Freezing In The Cities ^
Homeless Numbers Up In U.S.
Despite municipal programs to
gather up the homeless, especially
when the temperature plummets, the
number of homeless deaths continues
to increase across America.
“This system is by definition In*
humane.’’ said the director of the
Legal Action Center for the
Homeless, Douglas Lasdon, in New
York, where five homeless persons
died on the streets during one
weekend.
The Rev. Benjamin Chavis, ex
ecutive director of the United Church
of Christ Commission for Racial
Justice, in commentary said the dif
ferent kinds of morality of a society
give an indication of the social
priorities of that society.
"When we hear of the great suffer
ings of people throughout the world,
some caused by natural disasters and
While syphilis is occurring less fre
quently among homosexuals, cases of
the disease have increased sharply
among prostitutes and drug abusers
who may be trading sex for drugs,
federal health officials say.
Studies in Philadelphia and Con
necticut have noted-significant rises
in the past three years in the number
of syphilis patients from the latter
two groups, the national Centers for
Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga., said.
“The magnitude of the increase...
suggests that the trends observed in
Connecticut and Philadelphia reflect
real changes,” the CDC said. “The
emergence of syphilis among pro
stitutes, drug users and their sexual
contacts may be a widespread na
tional phenomenon.”
"Obviously, biologically, there’s no
interaction that we know of between
drug use and syphilis,” said Dr.
Johnathan Zenilman, a CDC
specialist in sexually transmitted
diseases. “Certainly, what this looks
like is that it may be a sex-for-drugs
type of phenomenon.”
For example, the CDC reported
that in-Connecticut, the percentage of
female syphilis patients reporting
that they were prostitutes rose from
seven percent in 1985 to 21 percent in
1987; the percentage of females with
syphilis reporting drug use rose from
zero to 14 percent.
Among the heterosexual males in
Philadelphia, the percentage of
syphilis patients reporting contact
with prostitutes rose from two to 21
percent, while the percentage repor
ting drug useTose from 5 to 13 per
cent.
(See SYPHILIS, P. 2)
Funding New initiatives
others caused by the sins of greed and
avarice, we should remember the
daily sufferings of the people living in
the streets of America,” Chavis said.
social acceptance that a fair number
of homeless people will die during the
winter. Many of these victims of
homelessness are racial and ethnic
“In fact, there seems to be a growing
social acceptance that a fair number of
homeless people shall die during the
winter...”
—Rev. Benjamin Chavis
people who died
on the New York itreeti ere en exam
ple. The frequency of theae death*
ha* not aroused a great public outcry.
In fact, then* mwiti* to be a aroWtna
— ■■ I.
persons whose name* will never be
known, not even to the city morti
cian*. Whether the name* of these
victim* will ever be known to local or
national politicians Is a matter of how
well concerned citizens of this nation
make the issue of homelessness a
priority.
“There needs to be a comprehen
sive and effective response to this
growing problem,” Chavis said. “To
depend primarily on the police and
other law enforcement agencies to
treat the homeless, as if their
destitute state is a criminal offense,
is neither a compassionate nor
humane approach," he said.
In surveying how some of the major
cities in the United States handle the
homeless, particularly during the
winter months, Chavis said the com
mission waj alarmed to find the pro
clivitv to use police action rather
(See HOMELESS, P. 2)
The Carolinian
raleigh, n.c., NC's Semi-Weekly SSEr25*:
MONDAY * ELSEWHERE 30tt
DECEMBER 26.1988 DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRISTVOL. 48. NO. 7
in tear UJ Lives
Kidnapper Held Here
White Wife,
Daughter
In Hiding
BY CHESTER A. HIGGINS, SR.
NNPA Newt Edita
After an intense five-day hunt, FBI
agents arrested Claudie Allen Jacobs
in Tampa, Fla. and returned him to
Raleigh. Jacobs’ arrest was made on
a federal warrant of unlawful flight to
avoid prosecution. He was charged
with kidnapping at gunpoint a black
man, Joseph Leon Burris, 25, who
was allegedly having an affair with
Jacobs’ wife, a white woman.
The alleged kidnapping crime took
place Nov. 27 in the suburban trailer
park of Chadbourn, a sleepy little
Southern town about 60 miles from
Wilmington., No one has seen Burris
since and his family and friends
believe he is dead.
