not found only in your paycheck.. working women are often treated unfairly when it comes to lob descriptions, working conditions,promotions and respect, as well.”

The WWOP was started in 1973 arid now has over 10,000 members in 18 cities around the country. The group provides training, resource materials, and also organizational and technical support to women interested in organizing in their office for better working conditions.

Although there are laws protecting women against discrimination in employment, these laws often do not protect women against lob segregation, or patterns of work and sex discrimination. To further complicate the problem, often times there are no men with whom to compare salaries and benefits doing the lobs that women are assigned to do. Particulary active around National Secretaries Week, the group launched a program calling for “raises not roses” in an effort to emphasize the wage disparities currently existing in the workplace.

While the group stresses its good working relationship with organized labor, the majority of the members of WWOP groups are working in small offices where unionization is not frequently an effective solution. One of the most useful aspects of WWOP is that it is not necessary for an entire staff to participate. Individuals can loin and benefit from the training and materials as well as members of a larger staff. Group negotiation is one of the many tactics used by WWOP in their problem solving tactics.

Women interested in finding out more about the Working Women Organizing Project and their plans for activities in the South should contact the group at 1258 Euclid Avenue, Room 206, Cleveland, Ohio, 44115 or telephone (216)566-8511.

Southern Elections: A State by State Version

By SRC Staff

Vol. 1, No. 3, 1978, pp. 8-11, 25-29

Former populist Governor Big Jim Folsom of Alabama once said that politics was for him like, “courtin’ a beautiful woman – if you can’t spend a lot of money you’re gonna have to do a little lyin’.” Yet, the days of suds bucket and singing “you are my sunshine” off key – symbols of Folsom’s success – are gone and Big Jim’s confessed wisdom has been adapted for the modern times of Southern politics. Now, in courtin’ Southern voters, a candidate is required to do both.

This year’s Southerners witnessed more than $35 million spent by major candidates on advertising on radio and television stations. Most ads were designed simply to build an image of personality for candidates – leaving the public issues to be discussed in slogans. While the trend was not uniquely Southern, the changing nature of regional politics showed itself in the election’s results and may portend greater danger to candidates who wish to represent the interests of minorities and poor folk in the future.

In all major statewide races in the South, everyone who had a prayer’s chance spent at least a half million dollars and often more than a million. Those who didn’t – like defeated Democratic senate nominee John Ingram of North Carolina – didn’t come even close on November 7.

While Bob Graham was elected governor of Florida and spent less than his opponent, his total campaign expenditure was more than two million dollars – much of it his own money. Republican Lamar Alexander won the general election for the governor of Tennessee over a bigger spending Jake Butcher; however, Alexander spent around a million dollars on his own campaign. In most other races, the victor was the big spending candidate. Vhile it was not the relationship between money and politics alone that decided the South’s elections, its effects were paramount and will be increasingly exclusionary.

The fact is that like selling soap nowadays, if a candidate doesn’t have the millions to spend on advertising, chances for victory in a real contest are hardly worth the trouble. For candidates whose major constituency comes from the uninfluential, minorities, or the poor, the problems of raising enough funds can he deadly.

As disturbing, even Black candidates appealing largely to a Black voting constituency feel the need to have large advertising budgets. In Mississippi, Charles Evers attempted to win a plurality victory for the U.S. Senate by getting a huge turnout with some White votes. According to Jason Berry, campaign aide for Evers, one of the major problems of the campaign was its desperate need of funds for Evers to go on television. “But I haven’t seen you on television…” was a response Evers got even from Black folks as he campaigned throughout Mississippi. In post election analysis, campaign workers for Evers contend that if there had been more money and more television time, there would have been a better chance for Evers in both the Black and White communities.

While influential in its own right, the politics of big money went hand in hand with the politics of Southern conservatism this year. The old Southern hard-line, conservative Democrats who once occupied the U.S. Senate are being replaced by the newer, younger, and just as hard-line conservative Republicans. In Texas Mississippi, Virginia and North Carolina. Republicans who call themselves, “fiscal conservatives” were elected to the U.S. Senate. While a Democrat will return to South Carolina’s statehouse, Strom Thurmond returns to the Senate and a Republican conservative will become governor of Texas.

None of these candidates were elected with the large support of Blacks or other minorities. All talked about cutting government spending and eliminating the frills in government programs especially social programs. Even the more tolerant Democrats who won had to court voters with their own line of old time conservatism.

In Alabama, a sedate former state chief justice Howell Heflin sounded like daddy warbucks charging his opponent with making “America a second-rate power” by voting for a little cut in defense spending. State Senator Bob Graham, Florida’s next governor with a reputation as one of Florida’s leading liberals, attacked his Democratic primary opponent for “socialist leaning” and demanded the death penalty for rapists “who dare defile the women of our state.” Little was said in any campaign in the South of the virtues of giving folks decent jobs or making decent

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housing available.

The candidates who did run with direct populist appeals were roundly defeated. While none could be accused of having open, liberal tendencies, John Ingram of North Carolina and Pug Ravenel of South Carolina failed in their open appeals to Black and White voters. It just didn’t work in 1978.

Candidates who want to give special attention to the needs of poor and minorities have always found hostile audiences and enormous obstacles in seeking statewide offices in the South. The elections of 1978 will not be recorded as an exception to that fact. Rather, it may well be remembered as the time when big money and Republican conservatism became the fashionable ways to court Southern voters.

Alabama

Nineteen seventy-eight elections in Alabama produced a variety of collector’s items for Southern politics: campaign buttons for people running for other offices, bumper stickers for people who weren’t candidates at all, and hundreds of meaningless slogans (from “Let’s get on down that road” to a more familiar, aborted phrase “More than ever before “). Still, it was not politics as usual in Alabama.

Last year almost everyone expected the political scenario to be as predictable as it has been for the past 15 years. Prohibited by the state constitution from seeking another term as governor, George Wallace was expected to retire from the statehouse and seek the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by retiring Sen. John Sparkman. Alabama’s other U.S. Senator, Jim Allen – the state’s most popular office-holder – was not up for reelection.

As he has for almost two decades, George Wallace began the tremor of events. Facing a campaign against former state chief justice Howell Heflin, Wallace voiced second thoughts about a campaign for the senate. Heflin, the architect of Alabama’s new judicial system and a relative newcomer to Alabama politics, had a broad constituency including lawyers, businessmen, labor and Blacks, and is especially popular in the more urban north Alabama. Finally, Wallace announced: he would not seek the U.S. Senate seat.

Soon another bolting surprise awoke Alabamians. Vacationing on the gulf shore of Alabama, Sen. Jim Allen died of a heart attack. According to Alabama law, the governor was to appoint an immediate successor and an election for the remaining two years of Allen’s term would be held later. Obviously enjoying the speculation that he might appoint himself, Wallace delayed the appointment. Calling a news conference to announce that he had not yet decided on Allen’s replacement, Wallace had changed his mind about going to Washington, many decided. After several weeks Wallace did announce the appointment of Maryon Allen, wife of the dead senator. Mrs. Allen immediately announced that she would run in the Democratic primary.

A state senator with a reputation for consumerism, Donald Stewart decided to remove his name from the growing list of candidates seeking to replace Sparkman and announced his candidacy to challenge Allen. Meanwhile, Congressman Walter Flowers had given up his easy bid for reelection and transferred his campaign to oppose Howell Heflin and seek Sparkman’s seat.

A squadron of other candidates also began printing literature and passing out buttons for their campaigns. More than half the members of the state senate were seeking a higher, statewide office. More than 10 people were running for governor and most of the statewide constitutional offices had at least five or six candidates. Surveying the field, one local political wag noted: “No wonder our crime rate is up.”

