Police Put Heavy Squeeze On Bars Serving Minors

The Grand Rapids Times
5-9-2008

Grand Rapids – Within the past 14 days, the Grand Rapids Police Vice Unit and Special Response Team has cited some local bars and other establishments for violating the law.

The GRPD’s Alcohol Enforcement Project is targeting downtown bars noticing whether they are serving minors and intoxicated patrons.

“We are targeting the downtown area because of increased incidents of assaults on patrons leaving bars in that area,” said Lt. Richard Nawrocki. “If high incidents of assault spread to other areas of the city, we will target them as well.”

The ending of the college school year when downtown bar activity increases and the high school prom season, are two reasons for the timing of the project.

Decoys watch for violators at party stores and at licensed take-out businesses with the potential of furnishing alcohol to minors.

The operation stems from several sources of information, knowledge of locations having previous violations, citizen complaints, complaints forwarded from the Liquor Control Commission, police reports and officers.

The police department’s goals are to promote the safety of underage persons and to encourage responsible consumption by those of age.

A major focus is to assure that licensed establishments are in compliance with all laws and licensing requirements.

“I wouldn’t consider this operation to be a sting. It’s more or less monitoring the behavior of patrons and making sure that those who are serving alcohol, are checking identifications and not over serving people, Lt. Nawrocki said. “We also want business owners to know that we are concerned about alcohol being available to minors and insist that they are diligent with not serving them.”

One downtown establishment, McFaddens Bar, has been cited for allowing an intoxicated person on premise.

Numerous other locations were checked and monitored for compliance.

During the decoy plants, 84 businesses were checked, and 14 sold alcohol to an underage person.
Of the 14 businesses that were cited, 12 have had previous violations.

Decoys were either 18 or 19 years of age and possessed their own identification, clearly showing they are under 21 years of age.

Of the 14 businesses who sold to an underage person, 11 of them requested and checked the decoy’s identification.

“Although the project resulted in a 16 % violation percentage, that rate is still too high for minors,” said Lt. Nawrocki.

All businesses found in recent violation have been cited to the Liquor Control Commission, and individuals furnishing alcohol to minors have also been cited.

As a result of the significant number of violations, especially repeat violators and the continued request for police services at downtown bars, the GRPD and Vice Unit will continue to aggressively enforce violations of the Liquor Control Commission and state and local laws.

Students’ Spoof On Calvin’s Plan For Racial Justice Backfires

The Grand Rapids Times
5-9-2008

Grand Rapids – Traditionally, some members of the staff for The Chimes, Calvin College’s student newspaper, take on a satire in the last edition for academic year.

This year they decided to take on Calvin’s administration and what they believe to be the college’s shortcomings in the areas of anti-racism.

Last week, students published a take off on From Every Nation, the college’s plan for addressing diversity. Their attempt to mock the plan backfired, causing a stir on and off campus.

From Every Nation is Calvin College’s “revised comprehensive plan for racial justice, reconciliation and cross-cultural engagement.”

Photos on the plan’s cover show images of people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds engaging in activities on the campus.

Students dubbed their satire, Fear Every Nation. The photo on their cover superimposes an image of Will Smith among a group of white students.

The plan From Every Nation is based on the vision and goals and strategies for “transforming Calvin into a college that is always vigilant in recognizing racism, always conscientious in promoting reconciliation, and always active in the work of restoring a healthy multicultural community.”

In Fear Every Nation, students state that “Calvin’s comprehensive plan has grown more complex, and it is due to the effects this cultural muddying has brought on campus”.

The spoof is an attempt to call the college to do better.

It reflects student’s view that the college’s plan is nothing more than rhetoric and that the college has not made progress over the years.

“They believe Calvin has lofty goals for being anti-racist and multicultural, but that too often the college falls short,” said Tom McWhorter, Vice President for Enrollment and External Programs. “In the past, students have spoofed everything – the parent handbook, the daily devotional publication – you name it; they’ve probably spoofed it.”

Even though the student staff might have been trying to tell the college to “to put up or shut up“, what they have done is not viewed by some as the best way to challenge the institution.

The fallout from their publication was neither taken lightly nor has it been ignored.

