MonitoRadio Weekend Program; [1991-01-04]

You From Boston, this is Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Marty Haas, coming up on our program, Singapore is singing the praises of having babies. The Mick Mack Indians hope the federal government will recognize their tribe. We start a new series on the challenges facing Black Americans, and Jet Williams talks about her daddy's legacy. He added blues to his music, you know, back when it was a hard country. He came in with the blues and it put a different style to his music, which I think really separated him. And he was

always one step ahead of the pack. That's all coming up. Pakistan and India have a long history of conflict. Over the past year in Indian occupied Kashmir, Kashmiri militants have been waging a violent campaign for independence. At least 1700 people have been killed in the struggle. Winter snowstorm seemed to have slowed down the separatists, but the threat of nuclear confrontation between Pakistan and India is looming much larger. Monitor Radio's Vic Roberts reports. When Pakistani -backed Muslim separatists battled Indian troops last May in Kashmir, both India and Pakistan braced for war. It would have been the fourth war between the two since 1947, and some feared this one might become a nuclear war. George Rathjins is a nuclear weapons expert at MIT.

He says India can already produce nuclear weapons, and that Pakistan is not far behind. My guess is that they could make, that they could fabricate weapons if they have not done so, that they could do it this year or in the next few months. Pakistan's government insists it is not trying to produce nuclear weapons. But Pakistani journalist Mushaheed Hussein says the government would support such an effort as a deterrent against India. India has certain designs on Pakistan, so Pakistan needs to feel that the only deterrence against Indian expansionism and Indian designs for Hajimani would be a bomb, which would deter India from aggression. And because in the conventional field, we can't really match India. Pakistan's nuclear potential so alarmed the Bush administration that in October it cut all aid to Pakistan, the third largest US aid recipient at nearly $600 million per year. The administration said it was unable

to certify, as required by law, that Pakistan did not have nuclear weapons. Ohio Democratic Senator John Glenn. If the Pakistani government continues on the current course, which we see as a big danger, then they can't expect us to cooperate in their adventurism. Pakistan entered the nuclear age in 1972, when the country built its first and to this day only operating nuclear power plant. After India successfully detonated a nuclear device in 1974, Pakistan stepped up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Pakistan has been connected with several attempts to buy components for nuclear weapons production, some illegal. They've ranged from getting plans for a weapons -grade uranium production facility in 1974 to the recent attempted purchase of three high -intensity furnaces from a new Jersey firm. Pakistan's leaders have always insisted Pakistan has only a peaceful nuclear program, but Senator Glenn finds that hard to believe. They have used every subterfews, they've tried to smuggle

material out of this country, they've got plans out of Europe. It's a whole, when you look back at what the Pakistani program has been for nuclear weaponry, it just makes a mockery out of what they have told us all through the years. On two previous occasions, USAID to Pakistan was halted because of nuclear weapons concerns, but Washington's political priorities eventually won out over its nuclear non -proliferation goals. In 1981, Pakistan's role as a conduit of covert aid to Afghan rebels fighting Soviet troops helped persuade President Reagan to restore aid cut by the Carter administration. When that fighting tapered off and Soviet troops withdrew in 1989, concerns about nuclear weapons resurfaced. But in June of 1989, Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Budo reassured the U .S. Congress that Pakistan would not build nuclear weapons. We are prepared for any negotiation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in our region. We will not provoke a nuclear arms

race in the subcontinent. Last October, Nawaz Sharif replaced Budo as Prime Minister. Sharif has repeatedly vowed not to bend to U .S. pressure on nuclear weapons, raising concerns that he might even accelerate the weapons program. Pakistan's 500 ,000 -man army consumes nearly half of Pakistan's annual budget. Pakistani professor Sharine Mazarri says that cost makes nuclear weapons a more economical and effective alternative. Pakistan has no other option unless the tensions and the conflicts with India are resolved, because the only other option would be to continue building up your conventional military. And that will be even more of an economic disaster for Pakistan. Pakistani and Indian troops battled briefly last week in Kashmir, a reminder after months of calm that the two countries are still not far from the brink of war. Because of that, Pakistanis feel they need a nuclear option. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Vik Roberts. This

is The Weekend Edition of Monitor Radio. I'm Madhi Haz. By many standards, Singapore is an Asian success story. The former British colony boasts a strong economy, good schools, plentiful housing, and accessible medical care. Ever cautious, Singapore's government is acting to ensure continued prosperity by encouraging its citizens to be fruitful and multiply. From Singapore, the monitor's Barbara Bradley has our story. The sounds of a maternity ward in Singapore, music to the government's ears. Last year, fewer than 48 ,000 new Singapore citizens came into the world. That gives Singapore one of the lowest birth rates in the world, too low to replenish its population, or to fuel its future economy since today's baby shortage is tomorrow's labor shortage. And it gives Paul Chang, director of the government's population planning unit, cause for alarm. On one hand, we want to ensure that we have a