Alabama’s most popular female office-holder, State Treasurer Melba Till Allen, was in fact convicted during the summer on federal charges surrounding misuse of state funds. Allen, who was discussed as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate before the trial, said upon conviction that both the Alabama people and God would vindicate her. Allen’s husband later announced that he would seek to succeed her.

As the Democratic primary approached, a former football star, part-time Republican, and millionaire inventor of the sand-filled, plastic dumbbell, Fob James appeared to develop momentum in his race for governor. Helped by a huge advertising budget and calling for “a new beginning,” James led the ticket with Atty. Gen. Bill Baxley a weak second. Apparently, James’ new approach and lack of experience in politics were advantages which Baxley was not able to overcome. With a slick campaign and an earnest face, James became Democratic nominee for governor in late September.

In the senate race, Heflin outdistanced Flowers in a run-off where the congressman emphasized his experience and the judge decried him as a part of “the Washington crowd.” In the other race, Allen and Stewart also faced a run-off in which Stewart was called “a liberal” and Allen portrayed as an “unladylike office-holder.” Stewart prevailed only to face another major challenger, Republican Jim Martin.

At one time registered to oppose the Democratic nominee for Sparkman’s seat, Martin realized Stewart as the “best” opponent and switched races. Supported by considerable Republican money, Martin waged a strong, two-month campaign. Having campaigned against Lurleen Wallace and John Sparkman in prior years, Martin accused Stewart of being liberal and doing nothing to bring down the utility rates of the power company, which he had opposed. Stewart emphasized his opposition to the large utilities and his work in the state Senate to help Alabama consumers.

In congressional elections. State Senator Richard Shelby

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of Tuscaloosa had no problem clef eating his Republican opposition to replace Flowers in Congress. In the primary, Shelby did face State Rep. Chris McNair, one of Alabama’s Black representatives. In a district with 38 percent Black population, McNair failed to gain enough White votes or a large Black turnout.

In other statewide races, all Democrats won with no trouble. Birmingham attorney, George McMillan, had won the Democratic run-off against his colleague, State Senator Bert Bank of Tuscaloosa. While Bank had the endorsement of the largest Black political organization in the state, the Alabama Democratic Conference, McMillan received substantial Black support. Former executive director of the Democratic Party of Alabama, Don Siegelman became secretary of state after defeating in the primary several candidates including the only Black female running for a statewide office, Leola Smith. Charlie Graddick ws elected attorney general.

A peculiar characteristic of Wallace politics – the election of a spouse for public office – failed to carry for other campaigns this year. Sen. Allen’s wife, who advertised herself as “Mrs. Jim Allen,” and the husband of convicted treasurer Melba Till Allen, who was cattily referred to as “Mr. Melba Till Allen,” both failed to replace their spouses unlike Gov. Lurleen Wallace in 1966.

There will be a large number of new faces in the state senate of Alabama this year largely because most incumbents were seeking other statewide offices. Alabama’s two Black state senators, U.W. Clemon and J. Richmond Pearson, were reelected. A Black lawyer from Mobile, Michael Figures, was also elected to the upper house.

Ten Black members of the lower chamber of the Alabama legislature will return; however, two will be new members. Four women and four Republicans will also be in the state legislature.

Local elections throughout Alabama appeared to penalize present officeholders. The plague of incumbency was apparently enough to shake up many local courthouses. In south Alabama, there will be several new Black county officials. For the first time in this century, the Sheriff and Tax Collector in rural Wilcox County, Alabama will be Black as will be the Sheriff of nearby, rural Perry County. Blacks constitute a majority of the population in both places.

Arkansas

Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton breezed through a primary election without a runoff and the general election with only nominal opposition to become the state’s youngest governor ever at age 31. Clinton, who was a Rhodes scholar and former campaign organizer for George McGovern in 1972, had considered entering the Senate race, but decided against joining a crowded field of like-minded candidates. As governor, Clinton is expected to give education a high priority and polish Arkansas’ image and tradition of electing more progressive politicians than the constituency they represent.

Coy. David Pryor, following a close primary race and run-off scored an easy victory in the general election to become Arkansas’ junior senator. Pryor nearly won the seat in a close race against Sen. John McClellan in 1972.

In the House contests, there are two new faces, Doug Brandon in the 2nd District, and Beryl Anthony in the 4th, leaving the House lineup of three Democrats and one Republican unchanged.

Florida

The election of Bob Graham as Governor of Florida represents one of the few instances in 1978 Southern politics where the traditional Democratic coalition including Blacks, labor, and liberals had a winning candidate. It also ends a long gubernatorial campaign where two millionaires came face to face in a contest where millions were spent.

Using the gimmick of working at a hundred different jobs during the past several months, Graham had an effective advertising blitz which surprisingly helped defeat his well-known opponent, Jack Eckerd. A Republican millionaire owner of chain drugstores and former head of the General Services Administration, Eckerd easily won the Republican primary using it mostly to campaign to Democrats as well as Republicans. Having sought the Senate post in 1974 and the Governor’s chair in 1970, Eckerd was probably hurt by the GSA scandals which were operating during his tenure in Washington.

Eckerd campaigned on the theme that government is a business and requires a business-like approach. In spending more than $5 million most of it out of his own pocket – Eckerd also apparently was showing voters that you had to sell a product before it could be bought. Graham disrobed his reputation as a liberal but did make direct appeals to minorities.

Graham’s victory was supported by a loose coalition of labor, businesses, Hispanics, Blacks, and urban and liberal voters, who in part helped him defeat Atty. Gen. Bob Shevin who led the ticket in the Democratic primary in September.

Another former office-holder, Edward Gurney, who was tried and acquitted for charges of receiving illegal funds as a U.S. Senator, was defeated by Democratic nominee Bill Nelson. In Miami, Rep. Claude Pepper was also reelected.

The only major female candidate in state elections, Paula Hawkins, ran unsuccessfully for Lt. Coy, as Eckerd’s running mate. In local elections, Florida’s three Black members of the state House of Representatives will return to Tallahassee next year.

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Georgia

Georgia voters, it appeared, would have an easy time of it at the polls this election. There were only six congressional races and five of them were not highly contested, although the Democratic incumbents, refusing to take their opposition lightly, did campaign actively throughout their districts. Coy. George Busbee faced Republican opposition statewide as did Lt. Gov. Zell Miller, but again without much contest.

But Georgia voters probably experienced more frustration election day than most other voters because they were confronted at the polls with a massive 12-page ballot crammed with 36 statewide constitutional amendments and 88 local amendments. The amendments were condensed, but they still made very tough reading.

Amendment 4 was probably the most controversial item on the general election ballot. It would have doubled legislative terms from two years to four years effective with next year’s General Assembly, but Georgia voters soundly rejected that proposal. Adding insult to injury they in turn supported Amendment 15 which authorizes the General Assembly to pass a law setting up a recall procedure for elected officials.

Georgians lost their opportunity to send a woman to Congress by electing Republican Newt Gingrich over State Sen.Virginia Shapard to fill the sixth district seat being vacated by retiring incumbent Rep. John Flynt. Shapard had the endorsements of first lady Rosalynn Carter, who came to the state in her behalf, and a number of other top state Democratic officeholders, but voters favored her opponent. No newcomer to the district, Gingrich had lost to Flynt on two prior occasions by narrow margins. He will be the first Republican in Georgia’s 10-member House delegation since 1974.

The other Democratic congressional contenders won overwhelming victories. Because of recent legislation, Busbee became the first Georgia governor to succeed himself in office. He and Lt. Gov. Zell Miller scored landslide victories, the worst defeats that Republican candidates for the two top state offices have suffered in more than a decade.

