THE LANCE
15, 1971
Page 3
inority applicants numbers small by the Lance news research team get lonely for other black faces," said Miss Littlejohn, Westside mathematics teacher, "I'm the only black teacher in District 66 to of 529 certified instructors, District 66 has black teacher. Miss Littlejohn said she's for three years (for more blacks). Only time " if the school system will hire more. the lack of minority teachers, the District policies in regard to these groups, says Vaughn Phelps. However, "ten or years ago" the system followed a policy of recruitment. it was popular, before the pressures, we it desirable for minorities to teach in the We thought we ought to make an -not tokenism. The District worked through League at that time," Phelps recalls. school board told me when I was hired that were no restrictions on any persons for racial or reasons. They just wanted the best people " the superintendent explained. He said that basic policy is followed today except there is no seeking out of blacks. "We don't go out of to hire a black or not to hire a black." 66 formerly recruited heavily in Oklahoma a practice which Assistant rintendent Bob Adams acknowledges was to the education of the southern black . north's recruiting hurt the south by their most qualified personnel ," Adams District has discontinued the project. conjectured that the reasons blacks weren't in those days of recruitment was that the District received no applications. And that meant there even fewer good applicants."
"One of the few well-qualified applicants was aPE major from Oklahoma . We needed aPE major and were quite impressed by his interview. But on his application he misspelled "physical" and, since this was his chosen field, we didn't hire him. " Once we got an excellent lady librarian who at that time worked for the Omaha schools. She was ready to accept a job, but backed out because she didn't want to be a pioneer. She also didn't want to travel all that way west." A Dana college art major who worked summers at Joslyn was approached , but she moved to Minneapolis. Another "great teacher" from the University of Nebraska wasn't employed, Phelps remembers, because he had a "chip on his shoulder." According to Adams, the District sends interviewing teams to colleges to check out applicants. They are required by law to sign a statement saying 66 is an equal opportunity employer . "We don't even know how many from minority groups apply . The law keeps us from asking race of religion on applications," Adams added. The only was the District would have of knowing if an applicant is black would be when the applicant made it past the preliminary application checking and was invited for an interview. Out of 500 job hunters Adams interviewed, only two were black, pointing up an absence of minority group people seeking employment in District 66. Although the government does not allow schools to discriminate in employment procedures, neither do they require schools to have a certain percentage of black teachers. The Federal government does make most businesses hire "quotas" of blacks on the premise that forced integration is the only way to let the black man "catch up" and get his rightful share of society in a relatively short amount of time.
coholic solves problem with help of AA by Gail Burris knew is that I wanted to , if somebody would have me to stand on my head in the to get sober, I would have it." is an alcoholic, and a of Alcoholics Anonymous. a group of people for whom has become a major , and admitting this fact, to overcome it. gotta be there to know I'm talking about: being in hospitals and fights like I've You'd wake up and ber being in a fight the night and that was all," he dark-haired alcoholic ued to cite an example from life . "I used to carry a with me all the time because I so much. One time I sat in a brawl where two guys me. I remember I cut up y pretty bad and there was all over me," John reflected. talkative young man his recollections of his life . "When I was 22 years in a Texas hospital for . I was there for three during which time they gave so I wouldn't drink. just put it in my foot locker on drinking. " continued , "Five years later I the alcoholic ward of the hospital in Omaha for 10
he was there. "He looked was 80 years old and ready slab, but I later found out only 40. He was being fed I VPnouslv, and all he could say made any sense was, 'Yeah, I old boy out for a six-pack and a bottle of wine.' " was in the service for three down on the Mexican border. 's where I really went over. could buy a quart of Taquilla .8 0 ." then looked back on when he to AA. The only for becoming a
member is an honest desire to stop drinking, according to AA's textbook. "When I first came here I was a complete atheist; I didn't believe in God or a higher power. I just about walked out when they mentioned God; I thought AA was some sort of religious group. But I stayed because I wanted to get sober so bad.'' "I was here for six months before those signs (cliches on the walls) started making sense; maybe it was just by repetition. Anyway, I found some true values in life," he commented while puffing on one of his many cigarettes. John then compared alcohol to narcotics. "I classify them in the same category. The only difference is in China they have opium dens and here we have bars." He feels that alcohol "messes up your mind like narcotics." John continued, "Some people depend on narcotics like I did on booze. You actually become an alcohol addict." The young man explained why he keeps sober today. "It's too hard to get off it, and I don't want to go through it again. I'd be driving along and the steering wheel would just turn into a bar," he laughed. He went on to talk of alcoholism as a disease. It is estimated that over 7,500,000 people in the United States today suffer from alcoholism. "I feel this is the biggest public health problem today in the U.S., although they say cancer and heart diseases come first. Alcoholism is a three-fold disease: it tears down your body physically, mentally, and spiritually," he opinionated while glancing at the other AA members playing pool or drinking coffee. John then referred to the more permanent effects of alcoholism. "Most of the guys in the penitentiary are there because they were drunk at the time- they say about 80% of them. They are just the unlucky ones; I'm lucky." Another result is that once someone is an alcoholic, they are
always an alcoholic; they can never drink safely again. While lighting up another cigarette , he provided an example of this. "It is like a cucumber and a pickle . Once you become a pickle , you can never be a cucumber again." He continued, "In other words, once you've passed the line in to alcoholism, you're there . That's what this AA program is all about." He looked about the smokefilled room glancing at the voluntary collection tray: a dish with a can of beer in the center. "We take each day as it comes; we never say we're going to quit forever . Tomorrow hasn't come yet and yesterday is gone; all we have to work with is today," he concluded with a friendly smile.