steady supply of workers. On the other hand, we also want to worry about the balance in our age structure. We don't want the population to be too old, which would mean that the dependency ratio would be much higher. And the younger workforce would have to carry a much larger older population. So in 1987, the government began an ad campaign calling for the pattern of little feet. Its campaign slogan, have at least three. More if you can afford it. You may give your child the best things money can buy. But the most precious gift of all is a brother or sister. The government gives parents a gift, too. A third or fourth child is worth nearly $12 ,000 in tax rebates. So a shrewd Singaporean family could avoid paying taxes for up to 14 years. Today, the birth rate is up, but the government knows that tax incentives alone won't do the trick. The population

problem is rooted not only in a low birth rate, but more importantly, in a low marriage rate. Because Singaporean men traditionally prefer wives who are younger, less educated, and more willing to take care of the home, educated women are being left out of the picture. Marrying down, as it's called, leaves graduate women only a 50 -50 chance of marrying a Singaporean man with a university degree. Bleak statistics for Carolyn Lim, a 24 -year -old trader at Standard Chartered Bank. She often puts in 12 -hour days and has little time or energy to spare on dates. Her career may be a financial blessing, but in this traditional Asian society, it's a social curse. I think it's a little difficult for a man to accept a person like me because I've been used to being independent. And yet, strangely, I mean, after all these independence and all these running around doing my own thing, I'd like to be a little bit dependent on the guy now and then. Did you get to know him pretty well? Seven

months ago, Carolyn Lim joined the Social Development Unit, or S .D .U. The government -stating service for college graduates. After personal counseling, S .D .U. matches her with compatible, educated men. For a mere $30, it will try to set Carolyn up with 90 dates over the next five years. Helen Wang is S .D .U.'s Deputy Director. The traditional matchmaker is gone. You know, with education, with economic independence, so that profession has just faded out. And now, S .D .U. is just feeling that vacuum left behind, where we are just giving the network for people to meet and perhaps marry. Today, Carolyn's is one of the 2 ,900 names in the S .D .U. computer. So far, this electronic matchmaker has paired her with a half dozen men, although only one has actually ended in a date. There's still a certain amount of

stigma attached to joining it, because a lot of people have this idea that, you know, only people who are really desperate, you know, go for S .D .U. Yeah, it's quite awful. Carolyn wants to get married by the age of 30. Much beyond that, she says, being single is a humiliation in Singapore. At 24, Carolyn is far from desperate, but she's beginning to look ahead. You know, you start to think about the loneliness of being old alone with no family, you know, no direct family, actually, and it gets to you. Carolyn's putting her best foot forward, sometimes awkwardly, at S .D .U. dances. Her friends don't dare go, but they are curious about them. First thing to ask is, did you see a cute guy? You know, was that a cute guy? It wasn't a cute guy. You know,

how boring. You mean there were no cute guys, et cetera, et cetera. And I mean, I tried to tell them, like, hey, you know, kind of expect to meet Richard Gear or Tom Cruise, you know, in any of these functions. What you want to do is you just want to meet nice people. Carolyn doesn't expect to be swept off her feet right away, but who knows, through government efforts, nearly 2 ,000 others have found mates. And however clumsy S .D .U. activities may be, they bring Singapore one step closer to a healthy birth rate, and Carolyn one step closer to a partner for life. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Barbara Bradley in Singapore. There's been a tremendous rekindling of interest in all things Indian, since

the release of the film, dances with wolves. And there's a tribe in northern Maine who hopes that the federal government shows them a bit more interest. The Micmac Indians are looking for a government acknowledgement in the form of a monetary grant, and so far they haven't succeeded. At issue is the definition of what constitutes a tribe. The monitors Steve Delaney is in Aristic County, Maine. Using old tribal skills, the Micmac's turn sticks of brown ash wood into tightly woven baskets. For today's Micmac's, the forest is seen solely as the source of wood for basket weaving, and for firewood. But wood cover wolf semipass says his ancestors saw the woods as an Indian supermarket. Everything was there, they're clothing. Anything they needed, food, you know what I mean? There was no welfare line. There is welfare now, and poverty. Wolf semipass lives in a shack at the end of a dirt road. He doesn't own the land under his shack,

and there's no running water. Recently, the Micmac's began fighting with the United States government over their status as a tribe. Ten years ago, Congress thought it had settled with all Indian land claims in Maine, and three other tribes got benefits from the settlement act of 1980. But the Micmac's main smallest tribe were so scattered and so disorganized that they got left out. Well, after years of proving that they've always been there, they went back to Congress for recognition as a tribe. The Senate passed the Micmac bill without dissent, and it went on to the House last month. The bill had unanimous support from Maine, but was opposed by one man, Montana Congressman Ron Marlini. We have already paid $54 million to the state of Maine to settle the claims, but all of a sudden somebody says, whoops, I may have been left out. I think I have an opportunity to get another $900 ,000 out of the taxpayers of the United States. The Micmac's bid for a tribal recognition failed when Congress adjourned, but the Tribal

