CNY Vision Week of May 16 - 22, 2013

7/30/2019 CNY Vision Week of May 16 - 22, 2013

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1 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013syracuse nyvol. 4 no. 7 may 16 - 22 2013

cover storyP6

Local Syracuse Activist Twiggy Billue

Dissects School Suspensions


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2 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013LocaL office:

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CALENDAR

may

{COVER P 6



{local P 4, 5

Many NY Gas Leases Expire as

Moratorium Remains

Mayor Miner Stand With Working

Families: Pickets with Local 158

Buddy Nix Steps Down as Bills GM

Tyrone Muse Appointed President of

Visions Credit Union

{national P 8

New FCC Chair Continues Prison

Phone Battle

{OPINIONS/EDITORIAL P 8-11

Teachers Aide Accused of Spreading

HIV to Student

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

The Alliance Between Warmongers

and The Press

By A. Peter Bailey

At Last

By Julianne Malveaux

In This Issue:1 www.cnyvision.com|may16 -22| 2013syracusenyvol. 4 no. 7 may 16 -22 2013

cover storyP6



17Mothers Day Womens Cancer ServicesAwareness EventTime: 11:00a.m.-2:00p.m

Locaon: Spa 500The event will focus on prevenoneducaon for women. Informaon willbe provided regarding health insuranceby the area providers. We will highlightthe nancial services available for vicmsof Breast Cancer through Saint AgathaFoundaon, for the CNY and Watertownareas they have funds available for allpernent treatment costs.

17F.O.C.U.S. Core Group MeengTime: 7:30am8:45amLocaon: City Hall Commons 1st ooratrium - Sustainability Showcase, 201 EWashington StF.O.C.U.S. is a cizen driven organizaon

that taps cizen creavity to impactchange in Central New York by enablingcizens, organizaons, and governmentto work together to enhance the qualityof our lives and our economic future.F.O.C.U.S. engages in research, publicpolicy advocacy, public educaon, andpublic outreach to promote intelligent,inclusive, sustainable decision making.For more informaon, please visit www.focussyracuse.org.

18Big DayTime: 11:00am-3:00pmLocaon: Burnet ParkKids rev up your engines and join in thefun at Big Rig Day. Check out

some of the citys big trucks as well aseets from other Central New Yorkcompanies. Climb in and around city retrucks, honk the horns of thebig tractor-trailers, stand inside a citysnowplow, crawl inside a SWATtruck. And much more. Free admission.Refreshments available forsale. Co-sponsored by Price Chopper, C&SCompanies and Lamar Ad

18Pulverize Condenal Documents PaperShredding EventTime: 8:00am

Locaon: NBT Bank Stadium, formerlyAlliance Bank StadiumResidents able to protect identy andrecycle shredded materials for freeOnondaga County residents are invitedto collect their condenal documentsand bring them to OCRRAs May 18 papershredding event for secure destrucon.

26Memorial Day ConcertTime: 2:30 pmLocaon: Palace Theater, 2384 James St.This special concert, by the Stan ColellaOrchestra, is a moving tributeto our fallen heroes and a poignantexpression of gratude to our troopsand veterans for their service to our

country, and a moving tribute to ourfallen heroes. Presented, in part, by TopsMarkets and B104.7

June

11Downtown Farmers MarketLocaon: Clinton SquareOpen-air market with fresh, seasonalvegetables, fruit, nuts, eggs, cheese,baked goods, owers, plants, handcraeditems for sale. Visit www.downtownsyracuse.com for more informaonor call 422-8284

17TASTE OF SYRACUSE

Time: 11:00amSat, June 8, 11pmLocaon: Clinton SquareBring your friends and your appetesto the AmeriCU Credit Union Taste ofSyracuse, presented by Tops, returns todowntown, featuring live music, fabulousfood, and of course $1 samples. For moreinformaon, visit www.tasteofsyracuse.com.. Sat, June 8, 11pm

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3/12

3 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013PUZZLES

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4/12

4 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013LOCAL

Many NY gas leases expire as moratorium remainsSYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- New Yorksve-year moratorium on shale gasdevelopment promised to be a

blessing for many landowners eager toend leases they signed before anyoneoutside of the oil and gas industry hadheard of fracking.

But actually geng out of a lease canbe tricky. Many have clauses givingthe drilling company the right toextend them for another ve years.Gas companies have tried to extendthousands of leases by claiming anunforeseen barrier -- the moratorium-- has prevented them from drilling.And even when a lease has expired,landowners oen have to take severallegal steps to clear their land of claims.

