Commission Dismisses Discrimination Complaint Against Alabama-Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The state Ethics Commission has dismissed complaints against the president of the University of Alabama-Birmingham and another school official, saying the allegations of discrimination do not fall under its jurisdiction.
A local activist had filed a complaint against Dr. W. Ann Reynolds, the school’s president, and George Perdue, assistant vice president of minority business development, saying the university discriminates against Black-owned businesses.
Richard A. Peters, director of Concerned Citizens for Racially Free America, also alleged that the university awarded contracts to women who served as fronts for businesses actually operated by their White husbands.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” says university spokeswoman Dale Turnbough, adding that neither Reynolds nor Perdue will comment on the allegations or the ethics complaint.
University officials say contracts with minorities and female-owned businesses have increased. The number of minority vendors rose from 10 in 1988 to 257 in 1998 and female vendors jumped from 156 to 426 during the same time period.
Appeals Court Upholds Confiscation of Kentucky Yearbook
CINCINNATI — Kentucky State University administrators did not violate the First Amendment rights of two former students by forbidding distribution of a school yearbook and allegedly meddling with the student newspaper.
That’s the word from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here, which ruled last month that former students Charles Kincaid and Capri Coffer failed to prove their allegations against the university. Their lawyer says he will appeal.
The university’s lawyer, J. Guthrie True, contends that administrators were not trying to control the yearbook’s content. Rather, he says, halting distribution was “only an effort to assure that the students were producing a quality yearbook.”
In an earlier ruling, U.S. District Court Judge James Hood found the yearbook was not a public forum protected by the First Amendment, that its content did not rise to the level of public speech and that the two students lacked standing to pursue claims about the student newspaper.
The students accused the administration of trying to keep “negative” news out of The Thorobred News campus newspaper and of forbidding distribution of the 1992-94 student yearbook, The Thorobred.
The students’ attorney argued that administrators never consulted with the student publications board about confiscating the yearbooks and transferred the student publications coordinator out of that job after she insisted students should control editorial content.
Alabama State Trustee Puts
His Money Where His Mouth Is
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama State University trustee became so frustrated last month with a drawn-out debate over whether to cut a dropout prevention program that he opted to pay for it out of his own pocket.
Trustee Larry Vines last month wrote a check for $121,372 to keep the program alive for at least another year. “I’m a night school boy. I came up on the poor side of the tracks. I can relate to them,” the Birmingham lawyer says.
Alabama State is one of several historically Black colleges participating in the statewide program along with Alabama A&M University, Bishop State Community College, Miles College, Stillman College and Talladega College.
Alabama State’s program, the “Joint Project on Dropout Prevention,” is part of a partnership with the local Montgomery school district. It uses college students as tutors to help younger students who are struggling academically.
The board of trustee’s finance committee had recommended cutting funds for the program. That, coupled with the reallocation of other funds, would have allowed the university to give all employees a 3 percent to 5 percent pay increase.
Mississippi’s Big Three
Getting The Big Bucks
JACKSON, Miss. — The state college board here approved lucrative raises for the presidents of Mississippi’s three comprehensive public universities and smaller raises for the presidents of five regional universities, including three historically Black schools.
At historically Black Jackson State University, Dr. James E. Lyons Sr., the school’s president, received an increase of $34,468 to bring his salary to $150,000. At Mississippi Valley State University, Dr. Lester C. Newman’s increase of $21,766 takes his salary to $134,000. And at Alcorn State University, Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr. received a $21,676 raise to up his salary to $134,000.
But those salaries still fall far below what the presidents at the comprehensive universities receive. That’s in part because the college board left undisturbed the supplements that those presidents receive from private campus-based foundations. Foundation leaders had argued that putting restrictions on privately funded supplements would make it tougher to attract and retain top people.
As a result, Mississippi State University President Dr. Mack Portera is provided — by his school’s foundation — with a $150,000 supplement, including a $50,000 one-time bonus. The new raise brings his total pay package to $300,000.
University of Mississippi Chancellor Dr. Robert Khayat gets a $130,000 supplement from the Ole Miss Foundation to boost his annual package to $280,000. And University of Southern Mississippi President Dr. Horace Fleming receives a $50,000 supplement to bring his new package to $200,000.
Photographer Donates King Collection to University of Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — The photojournalist who was the personal photographer for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has donated his archive of photographs to the University of Texas-Austin.
The collection of Flip Schulke includes more than 300,000 original images. An exhibit of 60 of his photos of King and his family opened late last month to coincide with the unveiling of a new statue of King on the university’s campus.
“This is an incredibly important collection of photographs. It constitutes the largest single archive of photographic images of Dr. King and his family,” says Don Carleton, director of the university’s Center for American History, which will house the collection.
“Dr. King allowed Mr. Schulke to take candid photos of his daily life, and many have never been seen by the public. It will be an outstanding researching and teaching resource for our students and faculty,” Carleton says.
Schulke, a leading innovator in underwater photography and photographer for deep sea adventurer Jacques Cousteau, also has photographed numerous national and international figures, including President John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Jimmy Hoffa, Pope Paul and Muhammad Ali. His work has been in many magazines, including Life, National Geographic and Ebony.
Much of Schulke’s work is documented in three of his books — Martin Luther King Jr.: A Documentary from Montgomery to Memphis; King Remembered and He Had a Dream. He was the only photographer allowed into the King home following the assassination of the civil rights leader.
He was also one of three photographers allowed in the Ebenezer Baptist Church to record King’s funeral. It was during the funeral that he made the close-up photo of a grieving Coretta King, which Life magazine ran on its cover.
Report Reaffirms California Colleges Headed for Enrollment Boom
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s public colleges could gain nearly 750,000 students by the year 2010, straining the state’s three college systems and its budget, a new report warns.
Education officials have talked about the so-called “Tidal Wave II” for years — a projected 500,000 additional students they predicted would pour into public colleges over the next decade because of population growth.
But a report issued today by the California Postsecondary Education Commission projects the surge will be even higher — an unprecedented 714,000 additional students, 36 percent above fall 1998 enrollment.
“This will be the largest number of students, anywhere, at any time, in any state, seeking public college enrollment,” says Warren Fox, executive director of the state commission, which coordinates and plans for higher education.
California’s population growth is the biggest factor, but economic expansion and educational changes such as class-size reduction and ending social promotion also will play roles, the report says.
The new projections come as state officials and lawmakers discuss what state government must do to accommodate the expected growth in the University of California, California State University and community college systems.
The Postsecondary Education Commission enrollment report projects that each of the state’s three college systems will gain 30 percent more students by 2010. The number of California students at public colleges is estimated to rise from 1.99 million in fall 1998 to 2.7 million by 2010.
The University of California system will increase from 173,570 to 229,724, the California State University system from 349,804 to 479,485 and the state’s 106 community colleges from 1,475,000 to 2,003,918, the report estimates.
The report did not cover California’s private colleges, which had about 209,000 students last year. The commission predicts changes in the racial and ethnic makeup of the public college population, including:
n A significant increase in Hispanic and Asian students. The Hispanic student population is projected to grow from 14 percent to 18 percent of students at UC, from 24 percent of students to 27 percent at CSU and from 26 percent to 30 percent at community colleges. The percentage of Asian students is likely to grow from the current 35 percent to 41 percent at UC, from 23 percent to 25 percent at CSU and from 17 to 18 percent at community colleges.
n A decline in the percentage of White students, from 47 percent to 43 percent.
n No substantial change in the percentage of Black and American Indian students, at 6 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