start over again in January. Because the economy in northern Maine is shaky, and they get no aid from either the state or federal governments, the Micmac's are worse off than most. Micmac counts a leader, Mary Philbrook, says what's been lost in Washington is the chance to expand services for a people who need them. Micmac members, and Native American members, find it hard to approach a town office, general assistants, and the white people who they feel looks down on them for who they are. They would feel better about coming to their own people and looking for help. To see how many help. Right. And if it's there, we will help them. But we can't. There's nothing we can do. Unless you have the resources. Right. There's no way that we can set up those kind of programs. In Euristic County, the Indians have to keep reminding the whites, we're here too. Wolf Semapass

is good at that. He talks at local high schools to plead the tribe's case. I'm certainly glad the heaviest to be aware of what we are and what we are fighting for. And hopefully, with your awareness of us, I hope you stand alongside us. That's what we're all wishing. The wish list is a long one for most Micmac's who do not live as well as their white neighbors. Micmac Indian Roberta Murray runs a household of ten. Her life is not easy here and she says the $900 ,000 the Micmac's want from the government will not make it any easier. That there $900 ,000 is to go towards land. And that's it, just for land. It's not to go to the people. Owning land is a new idea for a nomadic people still settling down and forgetting how they once lived on the land. Still, Wolf Semapass looks forward to the time when he owns the land he lives on. Goodness, I could sit down and stand here all day and

daydream of what we can do with the resources that will get from the federal government. And instead of daydream, it could make everything come to reality. Recognition of the Micmacs will not of itself reduce the poverty, restore the language, or retain the survival skills that are slipping away. But it will improve the chances that those goals can be more than daydreams. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Steve Delaney and Aristic County Main. The main congressional delegation is expected to refile legislation to give the Micmac's tribal status during the next session of Congress. And now it's time for a weekend roundtable in the studio of the Christian Science Monitor's editorial page editor, Keith

Henderson, and Gail Chatek, the Monitor's assistant international editor. Gail Keith, let's use the roundtable this week to look ahead to the issues that we should keep our eyes on in the coming year. Keith, I suppose that the Gulf crisis remains at the top of the list. Yes, and what we ought to keep our eyes on right now is next week when Secretary Baker will be traveling to the Middle East to confer with some of the allies of the U .S. there, Saudi Arabia and in Egypt. And most important to see what comes of President Bush's proposal to have talks between Secretary Baker and the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Tariq Aziz, next week in Switzerland. This, of course, is what a lot of people have been pushing for, most recently some of the prominent members of Congress saying that we have to exhaust the diplomatic channels before we slip, unfortunately, into war. And the idea of face -to -face talks between high -level Iraqi and American officials has been a prerequisite in the

minds of many if there's going to be any diplomatic movement towards something of a peaceful settlement. Gail, do you think the Palestinian question will figure into these talks that are coming up? I think it's been the context all along. It's especially an important part of what the European Initiative may be about. The Europeans have been talking this week, especially, about meeting with the Iraqis. Mitchell sent an advisor. The Germans are holding off until next week. But I think the purpose of these talks is to give Saddam Hussein some face -saving options to get out. They are, they say that they're going to insist that there be a total withdrawal from Kuwait, but that one reward for that pull -out would be broad -based talks on the future of the region. And I think that's what's going to bring the Palestinianist to back dead center again. Okay, if that tops our list, what would be number two? Well, I think it's important to recognize that we're into kind of a new political

cycle in the U .S. now, and the Congress has just returned to perhaps its most frustrating agenda ever in some ways. To begin with, they have to deal with the crisis in the Gulf to decide whether they're going to vote on an authorization for the use of force kind of following up on what the UN did. There's lots of feeling in Congress that there should be a strong stand taken that there can be no use of American forces there without specific authorization from Congress. I think it's also significant that this debate occurs at the same time that the official acknowledgement that the countries in a recession was announced. I think this is going to be a very interesting quality to the debate over the financing of this war, because it's a war unlike, and if you hark back to some of Kennedy's speeches about U .S. presence and force in the world, it was a unilateral decision,

our values, our power, our financing. The feel to this war is very different. You have, I think the phrase that's been conjured up is tin cup diplomacy. American officials pulling Frank's marks, yen, out of sometimes reluctant contributors, and he'll be doing the same thing with the Congress. Have we got a reading on where the American people stand in the Gulf crisis? We've heard it say they support it, they don't support it. Any new readings on that? Well, I think that the most recent poll data that I can think of shows that there is still a substantial amount of support for the basic propositions in this confrontation of resisting aggression showing it doesn't pay. I think that there is also a good amount of public opinion data, though, that shows that there's tremendous doubts about the

