Posted: 14 Feb 2010 09:09 PM PST

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Will anyone remember that 17-year-old Angelania Ritchelle, a parentless high school student who wanted to be a fashion model, died of fright two days after the earthquake and ended up in a mass grave on the outskirts of this city?

That is what her cousin Emmanuella Dupoux, 23, her voice thick with emotion, wanted to know. "Angie was a nobody, she died a nobody, she will never have a funeral, she will never have a tombstone," Ms. Dupoux said. "She is just one of the nameless, faceless victims, and I hate that."

In Haitian society, Rudy Bennett, 57, was a somebody, a prominent businessman and the younger brother of Michele Bennett, the former first lady and ex-wife of Jean-Claude Duvalier. But his death got little notice here, either.

Few were aware that his sister, a polarizing figure who lives in exile, had flown in with a search-and-rescue team to look for Mr. Bennett in the rubble of the Montana Hotel, where he had gone to fix an espresso machine leased from his food company. He was buried just last week.

The Jan. 12 earthquake was an equal opportunity leveler with such mass deadliness that it erased the individuality of its victims. According to the Haitian government, more than 230,000 people died in the disaster, but initially few had ceremonies to mark their deaths. Even the collective loss of life was not memorialized until this past weekend, when the government imposed a national period of mourning.

Bit by bit, though, the individual losses are coming into focus for Haitians finally ready to grieve. Many victims were not accepted as dead until the search missions were over, and many bodies were never recovered or were dumped in mass graves. But belatedly, funerals and memorial services are taking place daily, and the traditional word-of-mouth network known as telediol has reawakened, delivering death notices.

If Haiti, always stoic, first seemed too stunned to cry, the tears are rolling now for those who seem irreplaceable: the tax man who wrote software to detect fraud in a corrupt society; the gallery owner whose eminent Haitian art collection perished with her; the writer who translated the culture's oral storytelling into prose; the feminist leaders; the nursing students; the factory workers; the teachers; and the children, especially the children.

"My little girls died at the very moment I was making plans for their future," said Frantz Thermilus, the chief of Haiti's National Judicial Police, caressing their pictures on his cellphone. "And the future of the children is the future of Haiti."

His daughters Talitha, 12, and Emmanuella, 11, were crushed in their school, the Christian Institute of Haiti, when their mother was late to pick them up. She had been diverted by Mr. Thermilus, who had insisted that she stop first at an English-language academy to register the girls for intensive classes, he said.

"Someone else offered them a ride, but that person was not authorized to pick them up, and the school's guardian wouldn't let them go," he said. "To show you just how sweet they were — they could have left without her permission. But they always respected authority."

Head shaved, spine erect, epaulets starched, Mr. Thermilus spoke in his office at police headquarters. Tearing up, he said his daughters used to run to greet him when he arrived home. Talitha would tuck under his right arm, Emmanuella under his left, and he would debrief them on their days.

Now, having sent his wife and 3-year-old son to New York, he has barely left work since the earthquake. "When I go home, I'm in pain," he said. "Here I can do something constructive."

The earthquake not only took away his girls, Mr. Thermilus said, but allowed the 5,000 inmates in the country's main prison to escape. "In those few minutes, so much I cared about was undone," he said. "Justice undone, children gone, innocence destroyed. I mourn it all."

Many mourn the older victims who had weathered a lifetime of Haiti's adversity and served as the institutional memory of many sectors of society.

Brother Hubert Sanon, 85, for instance, was the first Haitian member of the Salesian order of the Roman Catholic Church, which plays a caretaker role for poor and orphaned children in Haiti.

The Salesians raised former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, ordained him as a priest and eventually expelled him; Mr. Aristide ran, and radicalized, their vocational school in the neighborhood of La Saline, where Brother Sanon was sent afterward to restore order, the Rev. Sylvain Ducange said.

Brother Sanon died in his dormitory room at the school, whose collapse also killed scores of students. He was found sitting in his chair, rosary beads in hand, Father Ducange said.

A tailor by training, Brother Sanon had made the robes for priests and lawyers in Haiti for many decades. "Who will do this now?" Father Ducange asked.

Marc Lacey contributed reporting.