The Democrats also won three new seats in the state House for a total of 159. Republicans hold 21 seats. Black representation remained at 21 in the House and two in the Senate. Fourteen women will be included the next term, an increase of three. All of the Blacks and the women, except one, are from urban areas, principally Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Savannah and Augusta.

Louisiana

Under Louisiana’s new primary system Sen. J. Bennett Johnston was reelected on September 16. Under the new system Louisiana has a non-partisan primary in which candidates of all parties run against each other. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the primary vote as Johnston did, he or she runs in November without opposition. If no one receives more than 50 percent, the top two finishers, regardless of party, face each other in November.

Because of the new primary system, all congressional races except one (4th District, Shreveport) were decided in the open non-partisan primary on September 16th. All of the primary winners were incumbents.

In the 4th District, veteran congressman, Joe D. Waggonner retired after 17 years in the House and nine candidates vied for the vacant seat in the primary. Two former state representatives faced each other in the November runoff and Democrat Buddy Leach defeated Republican Jimmy Wilson by a narrow margin.

Issues were not the main feature of this campaigneveryone in Louisiana is conservative. The effect of the open primary law is still somewhat uncertain, although it clearly seems to favor incumbents, it also seems to have the effect of making the elections in Louisiana uncharacteristically dull, and the voter turn-out unusually low.

In Shreveport, elections were held to elect representatives for a new Mayor-Council form of city government. Following a series of legal actions instigated by BULL (Blacks United for Lasting Leadership), and scandals involving the previous commissioners, the new charter and single member districts were approved by a 3-1 majority last April. This November, as a result of this fall’s election three Blacks will occupy seats on the seven member city council. This marks a dramatic change and new hope for Blacks in traditionally conservative Shreveport.

Mississippi

For the first time since Reconstruction, Mississippi will have a Republican in the U.S. Senate. The election of Thad Cochran, a member of Congress who went to

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Washington in Barry Goldwater’s sweep of the South in 1964, may well mark a new conservative Republican force in Mississippi politics as potentially powerful as the old Democratic regime of U.S. Senator James Eastland.

The shift in Mississippi’s political power was foretold last spring when rumors of Eastland’s retirement spread. When the rumors were confirmed, the June Democratic primary in Mississippi became a crowded contest among some of the state’s most formidable politicians. Fifty-oneyear-old Cliff Finch, in the middle of his term as governor, announced that he would seek Eastland’s seat. Former Governor William Waller, former Lt. Gov. Charles Sullivan, and former District Atty. Maurice Dantin also announced their candidacies.

The campaign for the June 7 Democratic Primary was a contrast between Finch’s folksy, backslapping style and the more subdued campaigns of Dantin and the others. Finch made an open appeal for support among Blacks and rural Whites and even published a listing of all Blacks he had appointed to high positions in the state’s largest newspapers. Dantin had the support of some of Eastland’s political allies as well as the state AFLCIO.

Perhaps hurt by allegations of corruption in his administration and a poor turnout of Black voters, Finch came in second in the primary and lost the run-off to Dantin. At the same time, Thad Cochran won the Republican primary without a run-off.

Three major candidates were in the general election. In addition to the two parties’ nominees, Charles Evers, Black mayor of Fayette, Mississippi ran a populist campaign. Speaking out against multi-national corporations and calling for more local, economic development, Evers’ low budget campaign attempted to pull a large number of Blacks with some Whites for a plurality victory. More than a few Black and White liberals, however, were disturbed by Evers’ opposition to courtordered busing and support for return of prayer in the schools.

While Evers made a strong showing and trailed Dantin by only about 50,000 votes, the effect of his candidacy was primarily to spoil the election for Democrats. Disengaged from the fragile coalition established in the late 60s between Black and White Democrats, Cochran was able to muster enough votes to lead the ticket.

Cochran is a representative standard bearer of Republi-

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canism in Mississippi. He favors lower taxes, strong defense, less money for welfare. While he has attempted to make some accommodations with Blacks in his congressional district, his voting record in Congress exhibits little sympathy for the problems of poor and Blacks in the state.

In congressional races, all of Mississippi’s incumbents were reelected. In Cochran’s old 4th district, which includes Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, John C. Hinson, a Republican and former aide to Cochran was elected. Perhaps symbolically, Hinson defeated the son of Mississippi’s Democratic senator John Hampton Stennis, who had become a significant political figure in his own right in the state.

With the election of Cochran and his former aide, Mississippians clearly mark their readiness to desert Democratic ranks and they may soon have another chance. Republican Gil Carmichael is expected to be a strong contender in two years for the governor’s chair. Carmichael picked up 45 percent of the vote in his race against Cliff Finch last time. Also, Mississippians did not give Jimmy Carter a clear majority in the 1976 Presidential election (although he carried the state with 49 percent of the vote) and may not do so in 1980.

Mississippi’s three Black Democratic state representatives were not up for reelection this year. In two years, the expected reapportionment of the Mississippi Legislature may well add to their numbers; however, the general mood of Mississippians to vote conservative Republican may also add additional problems for all Democrats.

North Carolina

Armed with more than $7 million for campaign expenses and a strong reputation as a hard-line conservative leader, Republican Senator Jesse Helms swamped populist-styled Democratic nominee John Ingram who had defied pollsters and money to gain the Democratic nomination.

A former broadcaster, Helms will return to Washington for a second term as a conservative Republican with a national following from a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one. Supplied with funds from throughout the nation by the dircct mail appeals of conservative fundraiser Richard Viguerie, Helms picked tip votes throughout the state and received a larger vote than his 54 percent in 1972.

Ingram is one of the North Carolina insurance commissioners who surprised everyone by defeating Luther Hodges, Jr. in the May 30 Democratic Primary runoff. Earlier, Hodges had led the Democratic ticket with almost 40 percent of the vote carrying 87 of the state’s 100 counties. Ingram had only 26 percent of the vote and his campaign appeal “I’m fighting for you” appeared to have an isolated following. In the run-off campaign, however,

Ingrain attacked I lodges as “the rich man’s candidate” and referred more often to Hodge’s background as a banker. Despite a large professional staff and many television campaign ads, Hodges trailed distantly behind Ingram in the run-off.

Ingram attempted to use the same approach against Helms in the general election. Calling the Republican “the five million dollar man,” Ingram asked audiences throughout the state how Helms could be a fiscal conservative when spending $7 million just to reelect himself. Ingram’s campaign suffered constantly because of lack of funds.

In mid-October when polls showed that Helms had a sizable lead over Ingram, the Democratic nominee simply reminded voters of earlier polls that showed Hodges as the leading contender. This time, however, the pollsters were right.

While there were no statewide offices up for reelection, members of North Carolina’s general assembly, who are elected every two years, were on the ballot. The state’s two Black Senators from Charlotte and Raleigh were reelected as were the four Black Representatives to the lower chamber.

South Carolina

“Old South” Republican Strom Thurman handily defeated challenger Pug Ravenel in a highly visible South Carolina election. Ravenel hammered away at Thurman’s past stands against civil rights’ issues, but Thurman, who has moderated his position considerably in the last six years, campaigned vigorously for the Black vote. Thurman’s new responsiveness to providing services for Black constituents apparently defused some of Ravenel’s campaign issues but did not result in a significant Black vote for the Republican candidate. In spite of Ravenel’s defeat, it is seen by some as a victory for racial moderation because of Thurman’s visible retrenchment on civil rights’ issues and providing constituent services to Blacks.

