VEDITORIALs
!AND OPINIOm
PAGE
"We cannot know where i
we are going if we do not
know where we have been."
i
I by Bruc? Barton : J
MERRY CRHISTM AS
TO ONE AND ALL!
Think about Christmas.
Christ-mas. Christ! And mas
means, in Spanish, more, ft
really means, in a sense,
"more Christ." That's what
Christmas should mean to all
of us-more Christ!
I wish each of you a very
happy Christmas. And I
especially wish all those in
prison a special and heartfelt
Christinas. I wish each of you
the serenity of peace and
Christ.
More next week. This week
I simply say, in behalf of all
those affiliated with the Caro
lina Indian Voice MERRY
CHRISTMAS! I
An Open Letter
Vote was Against
***<? -Procedure, Not
Superintendent says new
School Board members
AN OPEN LETTERt
The purpose of this letter
is to clarify some of the
misunderstanding that occur
red during the December
meeting of the Robeson Coun
ty Boerd of Education. On
December 14, 1962 the Board
met to consider agenda items
that were pre- ananged for
Board action; such early noti-,
fication of items to be dis
cussed gives each board
member knowledge of the
activity and allows time for
research and discussion. How
ever, some times there are
items that should be added to
the agenda for the purpose of
information and the board's
consideration and ultimate
decision. ,
The misunderstanding
occurred when one of the new
board members presented an
item to be added to the
agenda. The attempt failed
because of an unknown pro
cedural rule not contained in
the Board's policy manual
requiring seven (7 votes to
add such an item to the
agenda. The decorum of
the meeting then deteriorated
in a parliamentary shambles
as the Chairman broke with
precedence by taking aa
active role in debate and
voting. The Chair loot all
neutrality as he vigorously
and assertively imposed bis
will and desires upon the new -
board members.
The new board members
felt attacked and perceived
the meeting as pre arranged
and staged by the chair's
unorthodox and unprecedent
ed behavior. Given the lack of
fair and impartial moderation,
the only other alternative
available to the new members
was to force concessions, at
Rather than seeking to condl
late this confrontation, the
chak actively promoted the
were surprised when the
period was important for the
new members to get ac
quainted with the Superin
tendent, to review board
policy, and to evaluate strate
gies for educational improve
ment. Furthermore, the Gen
eral Statutes speak to the
Superintendent's contract be
ing considered in April. As
this was the first meeting,
the new members wondered
why the rush when the
current contract will not ex
pire until June 30, 1963?
Moreover, only a select few,
including politicians in atten
dance, were informed as to
how it would be handled; the
new members were withou
such knowledge.
The lack of knowledge
about the terms of the con
tract caused much concern.
Such questions as how much
do we pay the Superinten
dent, how much local money
is involved, and how do we
evaluate his performance?
There were many other im
portant questions, none .
of which were answered,
forcing the new members to
vote against the contract as a
protest to the procedure used
to obtain its approval.
Legally, a contract is not
binding until both parties
agree as to the terms. Logic
ally, the moat fundamental
term of a contract is how
much will be cost me. The
new members were unwilling
to make such an important
decision without any informa
tion whatsoever. Nevertheless
the Chairman refused to
reveal any of the terms of the
Drooosed contract nor would
wwvwvw vwiiw wus wwi w wmi
he supply a copy of the
existing contract. In fact, he
seemed very angry that the
new members would even
make such a simple request.
The new members hope
that future meetings wfll be
moderated in a fair and
Impartial manner and that the
dsMh oration of the Board be
frank and open to public
scrutiny. We so** the aid
and support of the other board
members, the stbntaletrettoo
and the geer^ pub* in
-n*ss Errif* -
Utter* T*
TL^ Mltflf
wi cmiVv
Reader Says...4'I
think you were
Unfair to
Dr. Schm alleged..."
Dear Mr. Barton:
At the risk of engaging in
that most dreaded of sins
(pontification), I,1 would like to
express my ideas concerning
your recent editorial about Dr.
Frank Schmalleger and his
views on the recent study
about justice for Indians in the
Robeson County courts. I
think you were unfair to Dr.