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Coroner as celebrity: After 50 years of death, Dr. Cyril Wecht looks ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 09:09 PM PST

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The only child of immigrant coal-town grocers, Wecht says his earliest memories involve visiting slaughterhouses with his father. His adolescent memories include sneaking into the morgue near his home and peeking at the bodies.

Just after medical school, when Wecht was completing his military service at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, he met a Norwegian woman named Sigrid. Their first date came hours after he had fallen from a horse and torn up his face on a gravel road.

"This is not good," she thought as she munched on Mexican food and gazed at a 30-year-old man who, to her 21-year-old eyes, already seemed old.

A year later, they began what has been a nearly half-century marriage, producing four children.

Along the way, Wecht has served twice as Pittsburgh's elected coroner, has performed 17,000 autopsies and consulted on thousands of others.

Some accuse him of enjoying the media spotlight too much, of arrogance and egotism and an unchecked temper.

A columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Brian O'Neill, wrote recently of Wecht's penchant for making enemies: "He has made them gleefully, shamelessly, recklessly, aggressively and often tastelessly. He writes letters like a man standing astride twin steeds, Vanity and Venom."

Wecht, predictably, is unswayed by such attitudes. "Most of what people call 'diplomacy, tactfulness, sensitivity,'" — here his voice takes on a nyah-nyah cadence — "much of that ... is disingenuous." (And that "..." stands for something unprintable here.)

His adversarial nature, he realizes, has damaged him. "With all that I've achieved," he says, "if I had had maybe more restraint, more patience, more tolerance, then I probably would have maybe achieved more."

"I'll never know," he adds. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

___

Here is what most of the people who look at Wecht don't see:

_a man who answers every letter — including missives from hundreds of convicts.

_an educator and mentor willing to talk to college and high school students on the phone at night.

_a workaholic who chairs the world's largest group of forensic scientists and who is wrapping up his 10th book.

Few see how his work and penchant for controversy have affected his family.

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12 MONTHS 12 ISSUES: Public jobs scarce for minorities - Niagara Gazette

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 09:01 PM PST

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Published: February 15, 2010 12:03 am

12 MONTHS 12 ISSUES: Public jobs scarce for minorities

By Mark Scheer, Rick Pfeiffer and Nick Mattera
Niagara Gazette

The Rev. Harvey Kelley admits he's not thrilled with the pace of progress.

The pastor of New Hope Baptist Church on Buffalo Avenue has worked for years with the Niagara Falls School District to promote ethnic diversity within the school system's work force.

He has noticed some improvements but knows there is still much work to be done.

"I personally think the more inclusive we are as a community, the more progressive we will be as a community," said Kelley, who serves as education committee chairman for the local branch of the NAACP. "But I think that takes a while to sink in."

A Niagara Gazette review of work force records for the school district, police and fire departments and the city as a whole found a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the issue of ethnic diversity. In the interest of full disclosure, this particular article only includes employment statistics of ethnic minorities, and specifically African-Americans. The review did not factor in Caucasian women who are part of the work force.

In the school district, 168 out of a total of 1,546 employees, or just under 11 percent, were black. In terms of teaching positions, just 30 out of 573, or 5.6 percent, are black.

The city's police department employs 16 non-Caucasian employees, representing 9.5 percent of the total work force. Statistics for the city fire department were not available.

In the City of Niagara Falls, the makeup of ethnic minority workers also represents a small percentage of the total work force.

Bill Bradberry, chairman of the city's human rights commission and president of the local chapter of the NAACP, finds the employment data troubling.

While African Americans and other minority groups account for more than 20 percent of the city's total population, according to the most recent U.S. Census figures, Bradberry notes they are not being represented at the same level within the local public sector work force. Of greater concern, he said, is a significant number of ethnic minority residents are currently out of work, suggesting that while they need jobs, they haven't been able to secure them within the local government or school district.

"Generally speaking, we've got a lot of work to do," Bradberry said.

City of Niagar Falls

Bradberry, who served as city administrator under former Mayor Vince Anello, said a scan of the city's employee roster reveals an unfortunate trend — ethnic minority employees tend to be clustered in larger numbers within rank-and-file positions and fewer and fewer can be found as you move up to supervisory and managerial jobs. Bradberry said it has long been the case that the largest number of African American and other non-Caucasian employees are hired by the city each year for lower-paying temporary and seasonal work.