In other South Carolina races Dick Hey won the governorship for the Democrats and his running mate Nancy Stevenson won the lieutenant governor’s race, and will become the first woman to preside over the all-male South Carolina Senate. Two congressional races in the Palmetto state also sparked widespread interest in the 4th District (Greenville-Spartanburg) and in the 2nd District which includes Columbia and Orangeburg. Former Congressman James Mann retired from the 4th District seat, leaving the race open to former Greenville Mayor Max Heller, a Democrat, and Republican State Senator Carroll Campbell. Campbell prevailed over the more liberal Heller in a close race dominated by economic issues. In the 2nd District, Congressman Floyd Spence was thought to be vulnerable to a challenge by author-journalist Jack Bass, a Democrat. Spence easily won reelection to a fifth term,

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however, giving South Carolina two Republicans in the House. Both these victories were helped considerably by a large Republican vote as a result of the Thurman campaign. The Thurman coattails were also seen as responsible for Republican Henry Young’s victory as incumbent commissioner of Agriculture.

In the legislature, Blacks retained their seats, but two Democratic women lost their seats. Republicans on the Thurman coattails prevailed in most of the closely contested races to score a net gain in the lower South Carolina House coming especially from the suburban districts.

Tennessee

In Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, a Republican lawyer from Nashville won a clear victory over wealthy Knoxville banker Jake Butcher. Both men had run for the governorship before and went all out to win. Although the race was closely contested, there did not seem to be a great deal of difference on the issues. Butcher, who is a friend of Bert Lance, and not unlike him in style, received .strong support from President Carter, who visited the state on Butcher’s behalf. However, Alexander’s smooth and polished campaign kept Butcher on the defensive about his wealth and flamboyant banking practices. Butcher was able to capture endorsements from normally Republican newspapers in Knoxville and Nashville but that did not provide the support he needed for victory.

The race was characterized by free spending on both sides, but especially by the Butcher campaign which had over 300 staffers on the payroll. Spending was unusually high m the primary election as well.

Alexander was no doubt helped by incumbent Senator howard Baker who led the Republican ticket by defeating Democrat Jane Eskind of Nashville. Senator Baker, apparently looking toward a possible presidential bid in 1980, waged an all-out effort and rolled up a big margin to provide an impressive homestate base.

In other races, Democrat Harold Ford from Memphis became the only incumbent Black representative from the South and Tennessee Democrats kept their 5-3 advantage in the House.

Texas

The elections in Texas this year featured Texas style spending and very closely contested races for the governorship and Senate as well as a number of interesting House contests. Veteran Republican Sen. John Tower squeaked by former Congressman Bob Krueger. This contest in which the candidates spent nearly six million dollars was marked with bitter charges and counter charges and a handshake incident that may have cost Senator Tower some votes but not the election.

In the governor’s race, Republican Bill Clements, a former Deputy Secretary of Defense took a very close race from State Attorney General John Hill. Spending in this race also set new records with Clements spending $6.5 million of mostly borrowed money, and Hill about $2.5 million in a strict pay-as-you-go campaign.

Hill drew support from Spanish speaking Texans because of Clements’ percieved insensitivity to Hispanic issues. At one point in the campaign Clements was asked what kinds of programs for Hispanics he would implement as Governor; to which he replied “I’m not running for Governor of Mexico.”

Voting patterns seemed to indicate that Democratic margins in rural areas and minority communities were not enough to offset Republican advantages in Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth. The margin in both races was less than three votes per precinct and the outcome was not decided until the day following the election.

Retiring Representative Barbara Jordan was replaced by Democrat Mickey Leland who along with Harold Ford of Tennessee will provide all of the Southern Black representation in this term of Congress. Texans also approved overwhelmingly a tax relief amendment linking state spending to the growth of the state’s economy.

Virginia

Former Navy secretary and husband of Elizabeth Taylor, John W. Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in Virginia. Using much of his own personal fortune and a growing Republican organization in the state, Warner managed to overcome a strong challenge from Democrat Andrew Miller, a former Virginia attorney general, who had relied largely upon the traditional coalition of old time Democrats, Virginia educators, labor, and Blacks.

Unlike most other Southern states, Virginia nominates its party candidates through a convention system which for the Republicans met on June 3rd. The state’s former Republican chairman, Richard Obenshain, defeated Warner and two others to receive the Republican nomination; however, when Obenshain died in a plane accident, Warner became the Republican nominee and inherited the strong Republican organization.

Warner has emphasized his experience in Washington and talked of his tough negotiations with the Russians. He also has often been accompanied by his wife and movie star, Elizabeth Taylor.

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For most of the campaign Warner and Miller attempted to show the other as less conservative. Warner attempted again and again to tie Miller to populist and pro-labor leader Henry Howell, former Democratic lieutenant governor and called frequently for a strong national defense and large tax cuts.

Miller tried to keep his distance from Howell, talk like a conservative, accuse Warner of being less conservative, and still keep labor and Blacks in his camp. His efforts apparently failed.

For a time it seemed that both candidates were trying to see how much they could alienate Black voters. In September, Warner stated in a television interview that as Navy secretary he had worked to slow integration. He constantly refused to appear before the state’s largest Black voting organization or other Black organizations such as the NAACP. While Miller attended such meetings, he kept his distance at tunes and made few promises specifically to Black constituents.

The election marks another victory for a growing Republican party in the South. With Republican Governor John Dalton, the election of Warner puts an end to Democratic hopes to regain the strong rule that the late Sen. Harry F. Byrd maintained. While an unexciting campaigner, Miller was one of the Democrat’s most popular vote-getters and his defeat leaves Virginia’s Democratic party in some disarray.

Both candidates spent well over a million dollars seeking the nomination and election. Most state elections will be held in two years.

HEALTH CARE

By Staff

Vol. 1, No. 4, 1979, pp. 20-21

Gayle Becker and Elaine Clark had been teaching nursing for over 16 years in an academic setting and felt the need to branch out into a different area of nursing.

“Last fall Gayle and I decided that initiating a program of health care to migrant workers in the Sand Mountain area of Alabama might not only be a service to the community, but would allow us to fulfill our needs for personal and professional development as sell as allow us a means to identify additional learning experiences for our students,” said Clark.

The two of them applied for sabbatical leave for the spring and summer quarters and devoted the spring to upgrading their technical skills. They learned to speak Spanish, read hooks and magazine articles about migrant workers, and contacted appropriate individuals and agencies in DeKaIb County, which is tucked away in the northeastern corner of the state, bordered by Georgia to the east.

Alabamians have long considered the people of the region fiercely independent and as rugged as the land. It is from this land – rocks, dust and more rocks – that potato farmers gouge out their living.

The nurses held more than 40 individual conferences, placed more than 50 long distance telephone calls and wrote approximately 30 letters in preparation for the summer experience. The biggest problem – establishing a clinic – was overcome when the Rev. Milton Pope and his wife, Bela, offered to share their facility at the DeKaIb Baptist Mission in Rainsville. Migrant workers attended the mission on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings for worship services and the combined spiritual-physical setting was a harmonious pairing.

However, fact was to bear out that the bulk of their work consisted of traveling in either Becker’s station wagon or Clark’s compact car to the seven camps, all within a 30-mile radius of Rainsville.

“Although an estimated 4.000 migrant workers are in Alabama each year, this fact seems virtually unknown to most residents of the state,” said Becker. “Needless to say, primary health care is extremely fragmented and secondary care is difficult to obtain. To compound the problems of the migrant worker, there are cultural and language difficulties that result in communication barriers with others.”

The migrant workers’ lack of money, lack of insurance, highly mobile state and cultural differences often result in difficulties when they attempt to enter the health care system. Migrant workers are paid for the hours they work. They do not receive pay during rainy days, poor crops, equipment breakdowns or visits to a physician.