Miss Sylvia Littlejohn, the only black teacher in the District 66 school system, waits patiently the hiring of more black faculty members; "I get lonely for other black faces," she commented.
Homeroom organizational elections select new reps Student Forum Representatives were elected Wednesday, October 6, during extended homeroom. Senior representatives for the forum are: Homeroom 116 : Rob Daash, Robert Register, Diane Matya, and Steve Kurtz; Homeroom 217: Dave Brophy, Bill Coffey, Rick Walstrom, and Howard Hochster; Homeroom 219: Dick Wilcox, Barb Swanson, Roger Newman, and Kathy Kincaid; Cafeteria: Mark Constantino, Mark Scherer; Cafeteria: Dave Hajek, Buddy Goodman, Fred Jetter, and Dan France. Junior Forum Representatives are: Homeroom 200: Fred Smith; Homeroom 201: Carl Anderson; Homeroom 202 : Tom Dinwoodie, Leigh Ann Retelsdorf; Homeroom 203: Sue Urosevich; Homeroom 204: Carol Zerbe; Homeroom 205: Fritz Archerd; Homeroom 206: Jan Paulson; Homeroom 207: Vance Jernstrom, Cindi D'Agata; Homeroom 208: Rich Chalupa; Homeroom 209: Doug Cunningham; Homeroom 211: Jeff Heafer, Sara Barchus; Homeroom 212: Sue Bernstein, AI Katz ; Homeroom 213: Frank Kilmer; Homeroom 220: Debbie George, John Hess; Homeroom 222: Robin Wiar; Homeroom 224: Pam Hultberg; Homeroom 225: Judy Sondker; Homeroom 227: Joyce Dappen; Homeroom 227A: Nancy Greenberg; Homeroom 228: Steve Scudder; Homeroom 228A : Linda Hasebrook; Homeroom 229: Heather Broadbent, Lynn Timperly ; Homeroom 230: Ann Yaffe; Homeroom 230A: Kim Yelkin; Homeroom 231: Chuck Klauman; Homeroom 232: Deanne Kelley; Homeroom 233 : Sandi Morar: Homeroom 233A: Jim O'Hara ; Homeroom 235 : Cyndie Jones; Homeroom 237: Joel Chastain; Homeroom 237 A : Steve Wigg. Sophomore Forum Representatives are: Homeroom 101: Debi Bernstein, Tom Erickson; Homeroom 102 : Linda Sharp; Homeroom 103: Suzi Samson; Homeroom 104: Sherril Prideaux; Homeroom 106: Lynn Friedel; Homeroom 108: Ross Scholz; Homeroom 115: Charissa Lane; Homeroom 117: Dan Dixon; Homeroom 119: Bob Hoard, Laura Schory; Homeroom 121: Sue Horner, Bob Estabrook ; Homeroom 123: Lisa Hattam, Jean Bonham; Homeroom 124: Karen Honig; Homeroom 125: Doug Peck; Homeroom 126: Janet Williams; Homeroom 127: Karen Kelly; Homeroom 128: Donna Mancusso , Cheryl Nadler; Homeroom 128Y: Theresa O'Hallaron; Homeroom 128Z : Jaki Richardson; Homeroom 129: Janet Berkshire; Homeroom 133 : Gary Lieneman; Homeroom 134: Heather Mactier 路 Homeroom 135 : Eadie Fishel; Homeroom 136: Pam Hochster, DeD~ Walker; Homeroom 137: Julie Stockman; Homeroom 138: Anne Mariucci; Homeroom 139: Kathie Bergstrom; Homeroom 142: Dean Tatreau; Homeroom 144: Frank Russell, Tom Goodman.
SERVING DISTRICT 66 72 hours a week--at one door or another
SouthwestBanK OF OMAHA
88th & West Center Road - 393-4300