possibility of great loss of American lives over what many people still tend to see as an economic issue, the price of oil and so forth. I think it also, the possibility of slips in public opinion, I think also emphasizes the need for whatever is done a quick resolution to this. Some of the budget data we've been seeing suggests that the capacity of this country to wage an extended war is extremely limited. And I think there's a real question as to whether there's a political limitation that's going to kick in even before the economic limitation does, if there are large casualties, I think he's right. And I suppose if we bring up the budget, we have to look at the Soviet Union because they're facing some severe budgetary situation. Even worse prices. This has been the US, I think, in a proportional sense. And worse, it's being worked out at a time of no consensus over the basic shape of union. So issues like

does do the resources in the Ukraine belong to the Ukraine, belong to the Soviet Union, belong to some subset of Ukraine. And the Russian Republic, you know, withholding, I guess essentially taxes, right, from the center there. People wonder which direction is a kale Gorbachev leaning now too. We had Chevronautzi's resignation and the voicing the threats of a dictatorship coming. And some liberals in Moscow think that, you know, Gorbachev is definitely under the thumb or in the pocket of whatever of the military and the KGB. I suppose too that that's going to have quite an impact on Eastern Europe as it tries to come out from underneath communist control. I think a big part of the debate, both in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, has to do with what is democracy and what is capitalism. There were some very optimistic assessment, euphoria, that once you have democracy, once you have free enterprise, good things will follow.

And I think there are some very tough cultural and economic impediments. I take a very simple one. I finally got a copy of the speech of the KGB chief in the Soviet Union that raised so much concern a few weeks ago. And he was talking about the need for order and to crack down. And a big part of that speech that was not reported was his efforts to define to people what the difference is between an enterprising businessman and a gangster. Now, it may have lost a lot in translation, but the distinction was not clear. And to a country where excesses of wealth have been regarded in popular sense with great suspicion. Profits are, you know, thought of as underhanded illegal and so on. Exactly. That questions that to us seem quite simple are not simple there. And I think it's going to add to the enormous political task that these leaders face, to they know they're going to face a very long and protracted transition. They know it's going to involve great sacrifices.

And the question is, what consensus can you develop among peoples for whom all this is brand new around which they can organize? Eastern Europeans seem to have a consensus that it's time to, least in countries like Czechoslovakia and Hungary to really get down to making the hard, setting the hard reforms at work and following sort of in Poland's footsteps. I mean, I think a number of these countries as of the beginning of this year are going to institute genuine price reforms, sell off state -owned businesses and really plunge into the transition to capitalism because they really have an experience capitalism as the West knows it at all. Well, Gail, Keith, it looks like the weekend roundtable will have plenty to discuss and look at over the next year. Thanks very much. This is the weekend edition of

Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor, brought to you by American Public Radio. I'm Monty Haas. Francis Ford Coppola has directed many films but none is celebrated as his Godfather movies Parts One and Two. The Godfather Part Three is one of the past years most eagerly awaited pictures, but Monitor Film Critic David Sterrett says it doesn't live up to expectations. The Godfather saga has a special hold on moviegoers. The reason, I think, is that it deals with such fascinating subjects from power and corruption to the American immigrant experience. Most important of all, this is a story about a family. The troubles of the Corleone clan are those of any family unit just dramatized on a large scale. Moviegoers see their own feelings echoed in the Godfather myth in an exaggerated form that packs the wallop of a vivid dream. The Godfather Part Three revolves around the touchy relationship between Michael Corleone, the head of the clan, and Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of his late brother. Part of the story is about a Vatican banking

crisis in which the Corleone family has a financial interest. There's also a more ordinary subplot about Vincent's courtship of Michael's daughter, running through the film as Michael's obsession with becoming legitimate. There's nothing wrong with all this as raw material for a Godfather chapter. The trouble with Godfather Three comes not from the story, but from the choppy, disjointed way it's put together. Successful scenes are surrounded by dull ones, and the climax, intrigue and violence intercut with an opera performance is remarkably flat. There are plenty of effective moments in the film, but they're not enough to give an audience absorbed for nearly three hours. Week acting causes even more problems. Al Pacino became almost legendary for his first two Godfather performances, but his effort to build a lear -like pathos here only works at isolated moments, mainly in scenes of stress and illness. Andy Garcia, one of the strongest young actors in Hollywood, is saddled with a role that calls for him to change from a streetwise punk into a dignified adult, all without a shred of explanation as to how and

