Buffalo Criterion, 1984-12-28

              rochester vol m - no 1 wednesday december -'-* january 3 1984 out-of-town 25c wny's necessary minority newspaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation the buffalo criterion niagara region happy new year 1984 - minority youth year in nys cuomo claims year in recognition of minority youth albany — governor mario cuomo has pro claimed the year 19*4 as minority youth year in new york state announced state assemblyman al vann d-brooklynl earlier this year vann and state senator leon bogues sponsored a so lution in the legislature calling on the governor to proclaim 1984 as minori ty youth year in new york state tin-only youths in new york state are faring a broad spectrum of complex and difficult prob lems ranging from teerage pregnancy juvenil de linquency and excessively high unemployment to drug and alcohol abase said cuomo we in this great empire state have ai obligation and responsibil ity to tap the enormous talents resources and potential of m orily youth it is incumbent up.in government busi ness and labor to recof nize the unique needs of minority youths and to promulgate progressive and preventive programs that address noth the immediate ar.i long-term problems of minority youths the governor added v-i'in and bogues sail 1 i f-at they were grateful to iiova-rnii cuomo for pro caiming 1981 minority youth year in new york sf«f a.:l afk umta _.— acknowledgement sug gests that the governor is committed to the struggle to overcome problems facing minority and other disadvantaged youths we hope that govern ment business industry labor and all new yorkei i join the bandwagon to help make new york state a better place to live for minority and disadvan taged youths said tin lawmakers van chairs the assem bly committee or children and families the winner's circle voters of wny at years end the habit of reflecting upon the year past and of projecting events to come has be come part and parcel of the american scene this year the voter of buffalo should me placed in the winner - . ii lie because hi the record turnout of new and more seasoned voters which reflects on aware ness that each citizen must play his or her part in a democracy it was therefore particu larly appalling when several media persons expressed chagrin or fear over the increased voter participation of black vot ers if this court y can spend billions ot tax collars lo export den.oiiacy and us free elections around the met surety r few thous and dollars might be veil spent to increase voter participation on the do mestic scene we war.t to express our congratulations and appre ciation to all who partici pated in the primary ard in the election and ask thai you picture yoaiselt in the winner cirri also we would like to place each undidate who entered the ran whether as a successful candidate or not in the winner's code for iheit could be no elective process without candidates those who had never experienced mis arduous teal should recognize that running for office is much more time consuming than a jo b ; it is more demanding than a profes sion it is more confining than attending school there must be dedication singleness of purpose selflessness with investing one's funds good health a winsome personality good friends — and the list goes on but this year we are fortunate that the voting citizens of the city of buffalo had the wisdom to elect such an outstanding array of winners as city court judge-elect hugh scott council president george k arthur coun cilmen-at-large herbert bellamy and clifford bell district councilmen da vid collins and james pitts and county legisla tors roger blackwell and barry robinson all bring with them an array of talent and experi ence which augurs well for this city which is so direly in need of effective leader ship _ leadership which allows the selection of job holders based upon merit and competence rather than upon blind devotion the city needs among its office holders a strong sense of direction which also allows for individual differences this ' '•• needs leadership which recognizes that reasonabli men can and will differ on important issues bi rr.a * often the very dilte-enc.s bring about a better service and product for the community we congratulate the winners and hope and pray for sober mature leader ship we look forward to a council where we can visit take our children and out-of-town friends and feel a sense of pride as we observe the affairs of the city being handled with dignity and sound thoughtful deliberation to city court judge hugh scott we offer our heartiest congratulations he will become the third black judge to sit in what is known as the people's court along with judges barbara 11 sims and wilbur p trammell the job that judge-elect scott undertakes is not easy it is most precari ous as is evidenced by the ferociousness with which elections take place when a black candidate runs for his office the importance of the office should be apparent not only because of its position on the ballot at election time but also because of the contrived attacks on the personal integrity and honor of the independent judges that continue long alter the election is over the reason for the attacks is obvious a judge has the power and authority which may be singly exerted over much of the life of persons who stand before him a recent national study showed that much severer charges were placed against black persons than those placed against whites who committed similar acts but more importantly that blacks were much more often committed to prisons for offenses than whites who committed the same offenses we need our black judges just as did the polish population when it was proportionately as great as blacks now are in buffalo at that time six of the ten city court judges were polish this is not a challenge for the judges to be soft on criminals but just that they mete out even handed justice finally we place judge trammell judge sims and judge scott in the win ner's circle not only to congratulate each of them on their achievement and to recognize the tremen dous legal background that each has we want to assure them that the residents of the city of buffalo stand squarely behind them in love in respect and in recognition that their very achieve ment makes them a threat to those who feel psycho black farm population continues to drop sharply america's black farm population which has been dropping steadily since 1920 showed a sharp drop from 1970 to 1982 blacks on farms numbered only 179,000 in 1982 or 3 percent of 5,620.000 people living on farms according to a report issued by the commerce department's census bureau and u s department of agricul ture since 1920 when the farm population was first identified separately the propositon of all blacks living on farms has drop ped dramatically — from nearly 50 percent to 21 percent by mid-century and to 1 percent