Thousands of leases have reached the

end of their ve-year term since themoratorium began in 2008. That givessome landowners the chance to getout of a lease they signed for $2 or$3 an acre and 12.5 percent royalesand try to negoate a new one forthe far more favorable terms seen inrecent years -- potenally thousandsof dollars an acre and 20 percentroyales.

Other landowners simply want to endtheir leases to free their farms from

fracking, which uses huge quanesof chemically treated water andsand to crack shale thousands of feet

underground so trapped natural gascan ow into horizontally drilled wells.

Ellen Harrison, of the TompkinsCounty town of Caroline, started anorganizaon called Fleased to helplandowners navigate the complexlegal issues related to gas leases. Sheregrets having signed a lease witha gas company and is now rmly inthe an-fracking camp, which raiseshealth and environmental concernsabout gas drilling and has beenpushing Gov. Andrew Cuomo to makethe moratorium permanent.

Cuomo has said theres no setmetable for his decision.

In New York, your lease doesntjust end when the ve years are up,said Joe Heath, a Syracuse civil rightslawyer who partners with Harrisonin lease-terminaon workshops andoers his services for free to peopletrying to end gas leases. The lawsays when the lease expires, thecompany must provide the landownera document, but they oen dont. Thelease stays there unl the landownertakes acon.

The landowner has to send leers tothe gas company and all investors thathave bought interests in the lease;

if none of them le an adavit toextend the lease within 30 days, thelandowner can le a document withthe county clerk ending the lease. Oneupstate landowner had to nofy eightcompanies to end his lease at the endof its 10-year term.

These leases are commodiesthat they have to sell, Heath said.Companies are desperate to extendthese cheap old leases so they can sellthem. They use every extension clausethey can.

Heath said he has successfully goenlandowners out of a couple hundredleases in the past two years.

Hundreds of millions, if not billions,of dollars are at stake if theseoperators can hold onto these leaseswhich have very favorable terms forthem, said aorney Robert Jones,who has represented hundreds oflandowners in lawsuits challengingeorts by Chesapeake Energy andother companies to extend leases.

A federal judge ruled againstOklahoma City-based Chesapeakeand Denver-based Inecon Energyin November, saying that even thoughthe state doesnt allow fracking,nothing stopped the companies fromusing convenonal drilling methods.

The companies have appealed.

In a separate case, Aorney General EricSchneiderman reached an agreementwith Chesapeake last June to allowmore than 4,400 landowners whoseleases were expiring to renegoateterms with other companies, whichChesapeake could match. The troublewith that, Heath said, is that nocompanies are interested, given NewYorks uncertain regulatory future.

Albany lawyer Tom West, whorepresents Chesapeake and othercompanies trying to extend leases, saidits only fair that companies should begiven me to do the gas exploraon

they agreed to in their leases.

Im certainly sympathec tolandowners who think their leasesshouldnt be extended, West said.But the operators perspecve is,we just want the amount of methat weve been delayed tacked ontothe lease. Its a deal they feel theybargained for, and they should havethe opportunity to come in and testthe resource when the moratorium islied.

Most of the landowners who come tolawyers like Jones and Sco Kurkoski,who work for dierent rms inBinghamton, hope to negoate newleases with beer nancial terms and

more protecon for their land and theenvironment.

Some people are happy that theirlease has expired, but unfortunately,there really isnt any lucrave deal outthere for them, said Kurkoski, whorepresents the 77,000-member JointLandowners Coalion of New York,which is seeking leases on nearly amillion acres of upstate New York landthat havent been leased before.

Two-thirds of the leases people bringto Heath cant be terminated becausethey have clauses allowing thecompany to extend them, he said.

Aorney Joe Heath, le, and EllenHarrison, founder of Fleased, an

organizaon that helps landowners getout of old gas leases, look through a le

box of leases that landowners have askedHeath to review, on Thursday, April 18,2013, at Heaths oce in Syracuse, NY.

((AP Photo/Mary Esch))

Buddy Nix steps down as Bills GMBy JOHN WAWROW

Buddy Nix is stepping down as theBualo Bills general manager, theteam announced on Monday. Nix willremain with the team in a new roleas special assistant, the Bills said in areleased statement.

Assistant GM Doug Whaley, enteringhis fourth season in Bualo, is expectedto take over. He was signed to a long-term contract extension in January.

Though the Bills did not immediatelyannounce Nixs replacement, theteam has spent much of the oseasongrooming Whaley, a former execuvewith the Steelers and a former player

at Pi, to take over.

The move did not come as a surprise,and comes aer Nix oversaw the drain which the Bills opened by selecngquarterback EJ Manuel. Nix and teampresident Russ Brandon were set todiscuss the move later in the day.