why the transformation is taking place. Saddest of all is Sophia Coppola, the director's teenage daughter, who's completely out of her depth as Mary and should never have been called on to handle such an important part. This doesn't mean Godfather Three is always weak. Some of the smaller parts are brilliantly played, Eli Wallach as an old mafia Don, Joe Mantegna as an enemy of the Corleones, Bridget Fonda as a reporter, Donald Donnelly as a wily archbishop, and the picture is well photographed in the rich dark tones of all Godfather movies. Still, the story's energy comes and goes, the main performances are badly uneven, and at times the filmmakers seem to be going through the motions out of habit, not conviction. I'm sure Coppola still cares a great deal about the dense and colorful story that established him as one of the best young directors of the 70s, but the Godfather's time in his career and an American cinema has clearly passed. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm David Starritt. I'm Marty

Haas, and this is the weekend edition of Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. Some of the challenges facing black Americans, we start a new series here on the weekend edition. Stay with us. The growing US military commitment in the Gulf has caused some lawmakers to question whether they all volunteer military can handle the job. There have even been suggestions that the draft be reinstated. The Bush administration maintains that a re -imposition of the draft will not be necessary. The Monitor's Don Reame reports from Washington. The last time the US used the draft was in 1973 at the close of the Vietnam War. Opposition to the draft during that war helped shape today's all -volunteer military. But by 1980, the Defense Department was so concerned about rising cold war tensions with the Soviets that Congress renewed compulsory

registration for all young men on their 18th birthday. So if the administration now decides the draft is needed and Congress approves, the machinery is in place. We are ready to do that. We are ready at all times. Retired Brigadier General Sam Lessie is director of the Selective Service System. The Selective Service System is prepared to mobilize within a period of three days. And we have a public commitment to produce the first inductee to the Defense Department within a period of 13 days. The Selective Service can deliver 100 ,000 draftees within 30 days. The process, says General Lessie, starts with a birthday lottery, followed by mailgrams ordering those selected to report to induction centers. Regardless of how quickly this process takes place, conservative analyst Doug Bando says the draft is unnecessary and won't help in the Gulf. A draft wouldn't bring in the first soldier until about five months. You have to induct the guy, you have to train him, you have to deploy him. That takes a long time. It

takes the Army three or four months to train a rifleman, a trained instrument. So we are talking about a long -term process here. A draft today would have no impact on our fighting capability in that Persian Gulf. Although no one on Capitol Hill has endorsed reinstating the draft, some congressmen are beginning to question whether the 2 .1 million active duty volunteer force is big enough. They say it was never intended to meet the needs of a major conflict. Robert Silberman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Force Management and Personnel at the Defense Department, disagrees. Clearly there are situations and concerns which arise from Desert Shield which make it more difficult to recruit. Recruiters have to go out and work a little bit harder. On the other hand there's some benefit because there's a segment of the population which is very patriotic. And when they see that the United States needs its armed forces are actually rushing into two and less. As the military prepares for war in the Gulf, the anti -war movement is preparing to oppose it, along with any attempt to restore compulsory military

service. At a recent demonstration in Washington, one student voiced his displeasure. I'm about to turn 20 years old and I'm not ready to die for this. I don't think President Bush has done enough to ensure peace in this situation. Conservative analysts Doug Bandeau admits a war in the Gulf could be unpopular but does not believe the conflict would be long lasting. We're not talking about the sort of conflict like Vietnam which dragged out year after year after year where people could have simply stopped volunteering. A voluntary military would have stopped Vietnam cold it would have been over. Military experts on Capitol Hill say the volunteer force can handle a short conflict in the Gulf. But if a war would last more than 12 to 18 months or if casualties are high they say then reinstating the draft could become a necessity. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Don Reem in Washington. This week we begin a special five -part series here on Monitor Radio's Weekend Edition on

the Challenges Facing Black Americans. In the 30 years since the heyday of the civil rights movement, blacks and minorities still point to invisible barriers which keep them from moving ahead. Discrimination in jobs and education, though not legally tolerated, is targeted by blacks as keeping them from breaking out of the cycle of poverty. Monitor correspondent Peter Kent takes us this week to Harlem. Physical decay, social devastation, crime, drugs, fear. Harlem, once the cultural and creative center of black America, has over the past three decades succumbed to the blight that has swept all of the country's inner cities. Reverend Preston Washington witnessed the decline. Harlem's downfall is directly related to the fact that Harlem people don't own a stake in their own community and we want Harlem back. Old Harlem was far from