by 1982 the proportion of white americans living on farms fell from 27 percent in 1920 to 3 percent in 1982 between 1970 and 1982 the black farm population dropped 71 percent while the white farm population fell 25 percent factors related to the dispropor tionate drop among blacks included the older age structure of black farm operators and smaller acreage and sales the report says the median cash income of black farm families for 1978 the latest available year was only about two-fifty s that of white farm families 9,503 ver sus 21,706 and the 1981 proportion of black farm residents in poverty 49 percent was about double that of whites on farms 122 percent the official measure of income and poverty does not count the value of noncash benefits such as food stamps free or reduced-price school lunches public housing medicaid and medicare in the determination of in come and poverty status copies of the publica tion farm population of the united states 1982 series p-27 no 56 are available from the super intendent of documents u s government printing office/washington d c 20402 \ the president with the most children was tyler who had 15 local servicesman on leave terry davis airman third class stationed in sam vito italy is visiting his mother mrs shirley davis and his grandmother mrs r terry both of east utica st on a 30-day leave leaving buffalo he will report to clovis new mexico he is a graduate of school 77 and seneca vocational high school and is a member of lincoln memorial united methodist church he joined the armed forces in 1981 11 <" terry b davis bishop named asst v.p ellen grant bishop ph.d has been named assistant vice president and administrator of the buffalo general hospital community mental health center cmhc dr grant bishop has been serving as the deputy director of the mental health center for three years and also serves on several hospital - wide committees prior to her work at the cmhc she served as the incare coordinator of the buffalo psychiatric unit dr bishop has recently been appointed to the governor's commission for mental health ser vices new york state she also is chairperson tor the erie county welfare advisory board a member of the professional busi nesswomen's assoc beta phi chapter a trustee of the boys clubs of america and a board member of the boys clubs of erie county dr grant bishop re sides in buffalo with her husband george m bi shop jr vice chairman of the board of trustees for the booker t washing ton foundation 1st contract signed covering sheehan rns for the first time the 106 registered prolesjkm al nurses of sheehan memorial emergency hospital have a collective bargaining agreement the contract was signed on dec 15th the rn are represented by the new york state nurses assoc nysna we're very pleased to have this first contract completed said nysna labor relations represen tative bernard t mccann i il contains some major improvements for the nurses and lays a good foundation for the future the 3-year agreement calls for a committee on nursing practice com prised of rns from the bargaining unit to deal with and make recommen dations for improvements in the hospital's nursing service the contract also provides that rotation of nurses to different work shifts will take place only in emergency situations economically the nurs es won an average 18 to salary increase over he life of the agreement as well as an additional longevity step on the salary scale also in the economic area the con tract includes a 250 bonus for newly-hired nurses with a master's degree increases in shift and in-charge differentials and 3 of 11 paid holidays will be at time and-a-half rate in addition if a nurse is unable to take a meal period she will receive pay for that time the sheehan nurses elected nysna as their exclusive collective bar gaining agent late last year nysna is the nation's largest rn col lee tive bargaining agent representing marl 30,000 mills throughout new york state nowak seeks reagan s support for school desegregation aid bill hep.henry j nowak d buffalo has urged presi dent reagan to support legislation that would "■ enact the emergency school aid act esaai as a separate categorical aid program to assist school districts like buffalo's meet the costs of imple menting school desegrega tion programs the house of represen tatives passed the bill in june but the measure has languished in the senate the congress matimtrottrinvi letter to the while house the measure would authorize 100 million a year for three years for a program of competitive grants to be administered by the secretary of educa tion noting that the 1981 inclusion of the former esaa program into an education block grant lo the states has resulted in a drastic diminution and dilution ol funds available to support school desegre gation programs rep nowal said for buffalo's public school system and its national acclaimed magnet school effort this has meant a cut of almost h7 percent i-i funding — from'nearw 7 million in . the 1981-82 school year to . less than 1 million in is*b_pw such marked cut backs the congressman warned threatened the continuity of programs that have resulted in measurable imptovements in both educational inte gration and academic achievement pierce voices delight on his selection for mlk jr award housing and urban development secretary samuel r pierce jr expressed delight at his selection to recieve the martin luther king jr special award from the organization headed by the late civil rights lead er's widow coretta scott king mrs king has notified secretary pierce that he had been chosen to receive the award from the martin luther king tenter for non-violent social change inc at the group's annual labor management/govern ment social responsibility awards breakfast in atlan ta this coming january 13th she said the award honors those who have made outstanding contri butions to enhancement of social justice and social responsibility in the tradi tion and spirit of martin luther king jr and to improving the working relationship among gov ernment labor end man agement in a telegram to the secretary mrs king wrote t congratulate you on this achievement and recognition for i understand the challenges which you have faced as hud secretary in provid ing for the development of our community ami the housing needs of our people secretary pierce said he was delighted to have been chosed for this award named after the lata dr martin luther king jr hr king worked tirelessly tor equal justice for all citizens 111.1 his efforts remain an inspiration to millions of americans tin secretary will speak at the social possibility seminar which will follow the awards breakfast to be held in the grand ballroom of the atlanta hilton hotel the winner's circle • see page 7 w serving working | leading in j wny i inner cities i since 1923 r i ■ price only 20 per copy s rctv ft l.y * % imm mm ml mm ak „,., i .... ml mean