“Federal aid is of little help,” said Clark. “These people rarely spend more than six weeks in one location, and by the time paper work has been prepared, the workers have moved to a new location.”

The remoteness of the camps and lack of telephone service presented additional problems to the nurses. What had been envisioned as a purely clinical setting by Becker and Clark grew almost immediately into an advocate role. Hours were spent on the telephone and in cars, driving to reach the correct person or agency dispensing needed money, information or transportation.

In accordance with physician guidelines, minor health problems such as colds, diarrhea and skin problems were treated at the clinic or at camp sites. Minor emergencies such as toothaches or more complex problems such as miscarriages and job injuries required referrals to physicians. A total of 115 individual clients were seen and 185 contacts were made with clients. The number included 44 women, 20 men, 45 children and six infants.

“The poor living conditions struck me first,” said Becker. “Living facilities in one camp included converted chicken houses, an old school building and numerous shacks or abandoned houses. If the facility contained more than one small room, it usually was occupied by a number of families.”

Both saw that in many instances the shelters had no sinks or window screens, and the usual furnishings consisted of a one- or two-eyed gas or electric burner, a dilapidated

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refrigerator and old bedding placed on concrete blocks or boards. One refrigerator often served a number of families.

Generally, children played in bare, dusty, wet or muddy yards. No playground equipment was available for them, forcing them to “make do” with whatever was available.

Lack of health insurance and retirement security are problems which need to be addressed, according to the nurses. “It seems difficult for the migrant worker to set security programs very high on his priority list, since he appears to view his major needs as those things which affect him from moment to moment,” Clark said. “Planning for the future seems beyond his grasp.”

“Health education is needed in such areas as basic hygiene, nutrition, family planning, environmental health control and preventive measures for good health,” observed Becker. “Helping the individual to understand the need to prevent illness and injury in order to reduce absenteeism from work and curtail doctor bills is also a high priority need.”

Almost all migrant workers receive minimum wage for hourly shed work and 15 cents per basket for potatoes gathered in the field. However, most migrant workers do not receive the full amount of pay because they are indebted to the crew leader for a certain percentage of their wages. The crew leader serves as interpreter for the nonEnglish speaking migrants, negotiator in determining wages and other essentials and an advocate in making arrangements for various jobs.

“We contacted a number of organizations and individuals throughout DeKaib County and the state in an attempt to obtain figures on the number of migrants in the area, but with no luck,” said Clark. “Even the growers had no accurate records of their employees, but did give rather vague estimates, such as between 50 and 100.

“On the basis of these figures, we estimated there were about 650 migrants on Sand Mountain during the summer months with approximately 315 located in the seven camps we served,” she added.

Clark and Becker now are working to convince officials at the University of Alabama School of Nursing that students might profit from a similar experience if it were to become part of the curriculum.

Other recommendations include procurement of a mobile clinic, development of day care centers for migrant children, development of a composite health record for migrants which could be carried with them from location to location, enforcement of building codes and environmental health requirements, and development of a transportation program for migrants and rural citizens who need health care in distant locations.

EDUCATION

By SRC Staff

Vol. 1, No. 4, 1979, pp. 22

“Alienation is real, and it’s growing! Citizens, young and old, and of varied political persuasions are expressing more and more their feelings of separation from government and politics they feel disenfranchised. They want to improve conditions and help solve governmental and political problems, but they don’t know where to begin.”

So stated Marion Gonzalez, administrator of Georgia Close Up, a year-round, state-wide organization, funded by the Metropolitan Foundation of Atlanta, that is attempting to address itself to filling this void by providing programs in state government education for high school students in Georgia.

The organization’s mission, according to Gonzalez, is to formulate and implement programs which provide high school students with opportunities to study state and local government processes, politics and issues – in depth and “close-up.” Their activities include panel presentations, keynote speaker addresses, interviews with individuals in government, public interest groups and media and topical discussions with staff members. The “close-up” program emphasizes participation, questioning, research and involvement by participants. All issues, Gonzalez says, are presented in a multi-partisan fashion and students are encouraged to fully explore all aspects of issues presented during programs. These issues, she reports, consist not only of specific items such as ERA, prison reform, tax reform, etc., but also include more indepth, humanistic examinations of why these issues are important, the historical development of our government ideologies and why people accept or reject them, the processes and problems involved in attempting to effect change or avoid changes in government laws and processes, and a host of other “valueoriented” items for thought.

A recent program of the project was the Georgia Close Up Workshop, conducted from October 5th through December I. Thirty students, grades 10-12, were selected from approximately 120 state-wide high school nominations. Students met in the Sheraton Biltmore Hotel in Atlanta where they were housed during the live sessions.

They studied the following issues: (I) Tax Reform; (2) Mental Health; (3) Education; (4) Prison Reform; (5) ERA; (6) the Death Penalty; (7) Abortion; (8) The Effect of the Media on Government and Public Opinion; (9) Marijuana Reform; (10) Students’ Legal Rights; (11) Civil Rights; (12) State Budgeting; (13) Federalism; and (14) Georgia’s relations with other countries.

Speakers on these issues included government officials, both elected and appointed, representatives of public interest groups and organizations of all kinds. Among them were: Dave Benner, Office of Planning and Budget (Prison Allocations); Clint Deveaux, president, ACLU of Georgia (Civil Liberties and Social Reform); Rick Reed, Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails (Prison Reform); Pat Malone, Department of Human Resources (Health); Fred Broder, Georgia Association of Educators (Education in Georgia); Dr. Charles King, Urban Crisis Center (Human Interaction and Race Relations); and Wes Sarginson, Channel 2 T.V. News (Prison Conditions).

In order to allow other students throughout Georgia the opportunity to benefit from their experiences, the workshop participants prepared articles for publication in a loose-leaf type handbook to he published and made available to schools throughout the state, at the option of local educators. The booklet consists of issues on civil liberties, education, energy and budgeting. The reading level of the handbook is geared toward 8th and 9th graders in order to broaden their knowledge and spark their interest now in preparation for tomorrow.

According to Scott Smith, one of the students in the program from Open Campus West in Tucker, Georgia Close Up has given him a fighting opportunity to challenge others in the field of social sciences. “It has enabled me,” he says, “to push for reforms, information and issues I never before had the chance to grasp.” Shawn Turk of Collins High School in College Park says that she feels the program will continue to aid her in school long after it is over. “It has shown me ways to do research, compile materials, group leadership, different types of problem solving methods and how to arrange speakers,” she said.

The staff of Georgia Close Up is interested in responding to inquiries about their recent programs and discussing their plans for the future. In addition to Gonzalez as administrator, the staff includes Hilton Smith as director and Sandy Mershon as staff assistant. Write to : Georgia Close Up, 165 Walker St., S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30313. (404) 586-0947 or 586-0007.

EDUCATION

By Staff

Vol. 1, No. 5, 1979, pp. 21-22

Cool is the word for discipline alternatives in the High Point, North Carolina public schools. As an acronym, Cool means character oriented optional learning. As a project for junior high school students, it includes alternative learning centers, diagnostic-prescriptive teaching, student rights and responsibilities and parent education.

Funded by Title IV-C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Project Cool operates an alternative learning center (ALC) in three junior high schools. The centers are for students who have difficulty adjusting to the normal junior high school programs. In most cases the difficulty comes to light through some form of disruptive behavior which would ordinarily lead to suspension or expulsion.

Centers are located in unused space somewhere in each junior high school and each is equipped with a wealth of materials, both commercially prepared and teacher made, designed specifically for working with the type of student assigned to the center. Each ALC can accommodate up to 15 students at a time. A staff of one professional and one aid works in each center. This staff also assists in planning and operating inservice training for teachers and parent education sessions.