At 73, Nix completed his third seasonas the Bills general manager. Ivemade the decision to step awayfrom the general managers posion

because I feel it is the right me, Nixsaid. By the right me, I think wehave a good young roster, an excellenthead coach with a good sta. And itsme to let someone else handle these


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5 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013

Choices today create tomorrow!Your future is illed with many possibilities. Its important to take care of

yourself so that youll be ready to take on the world. What can you do? Eat a healthy diet and get physically active!

Take folic acid every day

Dont smoke, use street drugs, or drink to excess

Get screened and tested for possible medical conditions like diabetesor infections

Get regular check-ups and talk with your health care provider tomanage your health

Make sure your vaccinations are up-to-date

Use an effective method of contraception correctly and consistentlyto prevent unplanned pregnancy

For more information on how to improve your health now, visit:

www.reachcny.org

Funding provided by the NYS Dept. of Health, Div. of Family Health, and Health

Research Incorporated (HRI) through grant funds from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services,

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), First Time Motherhood/New Parents Initiative,

grant # H5MMC202770203. Contents are solely the responsibility of REACH CNY, Inc. and do not

necessarily represent the official views of NYSDOH, HRI or HRSA.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie A. Minertook to the streets Thursday morningto stand in solidarity with the working

men and women of Upstate New YorkOperang Engineers Local 158.

The Internaonal Union of OperangEngineers went on strike Monday

to protest unfair wages at MiltonCaterpillar on Ainsley Drive inSyracuse, the Operang Engineers are

asking for equal pay for an equal dayswork. Operang Engineers in otherparts of upstate are making as muchas $5.00 more per hour than Syracuseworkers.

In standing with the workers today,Mayor Miner said, Times aretough and in mes like this it s very

important to support working menand women. They are ghng for fairwages and I support them.

Mayor Miner Stands with Working Families; Pickets with Local 158

LOCAL

Gary Morris Drops out of Race for Common Council PresidentGary Morris announced yesterdaythat he is dropping out of the race forSyracuse Common Council President.

Morris made the announcementat a press conference he held atthe E. Washington Street campaign

headquarters of Syracuse MayorStephanie Miner.

Morris says he will be supporngVan Robinson for Common Council

President. Robinson received theDemocrac Party endorsement earlierthis month.

over these last 20 years, I havesupported all Democrac candidates.I have work with and on many

Democrac campaigns. I have alsoserved as campaign manager onseveral campaigns, Morris said. Myrecord, as a proud Democrat speaksfor itself.

I ran to stand up for those who havebeen invisible to their city governmentfor four long years. Those are thereasons, I ran for Common CouncilPresident, and those are the reasons,I support Van Robinson and those arethe reasons you should too.

Gary Morris shown right

Tyrone Muse Appointed President of Visions Credit UnionVisions Federal Credit Union recentlyannounced the appointment of TyroneMuse as their President and ChiefExecuve Ocer.

Musetaking over for Frank E. Berrish,who rered April 30began his termeecve May 1, 2013.

We are excited to have Ty join Visions.His knowledge and experience will bevaluable in connuing to provide our

members the world class convenience,pricing, and service they have cometo expect, Mark Paerson, VisionsChairman of the Board said.

Muse most recently served as theChief Financial Ocer at Hudson ValleyFederal Credit Union (HVFCU) where heled iniaves surrounding investmentreturns, nancial performance, anddiversity. Earlier, he served as FinanceManager at G.E. Asset Managementand as Business Assurance Manager atPricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.

It is a privilege to lead an organizaonthat has excelled in meeng members

needs for more than 46 years, Musesaid. We look forward to connuingto place our members rst, being

a premier employer, and a valuedresource in our community.

Tyrone Muse

responsibilies and move forwardtogether.

Nix had previously said he would beinterested in stepping down oncehe felt the team had a franchisequarterback in place and was preparedto move in the right direcon.

I feel strongly that the team is on theright course for success, Nix said.

The Bills are rebuilding from scratchonce again under new coach Doug

Marrone, who was hired in Januaryaer turning around a strugglingprogram at Syracuse. Marronereplaced Chan Gailey, who was redaer a 6-10 nish last year.

The Bills have had eight consecuvelosing seasons, and havent made theplayos in 13 seasons the NFLs longestacve drought.

Buddy Nix

Buddy Nix...from Previous Page

Mayor Miner stood with the working men andwomen of IUOE Local 158 Thursday morning

to picket for fair wages.


6/12

6 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013COVER STORY

Twiggy Billue, a local acvist and co-chair of the educaon commieeof the Naonal Acon Network,has been invesgang a data fromthe Syracuse City School District,and found that suspension rates forminories are sky high.