perfect. It was after all a product of racial discrimination. Blacks, poor and rich, businessmen and artists living together because they had to. It was New York's black community. The decline began when modernization and foreign competition closed factories. Thousands of unskilled jobs were lost. When the Federal Open Housing Act was passed in 1968, thousands more, middle and upper class blacks, headed for the suburbs. Businesses, clubs and social facilities closed. Crime flourished. Even more people left. One by one, boarded up buildings, boarded up community. But more importantly, I think we lost 100 ,000 people in a 10 -year period. They haven't done anything. They just let these buildings go down, down, down. Priscilla Reed, the president of a public housing tenants organization, says the city of New York gave up on those who stayed behind. I was a

beautiful building, but this kept setting the fire. They said they did nothing about it. The last fire they had. I watched the firemen let it burn. The firemen let the building burn? Yes. Why do you think? Because they got tired of coming up, trying to put out the fire. While city institutions and many residents abandoned Harlem to fate and fire to the drug dealers, the addicts and the crime they generated, the local churches held on, and they adapted to the brutal new realities. St. Matthew's Baptist Church, pastor John J. Sass. We don't have any more service over here at night. Our people will get hurt, rob, in the hospital, so we stop having night services. We try to get out for three o 'clock, and then five o 'clock we want to be on our way home. This is day that the Lord has made more. This is day that the Lord has made more. This is day that the Lord has made more. This is day that the Lord has made more. To

turn the clock back to restore peace and order and acceptable standards to their community, a coalition of all of Harlem's churches chose Preston Washington to lead a revival attempt. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, and it doesn't matter who you are, God is able this morning. In his church, Baptist Memorial, Reverend Washington is particularly warm and welcoming young men to his congregation. I did 48 or more funerals of young black gifted men and some women, but mostly men, who had been killed in the crossfires of crack warfare, and to look at the faces of the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and young people, funeral after funeral, was so devastating for me. Right there. That school over there, PS 157's where I went to school. Donald Cogsville,

president of the Harlem Urban Development Corporation, has been trying to save Harlem for almost a decade. We did a lot. We have invested $500 million in the last 70 years and redeveloped between it, but it's clear that wasn't enough. And it was clear that we need more, a better contact with the people. So we reached out for the churches. The original plan was that we would have met with the mayor by now. The goal of the church -led coalition is to bring the planning down to the community level, where acceptance is so crucial. And during the housing study, we also look at the demographics of the area interviewed. They're targeting 41 of the worst blocks in Harlem. The project's known by one of the boundary streets, Bradhurst. You have to see this whole thing as a comprehensive plan. So that, for example, in terms of the kind of economic integration that's necessary, if you're going to put all persons in one building that are formally homeless, that

earn under $15 ,000 a year, don't you think that in order for the community to thrive, that you're going to have to also have some properties that are for the middle class, so that these kids can see people go to work in the morning. Work has begun. All burnt out shells are being transformed into quality housing. And rather than bringing all of the workers in from outside Harlem, a deliberate decision was taken to use local residents as apprentices, as well as skilled craftsmen. Some of the units will be rented, some sold with low monthly payments and low interest rates. Parts of Harlem have been worked on in the past. We have spruced up around 3 ,000 brown stones. All of a sudden, people in the building start to cleaning up the backyards, the sidewalks. And there was a feeling of renewal, like something good

was happening, that fresh pain is like cleaning up your house and going in and it makes you feel good. This feeling convinced Dabney Montgomery to invest his savings in one of the renovated units. Home ownership gives one pride in where he or she lives. And when you own something, that's yours. And you're going to work at that much more than you work at something that somebody else owns. Again, Reverend Washington. When people begin to own their own buildings, they are going to be a lot more concerned about graffiti. They're not going to allow their children to trash the buildings. They're not going to allow people to smoke crack in the hallway. There's going to be a new sense of pride. The question now Preston Washington says is whether that pride can be mobilized. People have got to take back their community, take back their buildings, take back their children. We must take Harlem back, street by street. It

will take time. The Brather's project is scheduled to take seven years to complete. That's a long time in a city and state with chronic budget problems, but it has begun. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Peter Kent in Harlem. This week, we continue our series here on the weekend edition, A Time for Thinkers. Throughout this series, we'll be talking with individuals who, with their vantage point, help us all to better understand the ethical, moral, social, and cultural challenges facing us here in the 90s. The challenges facing minorities is not confined to those living in poverty in the inner city. Joining us again is Harvard Law Professor Derek Bell. Dr. Bell was the first tenured black professor in the Harvard Law School. Professor Bell has had an ongoing challenge with the school this past year based on their hiring practices. He was hired in 1969 and tenured in 1971, but according to Professor Bell, there was an overriding factor in his being hired. It was very clear to me that I was hired as a result of student activism. I

had applied a few years before and been turned down. After this activism, back by the urban rebellions in the late 60s, after Martin Luther King was killed, I suddenly had several job offers at major schools. I was basically the same person. I was aware that if there was going up until that time, Harvard and many other schools were entirely male and, of course, all white. I believe that those schools have benefited from hiring women and minorities. But the benefits have not been recognized, and the tendency is to want to hire more people like themselves, white and male, and with the same backgrounds. To the extent that they recognize the need for women and minorities, they want to have people who are just like themselves, but who happen to be black or female. And that's simply not enough. Last year, the students mounted a year