“They wanted to prod the college to do better and they decided to use the annual satire to do so. They had advice from their advisor; some was heeded, some not. I don’t think they sought enough advice from students likely to be offended. Their document fell more to the edge of satire. It’s a little too bad. We work so hard at addressing racial issues,” said Mc Whorter who was a member of the committee that formulated the college’s plan about 5 years ago. He is also a member of Calvin’s Multicultural Affairs Committee.

That the document raised some displeasure was obvious in the community in comments from callers on local radio talk shows.

So far, the college has responded by holding on-campus forum.

The first on Wednesday, gave The Chimes staff an opportunity to state their intent and gave other students and staff a chance to offer vent how they felt affected.

“It was a good discussion,” noted Phil DeHaan, Calvin’s Director of Media Relations. “For some who read it, the satire was right on, including some students and professors of color. For others, the satire itself was seen as hurtful and racist, including some students and professors of color.”

Mc.Whorter said that only once has he known of any disciplinary action to be taken against students for the annual satires. In this case, he said the students had been vilified by the responses.

As DeHaan put it in talking about the forum on Wednesday evening, “Last night the student newspaper staff heard from those who had been hurt. And their eyes were opened. The students, including the newspaper co-editors two young women, apologized over and over again. They cried. The faculty mentor apologized. There was some healing. But the night was a reminder that when it comes to issues of race it’s very easy to make mistakes, even when one’s intent, to expose racism, was good.”

From Every Nation can be viewed at www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/multicultural/fen.htm

Election Protection Report: Record Turnouts But Millions, Disproportionately Minority, Denied Right To Vote

Washington, D.C. (BlackNews.com) - The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law recently released its interim Election Protection 2008 Primary Report detailing the program's findings in this year's primaries.

"The heartening story of record turnout across the country has been highlighted throughout this process," said Jonah Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections in the Lawyers' Committee's Voting Rights Project. "The story left untold, however, is that the infrastructure that supports our election system often breaks down causing countless eligible voters to be disenfranchised."

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My Motive For Wright Breakfast

Pastor Jeremiah Wright’s comments in his speech at the National Press Club, added fuel to the media’s fire, keeping his connection to Barack Obama in headlines. This week the NNPA Religion Columnist that asked Pastor Wright to speak at the National Press Club tells why he was invited?

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Peculiar People

The Grand Rapids Times
5-9-2008
Blackonomics
By James Clingman
NNPA

Look at the current political brouhaha between Pastor Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama, the fire of which is being stoked by dominant media and talking heads on so-called “news” programs.

They are defining and controlling us to the point that we have turned on ourselves much like we did during the days of DuBois, Booker T., and Marcus Garvey.

We are choosing sides in this political tug-of-war, as if we can win by being on either side. I don’t know when we will ever understand that we must have own side, our own political party, our own economic base in order to win.

If our votes are so powerful and we are such an important voting bloc, why are we always left out when it comes to doling out the spoils of political victory? Yes, a few folks get good jobs and appointments; but, by and large, Black folks get little or nothing. I just cannot believe that we, the “peculiar” people, are so naïve that we keep on falling for the same trick over and over.

Our current political situation is untenable at best, between a rock and hard place. We are dividing faster than a zygote.

Most of the anger we feel has been generated by the usual suspects on television who dominate the evening news shows.

After Pastor Wright’s sermon snippets were played ad infinitum, and after Obama decried a few of the things Wright said, it should have been over. But, it’s not over until the media say it’s over, and you know whose media to which I am referring.

They were calling Wright out, night after night, and playing those snippets at least 50 times a day. “Where is he?” they would ask. “Why won’t he come on our show and talk to us? Why won’t he make himself available to answer for his ‘hate-filled’ words?” they would say.

Wright retired and went on vacation. They continued to call him out. When he came out, and did what he has done for years now – spoke his mind – he was vilified and pilloried by the press, which ultimately caused Barack Obama to respond and “disown” Wright in no uncertain terms.

Where do we go from here? Well, like Wright said, “I am not running for office.”

Barack is running, and he cannot (or will not) say anything that will indicate in the slightest way that he is not advocating for a so-called “colorblind” society.

How do we manage the reality of Wright’s words versus the idealism of Barack’s words? What is the proper Black perspective in this situation? Was Wright wrong, or was he wronged? Was Obama correct in his assessment and subsequent disowning of a man he said he could no more disown than he could his grandmother?

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