Aer analyzing a report done by thedistrict based on individual schools,gender, grade level and race for the2010-2011 and 2011-2012 schoolyears, at Shea Bellevue (BellevueElementary School), Billue found:When I looked at the number ofstudents, African-American, Lano,

and Nave Indian and NaveAlaskan, those three categorieshave higher rates than any otherstudents.

Billue said that American Indiansonly made up one percent, but aresuspended at 20.6 percent of therate for both school years. African-Americans make up 50 percent

and theyre being suspended at 50percent of the rate. Lanos makeup 13 percent while theyre beingsuspended at 26 percent of the rate.

Billue said she tried to nd out ifthere were single, mulple or 3- or4-day suspensions over a period ofme. She said she also wanted toknow how many of the studentssuspended had a disability. She saidthe school district couldnt answerany of her quesons.

If you have a disability in NewYork State, you cant be suspendedwithout a determinaon hearing. Sothey couldnt answer any of that,

she said.

During her invesgaon Billue saidshe noced that these schoolswith high suspension rates are inpredominantly African-Americanneighborhoods and Lanoneighborhoods.

Four of the schools in the middleschool rate have been suspendinganywhere from 60 percent to 70percent of all kids, all African-

American and Lano. (The analysisshows that) six to seven percent ofall kindergarteners through secondgraders, were talking about 5, 6, 7year olds, were being suspended outof school.

The report shows that male studentsmake up 25 percent of the rate ofstudents suspended in both the

2010-2011 and 2011-2012 schoolyear. African-Americans make up25.7 percent of students that aresuspended.

And thats at three mes or twicethe rate of their white counterparts.The school board didnt want tolisten to us, so we had to dissect thatinformaon, Billue said.

Billue aended the Syracuse schoolboard meeng on Tuesday. Wesent them 46 quesons in wring,but they havent goen back yet.We rst presented the quesons tothe school board at a meeng lastSaturday at Fountain of Life Church.

And we gave them some me andwe re-presented them at the schoolboard meeng Tuesday so they canbe on the record ocially. Its almostlike a double- edged sword. They putthe data out because we asked for it,but we exposed them. So now eitherits going to get worse, or its goingto get beer. Its like a well showthem mentality.

Superintendent of Schools SharonContreras listened to the concerns

Twiggy Billue

Local Syracuse ActivistTwiggy Billue

Dissects School SuspensionsBy DeLani Weaver


7/12


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of the parents and communitymembers about the high amount ofminority suspensions. Billue said shebelieves Contreras is trying to help thesituaon but is essenally being eitherignored or blamed.

We have an African-American,Lano background superintendent.

The board made an eort to hire thiswoman to come in and make changes.However, she is being bow-guardedby this: I call it the good old boysnetwork.

So everything she tries to implement,the full respect doesnt getimplemented. So, when you forcethem to create a research departmentand their working for you and theyproduce something like this and sheshelping us; shes now being accused ofhelping blacks and Lanos more thananybody else.

At the meeng the other night (schoolboard meeng), you had a group of

white parents saying they wanted herout and us saying thank you for makingthe hard decisions but you cant keepleng them suspend our kids like that.We dont want to direct this to you(Contreras), but to the board, becauseyall set policies, she only implementedthem.

You have a policy youre not following,which is the code of conduct, becauseif youre following the code of conductit says progressive discipline. Theresno way in the code of conduct that kidsshould be suspended for three daysevery week. Thats not progressive.

Billue said she and other members

of the Naonal Acon Network havebeen working with the Departmentof Jusce and the school board to ndout exactly whats going on within theschools and how to implement theright policies and procedures to deterthe amount of suspensions within thedistrict.However, the principles have beenreluctant to meet with the network.

Our schools here are on the boom5, Billue said. That means theyrefailing schools. At this point werewilling to work together with theschool board. However, we havenoed the Department of Jusce. Ihave sent them a copy of my ndings

along with the school districts report.

If you bring a knife to school you needto go home, actually you need to go tothe police. However, if you got into apushing match or someone trippedyou and jumped up and startedarguing, you shouldnt be gengarrested for that. No one shouldbe suspended out of school whenyou have code of conduct that saysprogressive discipline. That doesntmean we just throw you out. Thatmeans we progressively work with youto curve the behavior.

Billue said millions and millions ofdollars have been spent on innovaonzones and promise zones, which aresupposed be used for behavioralissues. Even though the behavioralclinics are allegedly in the schools,students are sll being suspended and

not geng the help that they need.

Some people believe discipline startsat home. Some have said, if a child isbehavioral problem at their school,then discipline isnt being administeredproperly at home. When asked aboutthis Billue said this:

With parents doing what they aredoing, what we must recognize thatif even if the parent has all the toolsin the world to do what they need towith their child, we have no controlover the climate in the community.

