The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, December 2, 19925
;De Klerk, ANC begin
historic election talks
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
: President F.W. de Klerk's government
! and the ANC are to begin three days of
private talks today to try to set a time
1 table for elections that will include
; blacks for the first time.
The African National Congress, the
! leading black group, wants elections for
; a multiracial interim government in the
! latter half of 1993, while de Klerk has
I proposed polls in early 1994.
! "The main purpose of that meeting is
: to set the date for the installation of an
; interim government," ANC leader
; Nelson Mandela said Monday.
But de Klerk has cautioned that much
hard bargaining remains.
The government, the ANC and other
, opposition groups must reach a series of
: agreements and curb political violence
I before an election.
De Klerk has dismantled the major
: apartheid laws since he took power in
: 1989. Now he seeks to negotiate a new
constitution that would usher in black
white power sharing and allow the 30
. million blacks to vote.
A successful ANC-govemment meet
ing could help prod resumption of talks
to end white minority rule. Talks broke
down in June over political violence in
black townships. If the ANC and the
government fail to agree, there is virtu
ally no hope of political progress.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, leader of the
Inkatha Freedom Party, the country's
second-strongest black group, has been
upset at his exclusion from the talks.
Buthelezi has hinted that the
KwaZulu black homeland, which he
governs, might secede from South Af
rica if he is not satisfied with the new
political system now being negotiated.
Senate begins inquiry
into Packwood charges
. WASHINGTON The Senate Eth
. ics Committee, under heavy pressure
' from women's groups and congressional
leaders, said Tuesday that it had begun
a preliminary inquiry into sexual ha
rassment charges against Republican
U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon.
Committee Chairman U.S. Sen. Terry
Sanford, D-N.C, and Vice Chairman
U.S. Sen. Warren B. Rudman, R-N.H.,
both leaving Congress in January, said
in a written statement that they had
instructed .the panel's, staff to gather
' information as quickly as possible.
The inquiry results will be presented
to the full six-member committee, which
then will determine whether to proceed
with a formal investigation. Packwood,
60, who has checked into an undis
closed alcohol treatment program, has
agreed to cooperate.
Julie Williamson, 53, one of
Packwood's accusers, said in an inter
view Tuesday, before the announce
ment, that she feared a setback for vic
tims of sexual harassment everywhere
if Packwood went unpunished.
She was among 10 women former
Packwood staff members or lobbyists
who The Washington Post reported
nA anniicetA Wtm rtf nninuitpH nH lin.
1 1 111 awuowv mill . unniiiihi ' ' " " '
wanted sexual advances.
Elaine Franklin, Packwood's chief
of staff, has said the senator won't con
sider resigning and has hired a Wash
ington attorney, James Fitzpatrick, to
represent him.
He has not acknowledged any spe
cific improper conduct but has said in a
statement distributed by aides that he
was sorry for any problems he might
have caused his accusers.
Rep. Kennedy discusses
violence with Germans
BONN, Germany Saying "the eyes
of the world are on Germany," U.S.
Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy met with gov
ernment officials Tuesday to discuss
plans for quelling neo-Nazi violence.
"This is a nation that has a history
that when people see . , . Nazi flags and
skinheads, it scares people," Kennedy
told reporters after talks with officials
in Chancellor Helmut Kohl' s office and
the Interior Ministry. "I think there's a
real concern about the implications of
what is taking place here in Germany."
Kennedy, a member of the House
Banking Committee, said there was also
"a sense that somehow the economic
policies of the government have per
haps reinforced some of the dissent."
Kennedy, D-Mass., brought with him
on his three-day visit Leonard Zakim,
director of theNewEnglandB'naiB'rith
Anti-Defamation League.
Both expressed concerns after meet
ing with Bernd Schmidbauer, an aide to
Kohl, that the government did not ap
pear to have a clear plan for combating
right-wing extremism or a recognition
of the extent of the problem.
Zakim said he and Kennedy discussed
with German officials the possibility of
sharing information and experience
from U.S. police in combating civil
rights violators, adding "there appears
to be some interest."
