Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 November 2003 — Page 4

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS

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will feature the state Legislature's four-caucus leaders - Sen. Robert ^ Carton, Sen. Richard Young, Rep. Pat Bauer and Rep. Brian Bosma. In addition, Chamber President Kevin Brinegar will outline key objectives for the business community. The 2004 Central Indiana Legislative Preview will take place Nov. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Adam's Mark Hotel at 120 W. Market St. The cost for the discussion and luncheon is $49. To register for the preview, or for more information, contact Libby Schenk at the Indiana Chamber at (317)264-6894 or visit www.indianachamber.com. Family strengthening summit Mayor Bart Peterson will address an expected 1,000 participants at the fourth annual Family Strengthening Summit. The event is free and open to the public and features live entertainment, snacks, family photos and information about how families can connect to local service and support, cultural activities, education and health programs. The event will be Nov. 15 at noon at the 500 Ballroom of the Indianapolis Convention Center.

obtained his GED, received anger management counseling, completed an electrician’s apprenticeship and received help to improve his interviewing skills to assist him in getting employment. “My life was very hard and I didn’t really have any appreciation of my life or anyone’s life,” said Edwards. “Now I feel like I have a reason to be here. You live ' and you learn and everyday I learn more about myself. I have all faith in God and I know that none of this would be possible without him in my life.” Currently, the FFRRC serves more than 450 active participants with an average age of 22. It is one of the few organizations whose mission has been specifically focused on improving the life options of children through the re-engagement of fathers in

the lives of their children. Dr. Wallace McLaughlin, president of FFRRC says Edwards epitomizes the mission. “Richard was nominated for the (Courage in Action) award because he represents a whole breast of our goals,” he said. “He has accomplished everything we want all our men to do.” Those accomplishments include gaining custody of his daughter, building a new house with his wife LaShawna and being employed as an engineer at Covanta for almost three years. “ I wanted my daughter to have stability, a solid foundation and a happy family. My wife treats her as if she were her own,” said Edwards. “The (FFRRC) brought things out in me that was already there and taught me how to use it. They sprinkled me and I bloomed out to be a better man.”

Ray Oiarles donales $1 million lo Dillard University NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ray Charles received an honorary Charles has donated $1 million degree in May from Dillard, a to Dillard University for the ere- private, predominantly Black ation of a program about Black school associated with the United culture, the school has an- MethodistChurchandtheUnited nounced. Church of Christ. The donation will create an The 73-year-old singer doendowed faculty position and nated the money in the name of program devoted to the musical, the Robinson Foundation for culinary, artistic and linguistic Hearing Disorders, a laboratory contributions of Black Ameri- he founded in 1987 for the treatcans, Dillard spokeswoman ment and research of hearing Maureen Larkins said. problems.

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Bake sale protest draws criticism from minority students

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Abake sale in Indiana University’s Dunn Meadow drew a crowd - and a debate - when it offered cookies for sale at different prices depending on the buyer’s race or gender. The sale last week was organized by a conservative student group called the Committee for Freedom, who said it was intended as a protest of affirmative action. White males had to pay $1 for a cookie. The price was ^5 cents for white women, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for Blacks. Conservative groups have held similar protests at several colleges across the country in recent months. The IU group also was circulating a petition asking university officials to ban the collection of data on the race of students and employees. “We don’t think that’s a factor that should be taken into account,” said Alex Gude, a member of the group. During an hour-and-a-half of business, the group sold three

cookies for $1 each and drew a crowd of minority students who engaged in face-to-face debates with the protesters. “I just feel like we need to fight misconceptions like this, whether you’re for or against affirmative action,"said Eric Williams, presidentofthe IU chapterofPhi Beta Sigma, a Black fraternity. Some Black and Hispanic students said the bake sale tactic was demeaning. People who oppose affirmative action do not understand what it is like to be person who is in a minority, said Amber Garcia, a junior. “They don’t know what it is like to go into a classroom and be the only person that looks different,” she said. One student, Rahsaan Bartet, filed a complaint with the dean of students’ office, saying the bake sale would “create a climate of hostility against students of color and women and can easily turn violent.” Officials at Southern Methodist University shut down a simi-

lar bake sale in September, saying it created a potentially unsafe situation. IU Dean of Students Dick McKaig said officials would follow up on the complaint, but he doubted the bake sale violated school rules against behavior that victimizes or stigmatizes individuals on the basis of race or ethnicity. “There is sort of a wide berth given to activities in Dunn Meadow in recognition of free speech,” McKaig said. IU sophomore Stephan Jerabek, the Committee for Freedom’s president, said the event went well. “There were a lot of good arguments and very good discussions,” he said. “That makes me happy, that there was good discussion on the topic.” Similar bake sales have been held at Southern Methodist University, the University of Califor-nia-Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Northwestern University and the University of Washing-ton-Seattle.

Poverty rale rises [or second sfraigh! year

WASHINGTON (AP) - Poverty increased for a second straight year in 2002 with 1.7 million more people dropping below the poverty line, the Census Bureau has reported. Incomes were down, too, fresh evidence of the struggling economy’s effect on Americans’ pocketbooks. The national poverty rate was 12.1 percent last year, up from 11.7 percent in 2001. That meant nearly 34.6 million people were living in poverty. Median household income declined 1.1 percent nationally between 2001 and 2002 to $42,409, after accounting for inflation. That means half of all households earned more than that amount, and half earned less. Before the twoyearsofincrea.se nationally, poverty had fallen for nearly a decade to 11.3 percent in 2000, its lowest level in more than 25 years. Income levels increased through most of the 1990s, then were flat in 2000. Bureau estimates showed poverty increased significantly for several segments of the population that could be crucial in the

2004 presidential election: Blacks, married couples, suburbanites and people in the Midwest. “Everyone’s taking a bump down, and you haven’t seen the worst of it,” said Syracuse University economist Tim Smeeding. However, Daniel Weinberg, who oversees the bureau’s housing and household economic statistics, said trends between 2001 and 2002 were consistent with changes following past recessions. With President Bush seeing declining approval ratings 13 months before the next election, White House aides have called for passage of virtually his entire domestic agenda, from increased involvement in federal programs by religious groups to legislation limiting personal injury lawsuits. “The economy is moving in the rightdirection,” Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said. “But the president is not satisfied. ... It’s important toereatetheconditions for job growtli and that’s why the president continues to say that there’s more that we can do.” I louse M inority leader Nancy

Pelosi said the tax cuts that had been pushed by Bush weren’t creating jobs. “It has only created obstacles for Americans working hard to get ahead,” the California Democrat said. Many experts had predicted that rising unemployment and the still unsettled economy last year woidd increase poverty and lower income for most people, though the recession ended in November 2001. Comparing poverty rates and income for racial and ethnic groups was more diffic ult in 2002 because the Census Bureau for the first time allowed survey respondents to report if they were of more than one race. For instance, the poverty rate for Blacks in 2002 ranged slightly from 23.9 percent for those who identified themselves as being Black and another race, to 24.1 percent for those who selected only Black. Measured either way, the bureau considered it a significant increase from 2001, when 22.7 percent of Blacks lived in poverty.