Volume One, Number One of the project’s newsletter, Keepin’ Cool, described in some detail how the students are assigned to the center, what happens, in general, while they are there and how they get out. From that issue:

“The referral process is initiated with a disruptive behavioral problem recognized either by a teacher, guidance counselor, or a member of the administrative staffs of the junior high schools. The teacher conveys the necessary referral information to the Administrative Assistant who, in turn, conveys this information to the Principal of Administration. This Principal, after reviewing pertinent data is responsible for calling and chairing a staffing to give the behavioral problem due consideration.

The representation of the staffing is at the discretion of the principal. However, usually the composition of the staffing will reflect some or all of the following personnel: The ALC teacher, the student’s teachers, the home/school coordinator, the school psychologist, and the guidance counselor.

After a thorough review of the problem, the committee or staff can offer a number of recommendations including: counseling by the psychologist/guidance counselor, home visits by the home/school coordinator, utilization of outside agencies, referral back to the classroom for a cooling-off period with periodic contacts by the principal of instruction or the principal of administration, suspension, or referral to the ALC for a time limit deemed appropriate by the ALC teachers.

Once a decision has been made to refer the student to the ALC, the home/school coordinator is contacted to deliver in person a form indicating to parents that the student will be temporarily reassigned to the ALC. Another form notifies a student’s teachers that he/she will be reporting to the ALC, and requests assignments and materials.

Within the ALC, the student will have an orientation period to further explain the center, his/her role, and the teacher’s role. This orientation period will also include directed work periods alternating with a number of informal diagnostic tools such as reinforcement, anger, interest, and values inventories. As the student completes assignments within the ALC the teacher will attempt to find the antecedents of the problems, and help the student to become aware of the consequences of his/her behavior. Value clarification will be used as an alternative strategy within the center. If the ALC teacher observes the student experiencing difficulty with assignments, informal academic inventories (informal spelling and math placement tests) will be employed in an attempt to discover if the academic and behavioral difficulties are related.

While in the ALC, the student will use a Behavioral Contract and will be evaluated daily. Also, he/she will

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negotiate a contract of conditions for re-entry to the classroom. The ALC will gradually be phased-out as the student fulfills the contract conditions. Before formal reentry, appropriate teachers will be notified by the ALC teacher. It is hoped that the ALC teacher and the classroom teacher will develop a close working relationship so that diagnostic information and instructional techniques can be shared. Another staffing (re-entry) could be used to facilitate this informationsharing. This sharing will facilitate a smooth transition into the classroom.”

A student’s behavior will be periodically reviewed by the ALC staff and the classroom teacher in an effort to prevent return to the ALC.

Two years ago when Project Cool began, a student was referred to one of the ALC’s. The reasons for this referral were numerous. His teachers indicated that he was simply unable to function in a normal classroom situation, possibly because of emotional problems and a negative selfimage. They reported his behavior as being very disruptive-habitual tardies and cuts, smoking, hitting others and making noises, etc.

This student expressed a personal desire for help and requested that he be placed in the ALC. After entering the center, he seemed to thrive on personal attention and soon learned that he would receive extra praise and attention when it was so deserved. His behavior and work habits showed constant improvement. Much progress occurred as the student received individual help and instruction. Time was spent on remedial work in math and reading before advancing to regular classroom assignments.

A close relationship developed between this student and the ALC staff. Because of his interest in the guitar, the ALC aid volunteered to give him private lessons one afternoon a week.

After several weeks, the student began gradually returning to his regular class schedule. According to the ALC teacher, “His progress was gratifying. His teachers say he has done a complete turnabout and is like a different person. He is now described as being a delightful, polite, conscientious student. This is truly a success story that warms the heart and makes me say I am doing something worthwhile.”

Those who enter are finding help in the ALC. During the 1977-78 year, Project Cool worked intensively with approximately 100 students. The total involvement of the superintendent, the associate superintendent, the director of the project and the principal of the three schools in which the ALC’s are located is phenomenal, accounting in large part for the success of the project. Great things seem to be taking place in helping the junior high students who are potential dropouts turn themselves around and feel better about themselves. A strong component of the program is the close cooperation with school and community agencies including guidance counselors, school psychologists, the police and a group called Youth for Christ. The centers provide excellent dissemination of information which keep students, teachers and parents informed about the ALC.

The presence of Project Cool has helped decrease truancies, suspensions, expulsions, acts of physical violence and discipline referrals.

For more information contact: John Smith, Director Project Cool High Point Public Schools PO Box 789 High Point, N.C. 27261 (919) 885-5161

Reprinted courtesy of Creative Discipline, Vol. 1, No. 9, published by the American Friends Service Committee Southeastern Public Education Program.

HEALTH CARE

By Staff

Vol. 1, No. 5, 1979, pp. 22-23

When your school-age child walks out the door, armed with books and lunch money, will that money be spent on the food in the lunch line, or will it be spent on other snacks, instead?

That is one of the issues to be aired in a series of three public meetings to be sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture early in 1979. The meetings, to be held in Nashville, Detroit and Seattle, are the result of enormous public response, both supportive and critical, of a proposal by the Agriculture Department to restrict the sale of certain foods.

In April 1978, the Department of Agriculture proposed to restrict the sale of so-called “competitive foods” in schools until after the last lunch period.

“Competitive foods” are defined as any food sold in competition with federally-subsidized school food programs. They may be sold from vending machines, in a la carte cafeteria lines, or at separate snack bars. The restricted foods were to include candy, soda water, frozen desserts and chewing gum.

The lunch program, in addition to making use of farm surpluses, has always had two goals: to feed children a balanced meal and to teach them good eating habits. These goals are not being met, according to many concerned partnts and nutrition specialists.

Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Carol Tucker Foreman has announced the withdrawal of that proposal and has scheduled the public meetings to allow additional public scrutiny of and comment on the issue surrounding the competitive foods questions.

“Seeking public opinion before drafting new regulations underscores our commitment to broader public participation in the decision-making process of government,” Foreman said.

Specifically, the meetings will focus on standards on which to base a regulation, related to the following four topics: (I) nutrition education; (2) health; (3) eating habits; and (4) local administration and impact.

The lunch program, in addition to making use of farm surpluses, has always had two goals: to feed children

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a balanced meal and to teach them good eating habits. These goals are not being met, according to many concerned parents and nutrition specialists.

Another issue, however, surfaced in schools whereby profits from the sale of competitive foods are used to buy band uniforms and/or support school social activities.

“Restriction would mean we wouldn’t have enough money for any activities,” says Lilly Fulton, a student council advisor. “We have to look at the positive aspects of well-financed and wellattended activities for the students.”

One of the other important issues is the impact of competitive foods on nutrition education. The Department wants to find out whether children get nutritional “messages” from the availability of competitive foods. They will seek public comment on how this affects children’s eating habits.

Students express the opinion that they have a right to choose their own diets. One girl writes, “I think the government should leave the so-called junk food alone because if we want to get rotten teeth or stomach aches … I think they should let us. We are old enough to know better.”

Nutrition experts disagree. Most maintain that schools should set an example in proper diet, encouraging students to develop healthier tastes in food.

Concerned supporters of the proposal also encourage restrictions on potato chips, pastries and uncarbonated drinks. One South Carolina food supervisor states, “This has definitely hurt our lunch participation. We cannot compete with potato chips, candy bars and soft drinks.”