The 42-year-old, 285-pound Indian
surrendered, “without incident" at
Hooker’s Point Waste Treatment
Plant where he was employed by a
Miami-based company doing con
struction work, the FBI told NNPA.
His car, “a red colored” late-model
Oldsmobile, according to Capt.
George Dudley of the Columbus
County sheriff’s office, was found
several days later at a local tire shop
where Jacobs apparently left it. Ac
cording to Dudley, Jacobs switched to
a pickup truck he owned that had
been under repair at the shop.
Jacobs was arraigned before a U.S.
(See KIDNAPPED, P. 2)
MSTM6UISHED SERVICE—Ted Padgett (centei) beams unlnhlbmcaRy as ba Is
banarad as tba recipient lar tbe Distinguished Service Award for Bigger and Batter
Business by Eta ftgma Chapter. Shewn (at right) Is Dr. Dudley Heed, the
Chapter’s president, whe presented the award; and shewn (at left) Is Dr. James A.
Clarice, the chapter’s chihparien at membership and kiitiatlen. who eutlnod
Aides Ponder Future
BY CHESTER A. HIGGINS, SR.
NNPA New* Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Reagan
years are winding down and specula
tion is rife in the nation’s capital over
what is ahead for high-ranking
blacks currently a part of that ad
ministration, or hoping to be a part of
the changing of the guard. NNPA
took a sampling survey 'and notes:
Lt. Gen. Colin L. 'Powell, the'suave
U. S. Navy Seeks Solution To Racism
BY CHESTER A. HIGGINS, SR.
NNPA New* Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The United
States Navy, come hell or high water,
says it is determined to improve
career opportunities for minorities,
and overcome in deed and fact its tat
tered image of racism that has clung
like a barnacle to the organization’s
underside since its formation in 1775.
In keeping with that determination,
a biracial, 24-member Navy study
group has just completed an intensive
two-month probe of equal opportunity
throughout the organization in a more
than 300-page report, has made six
major recommendations to improve
career opportunities for minorities.
In an exclusive interview with
NNPA and the Navy Times that is
embargoed until Dec. 19, Vice Ad
miral Jeremy M. (Mike) Boorda,
chief of naval personnel, said these
and other recommendations in (he
report have already been approved
by the chief of naval operations, Ad
miral C.A.H. Trost, and now it’s full
steam ahead with implementation.
Funding for the new initiatives will be
siphoned off existing, less pressing
programs, NNPA has learned.
The recommendations based on the
findings of the Navy Study Group
Report, chaired by Rear Adm. Ralph
W. West, director of the Navy's
Pride, Professionalism and Personal'
Excellence Division, call for
■■•iiMKii m
rewriting the bulky, 100-page Affir
mative Action Plan and the Navy
Equal Opportunity Manual. It re
quires that all levels of Navy leader
ship, Including flag officers, flag
selectees, prospective commanding
officers, executive officers, chief pet
ty officers and training instructors,
receive additional equal opportunity
training.
The study report requires expan
sion of Navy upward mobility pro
grams, such as the Broadened Oppor
tunity for Officer Selection and Train
ing and the Baccalaureate Degree
Completion Programs to offset shor
tages of technically trained youth and
declining nuipbers of blacks atten
RALLYING TO NELP-CMCh Oparators of Capitt* Aim
• Tranalt, won on hand to halp Loll Sindert and Mr family
attar a tragic lira daatroyad her Miaa and moal a( har
bafwging*. Tha food batkaf was fMfr way of giving Mi.
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LucMa Alston. (Photo by TMb taMMMtowoy)
ding college.
Also urged is an adjustment in
enlisted distribution procedures and
training programs to achieve a
representative distribution of blacks
and Hispanics in enlisted occupa
tional specialties. And, finally, the
report emphasizes the need for pro
viding additional resources to im
prove minority recruiting for both of
ficer and enlisted programs, and to
establish strong, standardized review
teams to ensure that minority of
ficers are assigned equitably to
"career advantageous billets,” and
to make certain that all of the other
recommendations are fairly and
rigorously implemented.
Did the Navy brass discover any
surprises in the study? “Yes,” said
Adm. Boorda, the third-highest
ranked Navy official, and who must
implement the initiatives. "1 was sur
prised not by any findings in the
study, but the solutions. They were
there all the time and they just
jumped right out at us. In our day-to
day work, we just didn't see them.