Schmalleger in at least two
| ways. I hope that my stating
these views wiH not anger or
irritate you but will hep you to
better understand what I
I believe to be. Dr. Schmalle
I ger's point. It is my naive
hope that this letter will have
a concilitory effect on all
concerned.
First let me say that I am a
colleague of Dr. Schmalleger
in that we both are employed
by PSU. This does not mean
that I agree with his position
on many subjects. As a matter
of fact the reverse is probably
nearer to the truth.
I believe that you were
unfair to Dr. Schmalleger in
implying that it was improper
for him to refer to himself as> a
criminologist. As you stated
he is a Sociology professny at
PSU bat also u you stated a
Mscysr:
social group*." Crime is S
logy is s recognised sab
discipline at Sociology. Dr.
Schmalleger's Mining is, I
believe, primsrily in the ores
at criminology therefore it is
qahe accurate for him to osil
himself a criminologist. In the
some manner 1 will sign this
letter "scientist" although 1
am an associate professbr of
Biology. The terms are inter
related and ate hot mutually
exclusive.
I also believe that you were
unfair t* J)r. Schmafleger in
dismissing his concerns,
which were well founded, as
"nonsense." Perhaps In or
der to better understand his
concern we need to consider
this study as s scientific
project. Science is die accum
ulation of facts through the
use of the scientific method.
The scientific method is, in
effect, the testing of hypothe
sis through the use of experi
mentation and observation. It
seems to me that the study in
question deals with two major
hypotheses The first is that
rh!? hypoihi ms is etfUy
*nd the result, of the
that it is tree. The second
hypothesis is that these har
sher sentences are'due to an
inherent injustice (radial pre
judice) in the Robeson County
courts. This hypothesis is
much more difficult to test In
order to test this property one
would have to have informati
on about all other possible
causes of the discrepancy in
sentences. The study under
consideration does not pro
vide this information. TMs
was Dr. Schmalleger's central
point in his letter. He even
went on to give s partial list at
other factors that should be
considered. 1 believe that his
points were well founded and
should net be dimissed arbri
tarily as "nonsense."
You state that Dr.
Schmalleger has "already
' made up his mind" in the
question about discrimination
being prevalent in the courts.
Perhaps he should not have
said that but he did identify it
for what it wss-his belief.
tUA&tirs:
mission- in this matter would
have to be ? bei*f since they
tk>n to adeq u stelyConsider all
viable causes at the discre
pancy la sentences. Any
person is entitled to hia
beliefs but it ia dangerous to
elevate diem to the level at
(act without adequate ana
iysis. To form -an opinion or
judgement before all die facts
?re known as prejudice I for
one believe that there is
discrimination in the Kooeson
County court system. How
ever, I doubt thst it is ss
prevalent as you probably
think H is. I beleivs that the
social phenomenon aiscussec}
in the study is due to s
multiplicity of factors and thst
discriminationis only one of
those factors. How important
s factor it is 1 am unable to
say.
It is very difficult for any of
us not to be prejudiced. (I use
the word in a general context
and not in reference to race).
Any scientist conducting re
search has to resist the
tendency to have a "favorite"
hypothesis that he hopes will
or dbaorvation. A good acton
tiot must not accept any 41
if they are not to his liking. He
mem oe wanng to alter or
even abandon Us most cher
?shed hypothesis if they are
not proven. Yon said that Dr.
Schmalleger had already
made up his mind. I ask yon
have yon not done the same
thing? Have you not come to
the judgement that discrimi
nation is prevalent in the
Robeson County court system
before all the facts are in?
Sincerely,
Harold Davkl Mantel,
^*4BW^!pSU*?'
P.S. After I finished this letter
I thought of two relevant
points:
(1) the spirit of this letter is in
keeping with your logo "Buil
ding Communicative Bridges
in a Tri-Racial setting."
(2) All the references to
science are made because
Sociology is a "social science'
and the study in question is a
factual (scientific) one.
I "til
I LOVtf EST 10 ?
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HMay Happ&wup^
Euenyday's a holiday ufax tpu ohpfa
PiggCy IViggVy 1
i3&{&8X8
CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY!
J
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HAFT
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