A Texas cafeteria worker agrees. “What troubles me most is that we give the low-income children free and reduced lunches because they are not supposed to be able to afford the lunch. Then they go through the line and get their tray and throw all or most of it away and go to the machines and buy junk food for their lunch.”

The medical profession also supports the proposed restrictions. Many dentists said that foods with a high sugar content caused dental caries among school children. Some doctors warned that poor eating habits acquired early in life could increase the risk of diseases associated with poor nutrition.

The strongest objections to the proposal, however, do not seem to deal with its relative medical merits. Opponents to the action apparently resent government intrusion into the issue. A Garland, Texas, man says, “The right to sell competitive foods in schools is not a federal issue. It is a local right and a local responsibility.”

On the local level, where restrictions have been enforced, positive results have been obtained. In Prince George’s County, Maryland, the food service director found that “lunch sales rose by 11 percent after the County Board of Education banned minimally nutritious foods from sale during lunch time.”

The effect of the restrictions on plate waste is certainly a factor. Chocolate Manufacturers’ Association of America President Richard T. O’Connell maintains that competitive foods do not affect plate waste. He cites a U.S.D.A. study that does not attribute competitive foods as the cause of waste.

Others take a stance of compromise on the issue. “I would support a ban on sales until after the lunch hour,” says one mother, “and whenever such foods are sold, the selection should include nutritious foods such as apples, nuts, raisins, or yogurt.”

Perhaps the issue is most clearly seen by a Memphis, Tennessee, eighth grader, who writes: “We would love to have orange juice and many other kinds of juice to drink instead of soft drinks. It tastes better and fills you up more, but every time we go to buy some, it’s always empty.

“The school lunch is over-priced and raunchy tasting. So we buy potato chips and nutty bars, but it’s not by choice. If the Memphis board would get some cooks that could cook, we would eat the food. Because of the malnutrition and no food, we all have colds or sore throats. I just wanted you to know this … Hang in there and help us, please.”

The U.S.D.A. welcomes further comment on the competitive food issue. Written opinions should be sent to Margaret Glavin, Director, School Programs Division, Food Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.

A printed discussion of the topics to be considered at the meetings is available from Ms. Glavin on request. Anyone wishing to speak at the Nashville meeting should contact:

David Alspach or Edward Hightower Food and Nutrition Service U.S. Department of Agriculture 1100 Spring Street Atlanta, Ga. 30309 Phone: (404) 881-4259 Nashville residents call: (415) 251-5758

Tribute to Gwendolyn Cherry

By Staff

Vol. 1, No. 6, 1979, pp. 2-3

On February 7, Gwen Cherry, the Vice-President of the Southern Regional Council, died in an automobile accident in Tallahassee, Florida. Her death leaves the Council without one of its valued officers and a dear close friend.

As a state leader in Florida, Gwen Cherry set new standards and precedents for the discussion of issues in government relating to Blacks, other minorities, women and poor of her state. As a national leader, Gwen inspired many with her singular devotion and joyful energy. She raised issues, took positions, and conducted the business of justice without fear of personal loss or concern for monetary reward.

As an officer and member of the Council, Gwen led the organization from a time of increasing despair and disbelief to a beginning period of hard work, faith in human nature

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and potential, and no-nonsense judgment tempered by humor and tolerance.

While often overworked, under-regarded and too often unseen, Gwen Cherry was an example of accomplishment and belief in principled equality which many Blacks and women immediately emulated and admired. Yet for everyone of any race or sex–Black or White, male or female–she represented the virtue of patience untouched by hate, the belief in freedom unbridled by cynicism, and a very unique insight into the tragic-humor of people who resist the call for action.

As a lawyer, Gwen Cherry represented the interest of clients and causes in court. Still, she spent as much time developing the potential of cooperation as exercising the art of an adversary.

As the first Black woman in the Florida Legislature, she was the spokeswoman at home and elsewhere for feminism and equal rights. Yet, she was much more to many more. Gwen Cherry stood alone to say “nay” when the lynching mob of the Florida Legislature pushed through the death penalty. She stood alone in saying “nay” when boards and commissions were filled without Blacks and women. She stood alone and said “nay” when the state rushed helter skelter to push Black and poor students out of the schools in the name of competency. Gwen Cherry stood alone when she proposed numerous pieces of legislation to aid the afflicted, the aged, the poor, and the uninfluential.

Like most of us, Gwen Cherry lost too many of the battles which she fought as a state leader, an officer of the Council, a lawyer, and a national figure. Her victories were too few. So long as she took breath, however, she continued her struggle believing that people of good will would someday, somehow act.

The most fitting and lovely tribute that we as her friends and companions can pay to Gwen Cherry will be to endure beyond the conditions against which she fought and to take her life and friendship as a special gift which enables us to be more wise, loving, and devoted to the just and humane world of which she gave us a clear vision.

A RETURN TO THE SUN

By Sun & REP

Vol. 1, No. 6, 1979, pp. 4, 12

Five thousand years ago men worshipped the sun. After a 50 century hiatus, man is turning his attention and hope – toward that same sun. Today, we are caught in the middle of the most sophisticated technological web ever spun on this earth. The spider is energy – fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, and nuclear power. There is one possible avenue of escape – the sun, and its energy in the form of wind power, water power, biomass, geothermal energy and others.

The energy dialogue poses three critical questions about our resources: (1) Are they limitless? (2) Are they safe? and (3) Who controls them? With regard to the first question, there is no infinite amount of any extractable natural resource: none are renewable. There is only so much oil, for example, and even though new reserves are periodically discovered, the cost of bringing oil to the surface is substantial and increasing daily. Also, the demand for energy is likewise increasing at an alarming rate.

The second point, safety, produces damning evidence against all fuels, especially nuclear power. Burning fossil fuels produces a staggering amount of air and water pollution; and nuclear fuels are hazardous to extract, transport, use, store and dispose of. Finally, because the raw material of fossil fuels is site specific, requiring elaborate extraction, transport, refining and distribution equipment and systems, no individual acting alone or collectively has the ability to control the fuel he uses for heat and cooling. The capital investment needed in bringing such fuels to homes, businesses and industries has been great, encouraging large and powerful corporations to dominate and control our energy.

Solar energy and its offspring, on the other hand, are limitless, ubiquitous and can be captured by anyone at a fraction of the cost of conventional energy. We simply must learn how to do it.

The price of coal and oil has been kept at artificially low levels for many years, encouraging over-dependence on energy resources which are environmentally hazardous and in some instances, dangerously depleted. Experts, however, now believe the sun can power 32 percent of America by the year 2000, if the government and private sector will direct their considerable expertise to the research and development of solar energy.

There is some basis for hope. From a budget of $1 million in 1970, Washington’s current solar technologies budget for fiscal year 1979 has exceeded $500 million, and along with hundreds of small manufacturers, the giants of American industry General Motors, RCA, General Electric, Grumman, to name a few are beginning to invest seriously in solar development.

Perhaps because of the energy crisis, a new philosophy has emerged about man’s relationship to technology and his environment. Recent events have shown that despite our presumed mastery of technology, technology is actually controlling us. We are learning that we cannot create our own environment and mutilate the one which nature has created and shaped over millions of years. We have learned that in an attempt to control and simplify our lives, we have instead complicated them and placed them in the hands of powerful and centralized interests far removed from the expression of public needs and desires. The movement for appropriate or small-scale technology is designed to enable all human beings to regain control over their lives. It is a recognition that we must understand. We must accept our limitations, as well as respect the world in which live.

Appropriate technology (AT) includes the various solar technologies, holistic and preventive health measures, solid waste recycling, acupuncture, natural foods production, organic gardening and cooperative arrangements of all types. In other words, AT encourages people to control the tools they need to enable them to live in harmony with their environment. AT recognizes that ecological balance must be maintained if disasters, crises, shortages, suffering and poverty are to be minimized; that greed must yield to need in maintaining the progress that we have attained in many fields.