-long effort, initially, with meetings and appointments with people and arguing their case for greater diversity, and then with protest and taking over the dean's office and major rallies and what have you. And got, I thought, fairly short shrift from the administration. And I finally indicated that, unless the, and until they hired a woman of color, because that was the main focus, and tenure that person, I was going to take an unpaid leave. And that's what I did, not to pressure my faculty colleagues, because nothing pressure, pretty hard to pressure people, got tenure. Pretty hard for another faculty person. I think it's possible for the students. And what I wanted to do was to encourage the students. I wanted to encourage them both with regard to this campaign, and also encourage them in their own lives, the things that they believed in were worth making sacrifices for, or worth taking risks for. And then they needed to start this with something that they could do,

you see. So this year, for example, I'm still there, and I'm offering my fall seminar that I would have ordinarily taught, I'm offering it, but the students willing to take it without credit. And I have about 25 students, we're having a marvelous time. Everybody in the room is there because they want to be there, not because they're being paid or getting credit and what have you. Black and white? Black and white. And very good distribution is a matter of fact. A lot of students from my constitutional law class of last year who are being supportive. But I think whatever they learn from the course, what they get from that experience is that making sacrifices ain't all bad. That there's some heartwarming things, uplifting things, and then they're tangibles. I have, I'm probably not going to make as much money as if I had been on salary. But I've had gotten opportunities to speak, and opportunities

to apply for grants and consultancies. I didn't know what would come, but the Lord does provide. I really believe that in, and I've been making protests most of my life. And I don't think they're, not some of them I was right, some of them I wasn't so right. Some of them worked out so that the things that I wanted to happen happen, a lot of them didn't. But I'm not, I don't, I don't regret any of them. And that's what I want to convey to students, that at the end of your life, you want to be able to look back on something other than the fact that you did make enough money to buy a Mercedes in a big house. And that you support your family. All those things are worthwhile. But you want to look back and you will look back on the sacrifices you made for principal. And this is one way of practicing what I preach.

Do you see students today making sacrifices for principal? Are there just as many as there were say back in the civil rights era? There's a growing number. I think a lot of students are doing what I might have had difficulty doing. There were no big jobs out there waiting for me when I graduated as a black man from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. I'll tell you that. But I, I, I stand in awe of the number, and I think it's a growing number of students who say to the law firms in the $80 ,000 starting salary, it's not for me. Where is the public interest firm? Where is the public defender's office? 20, 25, that's fine. I think I can make it. And that means paying off loans that may be 40, 50, 60, $1 ,000. So I, I, I tip my hat to those students. And I think they're a growing number, a number of them. Do you think that, that your action will help awaken thought at the levels where

things need to change? Have you seen any ripple in that, in that respect? Have your faculty, uh, associates said, I can't do the same thing, but I stand behind you or have they. Some, some have. One young person offered to join me. This is why I was working. He said, I said, listen, you're not tenured yet. I appreciate it, but I think, I think not. Uh, another faculty member who wanted absolute secrecy said, I'll pay your first month's mortgage after you, after you'd be in the name. And in fact, I wrote him recently to say I really did appreciate that. But that I, I certainly couldn't take it if, unless I was in need. And at this point, I'm, I'm not in need. Um, others have offered varying kinds of support. See, the fact is that I recognize that my background is very much different. Everything I've gotten in the main has come because of hard work at all, but also a willingness to confront. For most of my faculty

colleagues, everything they've gotten has come from conforming. You see, now we all do a certain amount of conforming. But I have just a long history and it's easier after you have a long history to confront. So that the fact that I don't have a sizeable group following me doesn't mean that I, I don't think this is what, I think everyone has had to think about it a little bit more. Now how this will work out is, is minority names are, particularly minority women are, are considered for appointments? I don't know. I'm sure that they're going to be some who said I would vote for her, but I'm not going to do it because it looks like I've been pressured by Bell, and it's his own, it's his fault. I'm sure they're going to be some in that, in that, in that category. But I think they're going to be others who say, I don't agree with what he did, but maybe I should think about this a little bit more. Derek Bell is a professor of law at Harvard University.