I live right in the middle of the city.So, the other day there was a guymurdered at the top of my street andthe kids that walk to Roberts, the kidsthat walk to Corcoran had to stepover that blood-splaer. They wereup all night because they had policeknocking on doors; they were in riotgear, helicopters ying around. So, iflile Johnny came to school the nextmorning, that wasnt his mothers

fault that he acted out and nobodywas at the school to understand thathis next door neighbor was murdered.

So if you dont understand the climateof the big gang ght, or shes afraid ofsing on her porch because of shotsred, if you dont understand that, ifyou dont live where I live, then shameon you for saying parents arent doingenough. Shame on you.

When those things happen, I knowthat our kids are not geng thesupport to be able say: Thats alright,cry. I know youre angry. But, we dontallow them to debrief aer a cricalincident.

A busload of kids was riding down thestreet a couple years ago, stopped ata stop sign. The kids watched one boyrun up to another boy and shoot himin the head. Those kids didnt havecrisis intervenon.

However, the next day aer themurder, I seen several kids on theblock, so I walked up the street andasked them, I said: Why are y all out?They said: She sent me home becauseI wasnt ready for school today. I triedto tell her my boy had died. And myhusband said: Somebody needs to goand talk to them.

So, if youre not willing to understandthat these parents and these kids arecarrying the weight that other peopleand other neighborhoods dont evenhave to carry, then youre reallymisplacing the blame.

I dont agree with parents needs todo more. The economic status has tobe looked at; the lack of investment inthese kids has to be looked at beforeyou can blame that. Parents do asmuch as they can. But if three of yourhomies were just murdered and I gota knife in my pocket, my mother canttell me much of nothing.

Ok, if theyre saying come to schooland whip your kids because theyrebad, are you gonna call the police onus aer? Are you gonna call CPS (ChildProtecve Services) aer?

COVER STORY


8/12

8 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013NATIONAL

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New FCC Chair Continues Prison Phone BattleBy Stacy M. Brown

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Mignon Clyburn, a veteranpolicymaker from the Public Service Commission ofSouth Carolina, has been appointed acng chair ofthe Federal Communicaons Commission, the rstwoman to ever hold the post.

Since joining the Federal CommunicaonsCommission (FCC) in 2009, Clyburn remains a leaderin the ght to reduce telephone rates for prisoninmates throughout the country and, in her rstinterview since being appointed by President BarackObama to her new post, she vows to connue thatbale.

Tens of thousands of consumers havewrien, emailed, and telephoned the FederalCommunicaons Commission, pleading for reliefon interstate long distance rates from correconalfacilies and I intend to keep pushing this issue, saidClyburn, 51.

Clyburn said that she could not discuss detailsregarding her recent appointment, which wasannounced on May 1.

However, the second-term FCC commissioner ismied that rates make it cheaper to place a cellulartelephone call from as far away as Singapore thanit is for an inmate to make an interstate collect callfrom prisons in the United States.

According to data from various telephone companies,including Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, the averagecost of a call to Singapore is 12 cents per minute,while a call from prison includes a $3.95 conneconfee regardless of the length of the conversaon.

One ve-minute call from prison could be as highas $17 with the connecon fee and the per minuterate can be as high as 89 cents, Clyburn said. Thatframework can be as high as your regular monthlyphone bill. Were talking a signicant amount ofmoney for those who are least likely to be ableto aord that type of engagement. All of this hasmovated me to keep this ght going, she said.

Clyburn, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree inBanking, Finance and Economics from the Universityof South Carolina, served as chair of South CarolinasPublic Service Commission from 2002 to 2004.

While Clyburn has made her mark in the publicsector, she remains proud of her background inmedia thats where she learned to speak truth topower.

It was on an African-American newspaper, theCoastal Times, in South Carolina, she said. Clyburnco-owned and operated the newspaper with herfather, Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the formerHouse majority whip and the current AssistantDemocrac Leader.

Clyburn said she will connue to pressure regulatorsto nd more aordable soluons and rates forinmates and their families.

Two private companies own the service that operateall prison phone calls in the country, Global Tel*LinkCorp. of Mobile, Ala., and Securus Technologies, Inc.

of Dallas, Texas. A spokeswoman at Global Tel*Linkand a secretary at Securus each declined comment.

Ocials from both companies have previously saidduring a conference in New York last year that thehigher rates are due to the security features theirtechnology provides, such as monitoring phone callsand blocking numbers.

But, technology is readily available and notsomething that should translate to $15 for a15-minute phone call, said Steven Renderos,naonal organizer for the Center for Media Juscein Oakland, Calif.

Rates for the calls widely vary from state-to-state, butthe commissions received by the phone companiesand prisons are high, Renderos said.

