PAGE A5 Winston-Salem Chronicle DECEMBER 7, 1989
Believe me, this is no joke
Sometimes arguments for or
against an issue happen in the
strangest places.
Both sides of the abortion
argument might do well to follow
the outcome of tfie^appeaT oT
James A Bivens in Palm Beach
County's Circuit Court.
Mr. Bivens, you see, was con
victed in March of poaching more
than 1,000 turtle eggs, which is
illegal in Florida. He was sen
tenced to 60 days in jail and fined
$500 plus $100 for each of the
1,093 turtle ?ggs he took from the
beach at John D. MacArthur
Beach State Park on Singer
Island.
Mr. Bivens' appeal is not one
claiming innocence or an unfair
trial, but one based on the premise
that the fine is illegal because the
$100 fine imposed by the judge is,
according to Florida law, permis
sible "per unit of marine life." Mr.
Bivens says a turtle egg is not
marine life. In fact, his question
is: "When does marine turtle life
begin?"
Louis Carres, an assistant pub
lic defender writing on Mr.
Bivens' behalf, said, "Just as a
chicken is not an egg (and when
one eats an egg for breakfast, one
is Rot eating a chicken), a marine
turtle is not a turtle until it comes
out Hs egg." Mr. Carres~adcted~
that the fine is unfair because Mr.
Bivens was caught with turtle
eggs, not turtles.
Jan. 18 has been set for oral
arguments on the question of
when marine turtle life begins.
Mr. Bivens' motive seems the line because no one knows
rather simple. If he loses his where to draw it and any line at
appeal, he will have to fork over all would be simply an arbitrary
$109,300 in fines. But the deter- one.
mination of when marine turtle Perhaps dealing with an issue
life begins- COUttf havermpHca- personal i* tnrtlp fggs and
AGAINST THE GRAIN
By ROOSEVELT WILSON
lions far beyond that courtroom.
That has been one. of the pri
mary arguments in the abortion
issue, particularly that of the anti
abortion forces who say that life
begins at conception. Some
oppose abortion under any cir
cumstances and even oppose birth
control because they say that even
before conception the sperm and
egg are alive. But others say,
"Yes, they are alive, but are they a
life?"
Barbara Schroeder* a sea turtle
recovery coordinator for the State
said, "ii you kill an egg, it is not
going to become a turtle, obvious
ly."
Many lawmakers nationwide
?have been wrestling with-&e
question of how to impose sensi
ble limits on abortion because
they cannot agree on where to
draw the line in terms of where
life begins. Likewise, pro-choice
factions have been saying forget
marine life will permit those hear
ing the arguments to make a deci
sion not weighted by the strong
emotions involved in the ever-so
personal and human issue of abor
tion.
But once that decision is
made, drawing parallels with the
abortion issue will in most likeli
hood be inevitable.
Sea turtles are an endangered
species in Florida and lawmakers
tried to enact legislation to protect
them. And no one, not even Mr.
Bivens' attorney, supports him for
But the bigger issue is the
question raised by the legislation,
one that virtually demands some
one to decide when marine life
begins.
... And isn't that the same
burning question about human life
in the abortion issue?
Rnnqpyplt Wilgnn fpar.hps jmir
nalism at Florida A&M Univer
sity in Tallahassee, Fla.
A manifesto for schools that work
It must be campaign time
because the sound of meaningless
platitudes on "quality education"
from the lips of elected officials is
in the air. The future of the Afro
American community is at stake
as the performance of the public
school system continues to
decline. Educational opportunity
is the civil rights challenge of the
1990s and nothing short of
prompt, meaningful and radical
restructuring of public education
will save our community from
dire predictions of 70 percent
black male unemployment and 70
percent female-headed house
holds.
The following is my manifesto
for change.
? Empower parents to choose
the school that best meets their
children's needs.
Greater parental choice will
immediately identify schools the
customer supports and those that
have no buyers. Rather than offer
ing the same program in every
school, offer a 31-flavor choice of
teaching styles and subject
emphasis. Black parents will
choose schools that have role
models in the classroom, that set
high expectations for all students,
that nurture their kids' culture, that
do not track and do not abuse the
children with rebel fl^gs and Jim
Crow newspaper cartoons.
? ? Redefine the meaning of
school.
A school is not the physical
plant in which it resides. A school
is a shared common vision of edu
cation, one shared by the instruc
tional team and the parents.
Therefore, it is desirable to have
several schools within one physi
cal plant. The smaller schools of
choice built around a shared
vision cannot but meet the needs
of our community at a much high
er level than is the case today.
? Elementary schools must be
created within the Afro-American
community. and state education budget should |
The proximity of the school to be allocated to eactf school and |
the home drives the likelihood of the instructional jieam allowed to 1
parental involvement, particularly decide what, if anything, will be I
with regard to disadvantaged kids, purchased from the central office.
There is no justice in using black When I asked a principal what he
ANOTHER VIEW
By VERNON ROBINSON
5-, 6- and 7-year-olds 10 solve the
real challenges of race relations at
the expense of their education.
These kids should be able to
choose a school 13 blocks from
home rather than 13 miles away.
? Tie funding to the students.
Gross discrepancies in fund
ing are what made racially identi
fiable schools unequal in the past.
Racially identifiable schools may
re-emerge because of housing pat
terns and legitimate parental
choices. Equal educational oppor
tunity must be insured by tying
equal state and local funds to the
student in a choice arrangement. .
Today's sad reality is that class
rooms are resegregated with white
kids in the AG classes. So arc the
prison cells.
? Abolish school attendance
zones and use a lottery to decide
who will attend.
'Everyone will have an equal
chance of getting their first, sec
ond or third choice.
? Give teachers rhe entire
budget.
The education industry is the
only one left being run Soviet
style: fat with unneeded back
office folk and with long lines for
good schools and the few choices
that are allowed. The instructional
teams in the schools with the right
dose of staff development are best
able to make decisions about how
to use resources. The entire local
would buy from the central office,
after taking three minutes to think
about it he answered: "I guess I'd
keep the mail service." I couldn't
have said it better myself.
? Ahotish teacher education
degrees and change the way
teachers get certified.
The only way to get more
blacks into the teaching profes
sion who can teach is to strip
away the education course
requirements, and require that
those who wish to teach get a
bachelor's degree and pass a test
in the desired teaching area. I
think I'd make a great social stud
ies teacher, but I can't be one
because I haven't studied Bulletin
Board Building 301. After suc
cessfully completing a one-year
internship, like doctors, the new
teacher would be certified by a
board of teachers, again like doc
tors.
These seven reforms hold the
last best hope to create schools
that work. I hope anybody who
agrees with me and wants to run
for the school board, county com
missioner or the General Assem
bly will call me, be ye Democrat,
Republican, black or white.
To paraphrase the Last Poets,
wake up, brothers and sisters, or
we're all through.
Vernon Robinson is a former
candidate for the N.C. Senate.
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