Kennedy said he was not ready to
draw conclusions about Germany's ap
proach to the problems but said he was
"very hopeful the German government
will be able to get on top of the situa
tion.
Mississippi governor's religious remarks draw ire
By Tara Duncan
Staff Writer
Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice has
garnered state and national criticism
from the Jewish community because of
his Nov. 1 7 statement that America is a
Christian nation.
"The less we emphasize the Chris
tian religion, the further we fall into the
abyss of poor character and chaos in the
United States of America," said Fordice
at a Republican governors' meeting in
Fontana, Wis.
Although Fordice adamantly de
clared that his statement was not in
tended to exclude Jews, his words an
gered Jews in Mississippi and through
out the United States. Fordice also has
been questioned about his remarks and
his decisions regardingmore funding to
the state's historically black colleges.
"Unfortunately, Governor Fordice
has yet to learn that America is not a
country that is defined in terms of reli
gion or race," said Kent Schiner, presi
dent of B'nai B'rith International, in a
statement released Nov. 18.
Members of B'nai B'rith Interna
tional, which is the world' s largest Jew
ish organization, and most Americans
should find this kind of divisive rhetoric
offensive, Schiner said. "The United
States is a pluralistic society, as any
high school civics course could have
taught Fordice," he said.
Fordice offered a defense of his state
ments Nov. 18 when the question was
raised during a press conference. Fordice
said he simply made a clear statement of
truth at the governors' convention.
Fordice's comments came when he
was asked whether efforts by moder
ates to temper the GOP's opposition to
abortion would alienate members of the
religious right.
"Christianity was being attacked, and
the governor defended it," said Larry
Daniel, Fordice's press secretary. "He
explained to Jewish leaders that if it had
been Jews that were under attack he
would have defended them. He didn't
mean any offense towards Jews."
Members of B'nai B'rith contend
that Fordice's remarks were inappro
priate and that his defense was less than
they had hoped for, but they willingly
accepted his apology rather than criti
cizing him, said Buzzy Gordon, direc
tor of press relations for B'nai B'rith.
"Hopefully out of this can come new
awareness about how a pluralistic soci
ety should exist in the United States,"
Gordon said. "Concerns have been ex
pressed and obviously Fordice heard
the message."
The issue of Christianity is not the
only sore spot for the Mississippi gov
ernor who began his term in January.
When Fordice first entered the
governor's office, he said he would call
out the National Guard to fight any
court-ordered tax increase to equalize
funding at Mississippi's nearly all-white
and all-black universities.
Fordicevetoed a $23.7 million bill
that would have given additional fund
ing for historically black colleges.
"He vetoed the bill because of the
money," Daniel said.
Some state legislatures do not agree
that the lack of funding was the reason
for Fordice's decision. "He is not being
viewed in a positive light . . . not by what
he has said, but by his actions," said Ed
Blackmon, aMississippi legislator from
Canton. "There is a real deficit against
him among blacks."
Black legislators were angered when,
in his veto of the bill, Fordice pro
claimed that the bill "had grown like
Topsy ," a black child in Harriet Beecher
Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Blackmon argues mat the poor con
ditions of black state-supported col
leges were still the same and that state
government still favored the larger white
universities. "Fordice is not sympathetic
to the needs of blacks," he said. "Things
could be easier on his office if he would
be more open with his views."
A group of black legislators in Mis
sissippi are bonding together to create a
new budget proposal for the black insti
tutions. "Instead of lessening the prob
lem, we want to eliminate it," he said.
State legislators realize they must act
quickly because of a state Supreme Court
case that has ruled that there must be
integration of higher universities, he
said.
The Ayers case was a suit filed 17
years ago and, now that a ruling has
been made, Mississippi must make its
laws comply, Blackmon said.
"The Court held that higher universi
ties violated racial rules, but they didn't
tell how to integrate them," said George
Cochran, a professor at the University
of Mississippi's Law School.
Daniel said the courts also posed the
proposition that Mississippi possibly
had too many state-supported schools.