For example, in Alabama the commission rate is61.5 percent, and this translates to families having topay 89 cents a minute on top of the $3.95 conneconfee every me a family member receives a call, saidRenderos.

Eight states, California, South Carolina, Nebraska,New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Michigan, andMissouri, have banned these commissions and inthose states, you see some of the lowest rates forphone calls, he said.

The District of Columbia prohibits any surcharge,commission, or other nancial imposion onprisoners phone calls beyond legally establishedphone rates, which are limited to the maximumrate determined by the Districts Public ServiceCommission, agency ocials said.

Clyburn, who in 2001 began work to reduce therates and recruited Jesse Jacksons Operaon Pushto assist, said the telephone is a crucial instrumentfor the incarcerated, and those who care aboutthem, because telephone usage is oen the onlycommunicaons opon available.

Maintaining contact with family and friends duringincarceraon not only helps the inmate, but it isbenecial to our society as a whole because thereare well over two million children with at leastone parent behind bars and regardless of theircircumstances, both children and parents gain fromregular contact with one another, said Clyburn.

A major hurdle in the bale to reduce the call ratesis the Almighty dollar, ocials at the CongressionalBlack Caucus (CBC) said. Last week, representavesfrom the CBC also signed on to help Clyburn ght theexorbitant costs of prison calls.

The phone market in state prison systems is worthmore than $362 million annually. Payments togovernments in return for exclusive phone contractsaccount for an esmated 42 percent naonwide, or$152 million per year, according to a 2011 reportpublished by Prison Legal News.

Also, while telephone companies somemes providereduced rates for evening and nighme calls, manyprisoners dont have the luxury of scheduling phonecalls during those me periods.

When Louisiana issued a Request for Proposal (RFP)

for prison phone services in 2001, it specied that themaximum points should be awarded to the bidderwho bids the highest percentage of compensaon. Italso stated a desire that the bidders compensaonpercentages be as high as possible, the studystated.

When the Alaska Department of Correcons issuedan RFP in 2007, bidders were rated on a point systemwith 60 percent of the evaluaon points assigned to

cost.

Some of Americas prisons are privately owned andpublicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange(NYSE), meaning that they are for-prot businessesand pay dividends to shareholders. CornellCompanies Inc. (whose NYSE symbol is CRN),Correcons Corp. of America (CXW) and Geo GroupInc. (GEO), are the three companies that own prisonsin the U.S.

Cornell, which operates in 15 states and the Districtof Columbia, is currently trading at $29.45 a share.Stock for Correcons Corp., the largest owner ofpartnership correcon and detenon facilies andone of the largest prison operators in the UnitedStates, is trading at $37.07. Located in Boca Raton,Fla., the Geo Group is trading at $37.92 a share and

the company is expected to release its rst quarternancials on May 9.

Im opmisc on a number of fronts, Clyburn said.Our oce has constantly ensured that this processof reducing the rates is one that is dynamic andmoving forward, she said.

The more people who are aware of whats goingon, the beer because there isnt anyone, myselfincluded, who hasnt had this type of engagement.We all know or are related to someone who hasbeen or is currently incarcerated and a lot of peoplesll dont realize how signicant of an economicimpact this has on poor families.

Mignon Clyburn Says Rates Are Unfair ToInmates and Families

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from theWashington Informer


9/12


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10 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013OPINION/EDITORIAL The views expressed on our opinion pages are those of the author and do notnecessarily represent the position or viewpoint of MRMG or CNY Vision

Mario Huntis a 35-yearold teachersaide who mayhave done theunthinkable toa young manat his school.Hunt is beingaccused criminals-xual assault,a g g r a v a t e dcriminal s-xual

abuse, and transmission of HIV.According to court documents, theteacher commied the crimes againsta 17-year old boy on the schools trackteam between between January 1,2011 and June 21, 2011.

The student aected has beenidened as a senior at Cahokia SeniorHigh School, which is where Huntteaches and works with the trackteam.

In court documents, it is revealed thatHunt is HIV posive and knew he hadthe virus when he slept with the minor.Ocials dont know if the student wasinfected or not. School ocials foundout what was going on aer a mother

complained to the superintendent.She says that the coach was sendinginappropriate messages to her son onFacebook.

Im shocked by that, said Cahokia,Illinois Superintendent Art Ryan. Im,you know, sad to hear that thats apossibility. Again, I have no rsthandknowledge of any of this stu. Justwhat you have shared with me. Ivenot seen any reports about the chargesbeing led or anything of that nature.You know, again, with HIPA laws andso on, you know, people who are notcompelled to share any situaons theymight have with their employers.

Hunt has been jailed on $300,000 bondand school ocials say that police areconducng individual interviews withall the athletes on the track team.