This is the weekend edition of Monitor Radio, a broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Molly Haas. I went down to the river to watch the fish swim by, but I got to the river so long so my wanted to die all along. That's Hank Williams, the singer -songwriter, who

helped bring country music out of its hillbilly stage and give it a national character. When he died at the age of 29, he penned more than 150 songs. The Alabama -born legend wrote, Your Cheatin' Heart, Jambalaya, Cold Cold Heart and many others, Songs that have become part of the American Country Music tradition. Monitor Radio's host, Pat Bodner, recently reviewed the life and music of Hank Williams with the songwriter's youngest daughter, Jet Williams. He added blues to his music. You know, back when it was a hard country, he came in with the blues and it put a different style to his music, which I think really separated him and he was always one step ahead of the pack. And he was, if you also review his music, he was moving into rock and roll. And he was just right on the cutting edge of rock and roll. And people ask me, they say, well, if he had lived,

do you think that he would have lasted? Where would you think he'd be today? And I absolutely do because you can trace his music, even though it's in a short period of time. And you can see the change. And he was the one making the change. He wasn't following somebody else because, you know, that was a, he thought that was the way to go. He stepped out ahead of the pack and says, I'm going to do it this way. When did you yourself start listening to your dad's music? Well, I grew up on country music because I'm from the state of Alabama originally. And the thing about it is, though, I listened to all kind of music growing up. I listened to blues and jazz and big band, as well as, you know, what we considered rock and country. But Hank Williams was from Alabama. And so, you know, I would listen to his music and I think that he's even become bigger today than he was even back then. And

another thing for your listeners, my father recorded under another name, too, called Luke the Drifter. And a lot of the style there was the recitation where you would say the verse and then sing the chorus. And a lot of his great works were as Luke the Drifter. And the reason he did that was because he was told that he sang Hank Williams commercially. Those were the ones that sold. Those were on the jukebox. Those were the ones people were dancing to. But the real mournful and the very thought -provoking songs were done as Luke the Drifter. I knew you were looking at a man that's getting kind of mad. I had a lot to look, but it's old and bad. No matter how strong and strife, I'll never get out of this world of life. My fishing pole. In the lyrics that he wrote, they were lyrics that reached all walks of

life whether you were a co -owner or whether you were a lawyer or a doctor. And they also reached around the world to where, when you heard his lyrics that you felt something, which I think helped be able to cross back and forth between the markets that you're talking about. I mean, it's not a song about something that would only pertain to a certain region or whatever. I mean, he wrote universally. And then in the musical part of it, I think adding the blues and adding a different style that separated him from the, if you wanted to say the twang or whatever, in the hillbilly part of it, that he put a blues edge to it. And then that music would be able to be taken over and be performed by whether it was an orchestra or whether it was a small band. Who do you think really influenced him? You've talked about his ability to move country into

the rock and roll direction and to the blues direction. But who really influenced him? Well, I think that Jimmy Rogers, who is a real pioneer of country music, had a big impact on my father. And he also grew up in Alabama. And there was a gentleman, a black gentleman, that shared a lot of gospel and blues style with him that I think had an influence on him. But I also believe that my father had a God -given talent that he was able to just create. He was really prolific. Yet he didn't read or write music. That's correct. As far as I know, he did not read music or actually sit down and do compositions. How did he put it all together? I believe off the top of his head. And for most of his songs, they really were just a three -chord progression. And I think the simplicity of the music

gives you the great creation that he was able to come up with. It wasn't so complicated that it was lost. I was writing number nine, heading south for my carol line. I heard that long walk, some whistle blows. Got in trouble, had to roll, left my girl and left my home. I heard that long walk, some whistle blows. You talked about your dad's elegance and simplicity, the three -chord progression. Do you think that may be what it was that permitted that music to really make the transformation to allow other singers like Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, to be able to take it and make it their own? Well, I think so. The simplicity

was there, but I also believe that my father is one of the very few individuals that wrote music, and then were able to perform their own songs and have them chart out. And I think that the way he delivered his music reached over to where, you know, I think the greatest compliment to someone is to say, I want to sing your song. And I can hear me doing it. And when we have these wonderful, wonderful classics that we've been given by other artists, everyone wants to sing that song. Here, that long, somewhere, somewhere, he signs to blue to fly. The midnight train is blind and low. Jet Williams is the youngest daughter of singer -songwriter Hank Williams. She's also the author of the book, Ain't Nothing As Sweet As My Baby. She spoke with monitor radio's Pat Bodner. Well, that's it for this weekend's edition. Next week, is

this the wave of the future? Now here in San Francisco, private judges, some private judges can command as much as $450 an hour. Private reta judges on the weekend edition. Our engineers are Eric Arowl and Jeff Turton and our studio director is Patrick Timmerman. Thanks for listening. Monitor Radio was funded in part by the JM Smucker Company, the Powell Family Foundation, and by other foundation, corporate, and individual contributions. If you'd like a cassette tape of this week's broadcast, please send $6 .50 to monitor radio, post office box 527, Boston, Massachusetts, O2117. This program is a copyrighted broadcast of the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Marty Hards, and this is American Public Radio. Thank you.