Adopting the concept of AT might lead to some of the following: a group of Alabama tenant farmers receiving technical and volunteer assistance to grow and eat their own fish and use the inedible portions for fertilizing crops in an alternating cycle; a rural community in South Carolina building and heating their passive solar-heated homes for practically nothing, after a modest initial investment; a Nashville resource recovery waste system where thousands of tons of glass, paper and metals are collected, separated, sold and recycled, with proceeds to participating communities in a system where people can learn management skills.

Or it might lead to community gardens in Charlotte, North Carolina operated and maintained by groups of residents who supply, plant, harvest and eat organically grown vegetables at a fraction of their retail cost; Southern Georgia rural communities powered by wood-burning stoves, supplied with forest wastes for heating, cooking and washing; a community health clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, where doctors and trained volunteers teach and practice preventive medicine to residents

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and are supported by the Jackson community; farmers in the citrus belt of Florida taking their products by truck to St. Augustine, setting up market stalls and selling directly to consumers, eliminating middlemen and 66 cents on the dollar they lose when processors, transporters, packagers and retailers take their cuts.

These are some of the ways AT can – and is already beginning to operate in the Southeast United States. The potential is here. The Southeast receives more sunlight than most sections of the U.S.; there are few organized co-ops, many isolated farmers and rural communities. The Southeast is politically, economically and socially poor, but more and more voices are being heard; complaining, questioning and demanding action. People want power to control their own lives and their environment. They want to return, not to a harder, poorer life, but to one that is safe, healthy and satisfying. People want to see, feel, hear and smell nature, not destroy it. They want a community which reflects and blends with nature, not one that overpowers it.

AT can help lead us to that time and place, but it cannot happen without changes in many of our assumptions and values. And AT has something for everyone – the rich, the poor, the powerful, the needy, White, Black, urban dweller, rural farmer, businessman, tradesman – all of us. It is the belief that each of us is a human being with the right and power to control the basic needs of our own lives, free from outside manipulation, and with the dignity that only comes with economic well-being and the pride of self-sufficiency.

SUN/REP is a new, non-profit, public interest organization committed to the advocacy and commercialization of appropriate technology in the Southeast United States. Direct your inquiries to: SUN/REP, Suite 412, 3110 Maple Dr., Atlanta, Georgia 30305. Phone: (404) 261-1764.

Solar Greenhouses: A Method of Survival for Small Farmers

By the Staff of the Graham Center

Vol. 1, No. 6, 1979, pp. 10-12

Today, the American small farmer is an endangered species. As control of land and the farm economy has concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, one of the biggest migrations in human history has occurred during the past 40 years as millions of people have moved into urban areas. In 1977, American farms vanished at the rate of 500 a week. In the South, the nation’s fastest growing area, change in rural patterns are especially dramatic. Estimates project that Black-owned land in the rural South is disappearing at the rate of 6000 acres per week. At the present rate of attrition, the Black Southern farmer may well be extinct by 1990.

Preserving the small farm in this country will require significant changes in our present political and economic systems. Through a reliance upon non-renewable fuels and increasingly complex technology, U.S. agriculture has become agribusiness. One movement towards change has been the development of low-cost, energy-efficient methods and new skills appropriate to the background and resources of small farmers.

In support of this development, the Frank Porter Graham Center, a 400-acre demonstration farm and training center located in Anson County, North Carolina, is sponsoring a series of solar greenhouse construction workshops. These workshops will introduce solar-heating techniques, teach building skills, and begin to develop a local market for greenhouse construction. The Graham Center is conducting the greenhouse workshops with funds from the National Association of Farmworkers Organizations (NAFO) and the consultation and on-site assistance of the Solar Greenhouse/ Employment Project.

The Graham Center was established in 1972

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as a project of the National Sharecropper’s Fund. At present II farmers from Anson County and surrounding areas are enrolled in the Graham Center’s Small Farm Development Program, which offers technical and practical training for small-scale limited resource farmers. The greenhouse workshops are a component of this demonstration program which includes projects such as a 10sow pasture operation, 30-acre crop rotation system, large-scale composting, and dairy goat demonstration.

The Graham Center believes that solar-heated greenhouses can help cut the rising costs of food and energy. Virgil Chance, the Center’s farm supervisor, says, “With a solar greenhouse, you can grow vegetables in the wintertime and start planting earlier in the spring. You can also heat your house with it. You can grow potted plants and flowers, either for the family or for making money.”

Another of the workshops’ primary objectives is to train a limited number of farmers in greenhouse design and construction techniques. The Solar Greenhouse/ Employment Project envisions small farmers using these skills to create off-season employment opportunities for themselves.

Graham Center and the Solar Greenhouse Employment Project encouraged residents of Wadesboro, Charlotte, and other nearby communities to participate in the workshops. The first session was held during the last week of January. Using new materials, participants built an II X 18 greenhouse directly onto the southside of the Graham Center’s main building. The total cost of the pro-

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ject was $850, and the greenhouse now generates a substantial part of the main building’s wintertime heating supply.

Despite unusually cold and wet January weather, 45 people – including 17 local farmers attended the first workshop. Trainees were involved with all aspects of construction – pouring the foundation, framing, glazing, insulating, sealing, hanging and finishing drywall and painting. Instruction was also given in greenhouse design, cost estimating, and in specifying and collecting materials.

The second workshop, held in early February, was designed to demonstrate low-cost construction methods relevant to local needs and available resources. This greenhouse was built onto the southside of a Graham Center double-wide mobile home at a cost of $400. As in the rest of the rural South, trailors comprise an increasingly high percentage of single-family residences in Anson County. The supplemental heat provided by a solar greenhouse has been proven to lower the high cost of heating traitors by 25-40 percent.

The second greenhouse was built by local farmers and Graham Center staff with technical assistance from members of the Solar Greenhouse Employment Project. Costs were held to a minimum by using recycled building materials. The building crew salvaged metal roofing and lumber from an abandoned tenant cabin on the Graham Center’s property. Bricks, railroad ties, and other used materials were also collected around the farm and county.

In addition to their on-job teaching, Solar Greenhouse/ Employment Project conducted a series of evening classes. They covered the concept of solar energy as an alternative heating source, financing and maintaining the greenhouse, and the different uses of the structure in growing vegetables, ornamental plants, and herbs.

Methods of greenhouse composting and pest control were also discussed. The classes were held as part of the Graham Center’s regular twice-a-week curriculum for local farming families. All participants received building plans and detailed instructions following both workshops.

The third solar greenhouse, scheduled for construction in early March, will be sited next to a local farmer’s home and built of salvaged materials. Seven Anson County families (and 21 other participants in the first two greenhouse workshops) have expressed interest in adding on a greenhouse. “Around here we usually start to sow seeds on Good Friday. If I had a greenhouse we could set out with transplants already five or six inches tall,” says Alex Waring, a local farmer and member of the Graham Center staff.

The third project will be planned and built by local farmers who have been involved in the previous two. The Graham Center hopes to establish a revolving loan fund which will enable members of the Small Farm Development Program to borrow interest-free “seed” money for greenhouse construction. North Carolina state tax laws already allow a 25 percent credit for investments in energy-saving home improvements.

The combination of financial incentives, newly-learned skills, and cooperative working arrangements applied to this model of accessible, low-cost technology have made solar greenhouses one modest, but realistic way that people in this community can help themselves survive as small farmers in the rural South.

This article was prepared by the staff of the Graham Center.