"It's been like that for a very long time," he said.

Mayor Paul Dyster said the city is continuing to take steps aimed at adding to the level of diversity within its work force. He noted the city recently entered into a legal agreement with the attorney general's office that will see it revamp its policies on hiring, employment and discrimination. Out of that, Dyster believes will come a greater commitment on the city's part to not only attract minority candidates for available positions, but ensuring that they receive equal treatment when it comes time to promote from within. The goal, he said, is to formalize city policies so that diversity remains a focus long-term and lasts beyond one or two mayoral administrations.

"That's the way you make these sorts of changes stick," Dyster said. "If you keep moving people in at every level and they have an equal opportunity to work their way up, you are eventually going to fill in the pyramid with a much more diverse work force."

Both Bradberry and Dyster admit it is not as simple as choosing minority candidates first. Both concede other factors that have nothing to do with ethnicity play a part in the decision-making process, including Civil Service regulations and union rules that often require jobs to be filled based on examination scores, seniority and other factors.

Bradberry believes the city could do a better job of promoting the availability of jobs to minority candidates and should be doing more to help minority candidates navigate their way through the Civil Service process. He also has long advocated for the creation of a program offering prospective employees incentives for purchasing and repairing homes within the city limits and for a city-school district partnership that would encourage students to consider careers in government, law enforcement or education as they move closer to graduation.

"We can start seeing the benefits right away if we get started right away," Bradberry said.

The school district

The hiring of African-Americans in the Niagara Falls School District has had slight growth over the past three years, however, Bradberry said the statistics are stark and there is room for progress to be made.

"Only 5 percent of teachers in the district are African American, and that is not satisfactory," Bradberry said." It is unacceptable and we are not going to rest with this."

Bradberry questioned what the situation would be if the numbers were reversed.

"If there were 95 percent black teachers and 5 percent white, what kind of reaction do you think you would receive from the community?" he said. "What are the barriers causing this? Why is progress taking so long? These are all questions that need answers."

Kelley believes adding to the level of diversity on the district's staff will promote more success among minority students. Success in the classroom, he argues, leads to greater success in the working world.

"It gets back to the influence of role models," Kelley said. "If a person is involved in the whole educational process, then the reward at the end of it is a job. To be educated is to be employed."

School District Superintendent Cynthia Bianco said in 1995, the district in conjunction with Niagara University established the "Grow Your Own" program, which is geared toward advancing the education of under-represented employees. Bianco said it is a grant established specifically for minority employees holding a bachelor's degree to work toward a master's degree. Once a master's degree was obtained, the employee is given an opportunity to teach in the district.

The district employs one black principal, one black administrator and five vice principals. In contrast there are 42 black associates (classroom, lunch, bus), 23 maintenance (cleaners, custodians, repairers) 14 cafeteria workers and eight school safety officers.

"You have to change the perception that there are no opportunities for young black students," Bradberry said. "They look around and see black custodians and lunchroom staff and it leaves them with little expectations for themselves, while seeing African American's hoarded into the lowest ranks of society."

Bradberry said those notions translate directly to graduation rates, which at Niagara Falls High School is below 50 percent among black males.

Kelley said there is need for more diversity within the school system, but other factors play a role, including cuts in education spending which have led to fewer opportunities overall and the city's declining population which he believes has prompted many qualified minority candidates to seek positions elsewhere.

Bianco said the district will continue to work with groups like the NAACP and is committed to facilitating change.

"It is a culture thing, it takes time to see significant changes," Bianco said.

Police and fire department

Both the Falls Fire Chief and Police Superintendent say cultivating a work force that is reflective of the city's diverse population has been challenging.

While employment of women has improved dramatically in recent years, the hiring of non-Caucasians has lagged.

"No, I'm not satisfied," Police Superintendent John Chella said. "We need a more diverse work force. Any city work force should be reflective of our population."

Currently, 9.5 percent of the Falls police force is made up of African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics. Chella said the last round of Civil Service testing for the department saw a significant increase in the number of non-whites taking the exam.

The department tried to increase participation by ethnic minorities by going into the community with special programs designed to help prepare candidates for the testing process.