I am not sure if Mr. Hunt is guilty ofthis crime or not, but this incidentbrings several things to mind. First, itis a reminder that the abuse of minorsis rampant in our society and in theAfrican American community. Thereare thousands of young women whovebeen impregnated by older men, and aslew of gay black males who had their

rst experience (and rst infecon)from an older man. This necessitatesthe importance of us taking this kind ofabuse seriously and opening the doorsof communicaon for our children toreport these incidents before its toolate.

The second thing that comes to mindwith this incident is the increase in thenumber of single parent households inthe black community as a result of themass incarceraon epidemic over thelast 40 years. This has led to a mentalhealth crisis in the black community,with a large number of black menwhove been exposed to a physicallyand mentally unhealthy environmentwhile incarcerated. In many cases,single mothers are not always able toknow when men have been harmingtheir children, leading to devastangconsequences. Of course, this man(to my knowledge) has never beenincarcerated, and the boys motherwasnt dang him, but there is adegree of trust that single mothersput in male role models, coaches, andmentors.

The point in all of this is that there area long list of reasons for single mothers

to be thoughul about who theirchildren interact with both inside andoutside the home. During my yearsas a track coach, I was stunned by thenumber of single mothers who wouldtrust me with their children withouteven knowing me. The reality is thatyou just cant do that.

My father was once the commanderof the Crimes Against Children unit inmy home city. The stories he wouldtell shocked me to to the core of mysoul. In a lot of cases, the motherhad no idea that her child was beingassaulted while she was at work, andalso, the man she loved was the oneresponsible. Incidents like this oneserve as very clear reminders that wemust protect our kids and clear ourcommunity of various forms of abusethat occur, largely due to systemicracism trickling down to uncheckedmental illness. This case is just the pof the iceberg.

-----------------Dr. Boyce Watkins is the author of thebook, Black American Money.

Teachers Aide Accused of Spreading HIV to a StudentFROM THE BoYce BLOG

DR. BOYCE WATINS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Once again

the Americanpress, whichloves to loudlyand consistentlyboast of beingthe best andfreest press inthe whole wideworld, is allowingwarmong er ingpolicians andpundits to dotheir thing

without asking a most basic queson:How many family members of thetrash-talking chicken hawks willactually ght in the war they insist isabsolutely necessary for U.S. naonal

security? Please noce the words,Fight in combat. Just their being inthe military is not sucient. Much too

oen the relaves of the warmongerswho go into the military are seldom

assigned to actual combat zones.

Every day one sees or hears chickenhawks such as Senator LindsayGraham, Senator Ted Cruz, columnistCharles Krauthammer, propagandistsSean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, BillKristol and his neo-con desk warriorsthe Fox and Friends crew, the editorialpage writers of the Weekly Standard,and their cohorts, rant and rave aboutsome kind of military involvement inSyria.

This is especially true of SenatorGraham. Yet the highly paid,supposedly independent and truth-seeking members of the naonal

print and broadcast press never askthem how many of their children,grandchildren, brothers and sisters,

nieces and nephews or rst cousinswill face the possibility of combat in

Syria or anywhere else. They are highamong the chief beneciaries of theexisng system and should be the rstones willing to ght for its connuance.

All one has to do is read Faces ofthe Fallen, published several mesannually in The Washington Post. Itsmost recent lisng was published May3, 2013. The casuales included manymilitary personnel from places such asClaremore, Okla., Cabot, Ark., Tolar,Tex. Liverpool, N.Y., Maysville, N.C.,Houlton, Maine Sierra Vista, Ariz.,Gillee, N.J., Gardiner, Ore., Greer,S.C., Jordan, Minn., Sidney, Mont. andNew Carlisle, Ohio.

While these overwhelmingly smalltown soldiers are being killed andmaimed in Operaon Enduring

Freedom in Afghanistan, familymembers of the warmongers connue

aending birthday pares, celebrangholidays, vacaoning in the Caribbean,graduang from colleges anduniversies, aending weddings andjamming at pool pares with theireconomically and socially elite peers.

Meanwhile, their warmongeringgrandfathers, fathers, uncles, brothersand cousins are insisng on U.S.military involvement in Syria andmembers of the press sll dont askthem the most basic queson: Howmany of your immediate family will bein combat if you are successful in yourquest for another war of choice? Itsfor sure that my godson, who was sentto the Iraq combat zone 5 mes wants

an answer to that queson.