Did I learn some things I did not know
otherwise? Yes, I learned a lot about
enlisted advancements, enlisted
assignments, officer fitness reports
and why officer recruiting might not
be going as well as it ought to be. I
learned a lot. There wasn’t this
lightning bolt that surprised me. It
was a steady learning experience as I
read through the report and was
briefed on it. And what surprised me
was how easy the solutions will be."
To understand the dimensions of
the Navy’s EO task, it is important to
know that the Navy's levels of black
and Hispanic members, the chief
minority groups, are lower than those
of any of the four armed services
units. Only 3.5 percent of the Navy’s
officers are black. As of July, it had a
total of 25» admirals, only six of them
black. All of the blacks are rear ad
mirals, lowest in the ranking system
for flag officers. It has set a goal of
six percent black officers by 1996.
'(See NAVY BIAS, P. 2)
and sagacious National Security
Agency director and the first black to '
hold this highly influential position, is
soon to leave office to head all of the
Army’s ground forces in the United
States—the powerful Forces Com
mand. This may just be a stopping-off
place, some insiders believe, before
the popular Powell will be named
chairman of the very high-profile
Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first black '
ever in that post, as well.
NNPA has been promised an exit
interview with the general.
Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development Samuel Pierce,
wouldn’t return NNPA’s phone calls,
but he is said to' be angling for an ap
pointment to—guess Where?—the
U.S. Supreme Court. Most Capitol
Hill insiders don’t give “Silent Sam”
much of a chance to secure this
prestigious nomination. But hope spr
ings eternal, doesn’t it?
Lt. Gen. (retired) Julius Becton,
hardnosed director of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency,
did return NNPA’s call and
acknowledged he didn’t know when or
if he would be leaving office. "I won’t
know that until Jan. 20,1989,” he told
NNPA, intimating that he wouldn’t
mind continuing in the high-level but
tension-filled post for another term
under the Bush administration.
Clarence Thomas, the embattled
chairman of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, told NNPA j
(See REAGAN AIDES, P. 2)
REP. DAN BLUE
AT. Cm May Be
2nd Primary
On Way Out
With more Republican* In the
General Assembly and an en
dorsement from the Democratic
Party, black legislators who want
to eliminate second primaries
say next year may be the season
they finally win.
"I think [chances] are very
.good for eliminating it, and It’s
due to several things,” said Rep.
Dan Blue, D-Wake.
"First, by the abiding interest
of many legislators,” he said.
“Secondly, the fact that
Democratic legislators unders
tand the significance of the action
and the state convention [suppor
ting an end to runoffs]. And third
ly, I think that Republicans for
the most part are not opposed to
it.”
Critics say second primaries,
or runoffs, discriminate by mak
ing it harder for blacks to win
nomination in majority white
districts. Lawmakers have tried
three times to change it. Each
time they’ve failed.
Supporters say they will raise
the issue again after the
legislature convenes Jan. 11, the
Charlotte Observer reported
Wednesday.
The new House minority
leader. Rep. Johnathan Rhyne,
R-Lincoln, said he thinks
Republicans “would be inclined
to favor” abolishing runoff
primaries.
- ' *!t*8 generally seen, as being
more fair,” Rhyne said.
Republicans also may have an
interest in the irnup If runoffs
(See DAN BLUE, P. 2)
WLLE Lifting
Holiday Spirit
Helping Needy
BY E.H. HINTON
Staff Writer
The holiday season is going to be a
little better, healthier and happier for
a number of Southeast Raleigh
residents, thanks to the efforts of
WLLE-AM 57.
At noon on Dec. 22, WLLE began
distributing bags of food to area
residents that had lined up outside the
station. The bags contained an assort
ment of canned goods, fruits and
cereals. Brother James Thomas, the
host of the gospel radio show at
WLLE, was the coordinator of this
goodwill effort.
Thomas said, “They [WLLE] have
been donating bags of food for a
number of years to organizations for
disbursement to the needy in the
Wake community. However, this
year a decision was made in conjunc
tion with the management and staff
it WLLE that it would be good for the
itation to disburse its own donation to
irea residents personally.”
As the people shuffled in and out of
die station there was laughter, smiles
ind many salutations of good cheer,
wliday greetings and thank-yous. As
See HELPING NEED*, P. 2)