"We have to try harder to attract (non-Caucasians) who want to take the (Civil Service) test and become members of the police department," Chella said. "We tried (to bring their recruitment program) to every area and every ethnicity in the city."

Chella said the city is on the verge of hiring an additional eight officers to send to the police academy in March. Of those officers, two are ethnic minorities.

"We're doing the tutoring, we're doing recruitment, hopefully it's making a difference," Chella said. "There are a lot of steps (to become a police officer), you take a written test, there's physical testing, a background check, a polygraph test, a medical exam and a psychiatric evaluation. It's all pass-fail and the wash-out rate can be high, especially on the physical testing."

The fire department also engaged in an active program of community outreach before its last Civil Service test. Chief William MacKay says he was pleased by the number of non-Caucasian candidates who actually took the firefighters' test.

"We're going to continue to reach out to the Ministerial Council and the NAACP (for recruiting help)," MacKay said. "We're always working to increase (ethnic minority) hiring, and we've got a lot of work to do."

Both MacKay and Chella said they are looking forward to the city hiring an equal employment opportunity coordinator and working with that person. MacKay also has instituted a program that looks to identify future firefighters at a young age.

"We're working on our Youth Fire Academies," the chief said. "We want (young people) to get an early interest in the fire service."

The city's residency requirement for police officers also can be a hurdle in trying to attract talented non-white recruits. Many prefer the better pay and opportunities provided by state and federal law enforcement agencies. Chella tries to overcome that obstacle by preaching the "stability" here.

"We are a local police department and we do provide stability," he said. "One day you may be patrolling Highland Avenue and the next Niagara Falls Boulevard. If you go to the DEA, you could be in Buffalo one day and Portland, Ore., the next. We want to attract candidates who want to give back to their community."

History: Mountain State saga - Charleston Gazette

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 08:47 PM PST

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Authorities are haggling over whether a majority of landowners approve -- or disapprove -- of listing Logan County's Blair Mountain on the National Register of Historic Places. So far, it's on-again, off-again. The peak was listed, then delisted.

Logan lawyer John Kennedy Bailey counted 60-plus property holders, and said more than half want historical recognition. But state Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith says the lawyer's count was submitted "outside the listing comment period." As we suggested before, a legislative committee should hold a hearing to resolve this fuss.

Regardless of how the landowner count turns out, West Virginia should do more to spotlight the Battle of Blair Mountain, America's largest insurrection since the Civil War, and its worst-ever armed labor conflict. This peak event in the state's notorious "mine wars" had profound significance.

The struggle in the early 1900s featured near-warfare between armed mine guards and armed strikers. Some episodes:

Strikers, evicted from company homes, set up tent cities on Paint Creek. In 1913, mine owner Quinn Morton put machine guns on an armored train that sprayed the tents, killing one. The county sheriff rode with Morton in the mow-'em-down attack. In retaliation, strikers raided a guard compound, killing 16.

A reprise of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral happened in 1920 at Matewan, Mingo County, killing seven Baldwin-Felts guards and four strike supporters. Police Chief Sid Hatfield, who backed the strikers, later was gunned down by Baldwin-Felts men as he appeared for a court hearing.

Angered by Hatfield's murder, around 10,000 strikers marched southward like an army. To stop them, Logan Sheriff Don Chafin -- paid by mine owners to squelch union efforts -- installed machine guns and fortifications on Blair Mountain, and recruited hundreds of company-paid "deputies" to man them. The battle raged nearly a week, ending when U.S. Army units and fighter planes arrived.

The Blair site is vastly more historic than many places on the National Register. Whether you're union-oriented or company-minded, nobody can doubt the importance of this battleground. More should be done to preserve the saga.

A movie was made about the Matewan Massacre. Maybe Blair deserves the same. Perhaps a state museum should be created at the locale. Commissioner Reid-Smith says federal officials in Washington still have an option of restoring Blair to the National Register. One way or another, state leaders should support factual recognition of this storm in West Virginia's past.

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Cultural

Sunday, February 14, 2010

“Tears Roll as Haiti Emerges From Shock - New York Times” plus 3 more

“Tears Roll as Haiti Emerges From Shock - New York Times” plus 3 more

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