The Alliance Between Warmongers And The Press

A. PETER BAILEY

gy Moi, s., MbaLicensed Real Estate Broker/Owner

rin e. MoiOfce Manager/Owner

g&r r ett 2007, llc761 North Salina StreetSyracuse, New York 13208

email:[email protected]: 315.399.5183fax: 315.399.5191


11/12

11 www.cnyvision.com |may 16 - 22| 2013OPINION/EDITORIALThe views expressed on our opinion pages are those of the author and do notnecessarily represent the position or viewpoint of MRMG or CNY Vision

JULIANNE MALVEAU

Let your voice

be heardTell us what you think at:EDITOR@

cnyvision.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - WhenBeyonce Knowles sang theEa James song At Last at

President Barack Obamas 2009inauguraon, the song couldhave had several meanings.At last we have an African-American President? At last,the muscle of the Black votehas been exed? At last, thereis some hope for our countryto come together with themantra Yes We Can.

Watching the President and First Lady MichelleObama slow dance to the romanc standardreminded us that African- American families havenot oen been posively depicted. This aracveimage of an intact Black family had come At Last.Thus, the song was symbolic of what many folks, andespecially African-Americans, believed about the

Obama Presidency.Some of us blindly believed that with an African-American president opportunity had come At Last.Some believed it so fervently that the least cricismof President Obama, no maer how mild and howlovingly conveyed, could cause you to be run out ofthe race. An alumnus of Morehouse College, Rev.Kevin Johnson, the selected baccalaureate speakerat his alma mater, wrote an opinion piece that wasmildly crical of President Obama. As a result, formerWhite House and new Morehouse President John S.Wilson, Jr. changed the format of baccalaureate to apanel, not one speaker, as is customary.

The purpose of baccalaureate is to have one speakerto focus on the spiritual dimensions of graduaon.There is no way that Rev. Johnson would deliver a

polical speech. Sll, he was essenally disinvitedfrom the baccalaureate because of his views.

President Obama is the President of the UnitedStates of America, not the President of BlackAmerica. Yet, it seems that African-Americanshave been kicked to the curb in terms of focus andaenon. Other groups the LGBT community, theLano community have been menoned explicitly.

However, on African-American issues, our Presidenthas been silent.

Now, some African-American people are crooningAt Last. Charloe Mayor Anthony Foxx has beennominated to serve as Secretary of Transportaon. Ifconrmed, Mayor Foxx, an outstanding an eminentlyqualied candidate would join Aorney General EricHolder as the second African-American to serve inthe cabinet.

Similarly, the nominaon of Congressman Mel Wato lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency is a stepforward. FHFA regulates Fannie Mae and FreddieMac and allows Congressman Wa the opportunityto implement some of the Obama iniaves abouthomeowner recovery from the Great Recession. Theraging right has already come aer CongressmanWa. The Daily Caller (a polical blog) has reportedan unsubstanated claim by former Presidenalcandidate Ralph Nader that the Congressman

disrespected him in a leer. Nader has neverproduced the leer. Thus, the purpose of the claimis to besmirch FHFA nominee Congressman MelWa.

If Wa is conrmed, this represents a step forwardfor both President Obama and for African-Americanpeople, and for the enre naon. The issue is, ofcourse, conrmaon. Will the White House be ableto garner the votes Wa needs to be conrmed?

What does the White House gain or lose if Wa isnot conrmed. The At Last segment of the African-American community will credit the President formaking the nominaon, even if not conrmed.The more crical segment of the African-Americancommunity will view the ways the White Houseembraces this nominee, and queson commitment.

Ask UN Ambassador Susan Rice what it feels liketo be dropped, when Senate conrmaon seemedunlikely.

During President Obamas rst term, his inaenonto the African-American community wasunderstandable, though not acceptable. He was

busy straddling lines, generang compromise, andleaving a legacy of health care reform. African-Americans were paent in the hope that at lastAfrican-Americans would get recognion in hissecond term. Aer all, as a lame duck President,he has much to gain, and lile to lose in rewardinghis most loyal constuency. At last some of us haveour disappointment conrmed. Our Presidentsinaugural speech menoned every communityexcept the African-American community.

President Obama and his supporters should notbe thin-skinned. Philadelphias Rev. Kevin Johnsonshould not be disinvited from the Morehousebaccalaureate. Nor should a panel dilute hismessage when the tradion is to have a sole speaker.Johnson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of MorehouseCollege, who deserves to be treated with respect.

His column pointed out realies President Clintonappointed seven African-Americans to his cabinet,President Bush, four, and President Obama, justone. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who leads theCongressional Black Caucus, in a leer to PresidentObama, wrote, The people you have chosen toappoint in this new term have hardly been reecveof this countrys diversity.

Are the Foxx and Wa appointments a responseto cricism? Based on their appointments, shouldBlack folks sing at last or not yet?

At Last

Austerity station


12/12


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CNY Vision Week of May 16 - 22, 2013

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