To eradicate this problem, a state com
mission appointed by Fordice suggested
closing the state-supported school with
the lowest enrollment and highest costs.
The commission suggested merging
Alcorn State University, an all-black
school, with another all-black univer
sity, Mississippi Valley State.
The black community staunchly op
posed the plan and took their case to
federal court, where the judge sent it
back to the governor's commission to
work out a solution.
"We realize that the courts have
power over legislation," Blackmon said.
'Time is of the essence in the legislature
now."
As budget-approval time comes
around the corner, Fordice might con
tinue to face animosity among the black
and Jewish communities in Mississippi.
Daniel said the Jewish community
was content after Fordice's apology,
but Gordon said only time would tell if
the governor's apology remedied his
comments.
"If he's come this far in public life
and isn ' t aware of how race and religion
work in America, it is pretty sad," Gor
don said. "Unfortunately, he isn't going
to get his social consciousness raised
overnight."
AIDS
frompigel Aft
from page 1
AIDS issues. McCarthy said that she
was looking forward to working with
the Hunt administration but that ACT
UP disagreed with the governor-elect's
desire to eliminate anonymous AIDS
testing.
"We are confident that this is only the
beginning of a very productive dia
logue with our new state leader,"
McCarthy said.
Kent asked the crowd to encourage
elected officials to step up the battle
against AIDS and declare a state of
emergency and criticized the
government's inactivity on ATDS-re-lated
issues.
"It can work if people let them know
we're demanding it," he said. "I am a
victim, as are all of you. We are a victim
of the government that for 1 2 long years
has refused to acknowledge the fact that
we are in the middle of a national health
emergency."
Many crowd members said they had
been involved personally with victims
of the disease.
"I'm here to show support for the
people I know who have died of AIDS,"
said Joey Barnes, a participant in the
rally.
Steven Harris, ACT-UP facilitator
and an organizer of the demonstration,
said he hoped the rally would encour
age others to get involved in the fight
against AIDS. He said he had a personal
interest in the battle.
"I've lost friends. I've lost patients.
I've lost loved ones," Harrissaid. "I am
more aware of how fragile human life
is."
that the exhibit was a good and appro
priate gesture."
But some of the visitors to Union
Gallery Tuesday missed the message
committee members were trying to send.
"I come in here almost every day to
read, drink coffee and look at the art
. work," said Gene Palka, a Ph.D. student
from Pittsburgh. 'Today my original
thought was that there was going to be
work done in here and the paintings
were covered for protection. Artwork
makes a significant contribution to us
all. It's a shame not to have seen it
today."
Karren Skuba, a senior from New
York City, agreed, saying, "The idea
would have been better if someone had
ju t hung black canvasses instead of
covering someone else's work.
(up to $13 value)
For a limited time,
cy jjuy ci iiizlz rui iuuc hi ilicc
with purchase of second entree of greater a equal value, Sun-Thurs. only I
I
-THE-
MELTING
po
IP
602 Creekside Dr., Raleigh
(off Old Wake Forest Rd)
Reservations Suggested
832-4896
with this coupon
expires 5193
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
J
Seewhafsl
from
at the RAM Shop!
$ Stop by and test drive OS2 v.2.0!
Ask questions of the members of "Team OS2. " (Drawing for FREE copy of
OS2 and other prizes!)
$ See the New ThinldPad!
"The notebook for those who require only one thing: the very best "
$ Come see computers that do everything
for practically nothing.
PS ValuePoint is a new family of
IBM computers that let you spend
less, without settling for less.
Each PSValuePoint is engineered
to the IBM standards that have
defined the personal computer
industry. And rigorously tested to
meet IBM's stringent demands for
quality and reliability.
1
w$ SOU'JJW.. fr)j&v.'.- 3M-:jtJ ' tyi...
fty v.-.v.'A'.' t-K-mm-
.
-hop Computers
UNC Student Stores
Only currently enrolled students, faculty and staff may purchase from Tlie IL4M Shop of the Student Stores.
The Associated Press