Thursday, February 8, 1990

The Gem

Student Beaten, Principal Not Concerned

HALIFAX (CUP) — The beat- ing of the only black male student in Stellarton’s community college last week was a conspiracy in the eyes of his parents, said Winston Ruck of the Black United Front.

Cosmotology student Jeremy Paris said he has been the brunt of insults and name calling since he enrolled in the Nova Scotia Community College, in Pictou County, last September.

With about 100 students watching, Paris said he “was held by one or two people, while at least one punched me and some kicked me.” Paris required stitches to his head, and had bruises over his body after the in-

cident. { Ruck said, “You can draw

your own conclusions (as to why no one tried to stop the fight), but one might be that they relish the idea of this black person be- ing beaten up.”

The principal of the school, John Keating, said, “I don’t think there is a racial problem in our school, but there may be one or two who have racial problems.”

“That’s foolishness,” Paris said. “There’s quite a bit of racism in the school, but there’s also a lot of pretty good students too. But there’s too many that are not.”

Keating said, “Some people don’t have a clue what racist is.” He said that there were “racial overtones” to, as he described the beating, “a one on less than one fight”.

Paris said he didn’t know how many people actually beat him because he was being beaten at the time. “No one tried to break it up though. Even the two bus drivers that were there to pick up the kids after school did not go for help, or try to break it up.”

When Keating was asked if the school was planning to do something about dealing with racism in the school he said that they have been so busy with me- dia calls that he has not had any time to sit down with the faculty.

“I feel he should be talking to the students about what had happened and how things should change,” Paris said. “They could start with hiring some minorities for a start or having a forum on race relations.”

The school does not employ any visible minorities as teachers, bus drivers, cooks, or cleaners.

“They should do something for the future black students that go there, or whatever minorities go there,” Paris said.

wes

Keating said his main aim was to “get the school back to nor- mal.” He said he was concerned students had lost three days of classes because of the police in- vestigation and media attention.

“After all that’s happened I didn’t think he’d say something like that,” Paris said. “He’s just trying to get the school out of trouble...After I got away from the people that were beating me up I got up to the principal’s of- fice.”

“(Keating) just looked at me and went back into his office. He didn’t ask me what was wrong...or how I was or what hap- pened,” Paris said. “It was the vice-principal that called the po- lice.”

The police did not come to the school until the next morning.

“They said they couldn’t send anyone,” Paris said. “They should be able to come to a scene of a crime.”

Tim Connell, another student at the school, has been charged with assault causing bodily harm. Connell has been suspended from the school.

After Connell was suspended from the school, about half of the school’s 350 students left classes.

Ruck said that he told Paris “not to be intimidated and to fin- ish his education. The last thing we want is another black person to stop their schooling because of racism against them.”

Keating said, “There is no more or less racism in the school than in the general population.”

Ruck said racism is preva- lent throughout the province, and

that this occurs more than once. “It’s on going.”

Paris grew up in neighbouring New Glasgow. He said two years ago he went to a dance in Stel- larton with a friend. “About one hundred guys chased me right out of town back to the New Glasgow MacDonalds,” he said.

“And the mayor of Stellarton tried to say there’s no racism in his town,” Paris said. “It’s quite a statement from the mayor.”

“My mother is white,” he said. “She grew up in Stellar- ton... They gave her a hard time.”

Another resident of Pictou County, Toni Goree, has had to take her two elementary school children off the school bus and drive them to school herself be- cause of racist slurs against them.

Security officers abuse power

OTTAWA (CUP) — A first-year Carleton resident and home video buff has made a formal complaint about security guards who don’t like having their picture taken.

Naeem Barmania sent a letter to housing authorities claiming that two residence security guards shoved him, threatened him and wrongfully fined him $50 after he videotaped them searching his room on the first of November.

Barmania said he was making a video of residence life. While filming a playfight in the hallway, two security guards broke up the crowd.

Barmania said the guards then entered his room and searched it without his permission. He said they told him they were looking

for a hockey stick that was used in the playfight.

Barmania caught the incident on video. The footage shows one guard pushing the camera away after Barmania refused to tum it off.

“They told me I was violating their rights by filming them, but I kept the camera on because they

were searching my room without -

my consent and they were violat- ing my rights,” he said.

Neither of the security guards, who Barmania said were in his room, were available for com- ment.

Barmania said a few days after his room was searched, he was talking to a friend in his room when the security guards returned

Attention

Anyone wishing to have pictures to ac-

company their articles must notify our

Staff photographer at the GEM office

before Friday at 3:00pm.

and fined him $50 for excessive noise.

Before the November first inci- dent, Barmania had had two wamings about noise. However, Barmania said security was harassing him and the fine had nothing to do with excessive

“She had her eight-year-old beaten up by a sixteen-year-old on the school bus,” Paris said.

Paris said he has been living with racial slurs all his life. He hopes to open up his own salon one day.

“‘My roommate was asleep when I was fined and no one com- plained of any noise from my room the next day, and I live across the hall from the res fel- low,” he said.

“J didn’t realize that when I signed the res agreement I was signing away my personal free- doms,” Barmania said, “their (security’s) abuse of power has gone too far.” O

University of Prince Edward Island

PRESENTS

ETHICS IN SCIENCE

A SERIES OF PUBLIC LECTURES

MEDICINE, MEDICAL SCIENCE

AND THE PUBLIC'S INTEREST Dr. D. Amold Naimark, President of the University of Manitoba

Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 8 pm Duffy Amphitheatre, U.P.E.I.

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCIENTIST

Dr. John Polanyi, Nobel Laureate, Professor of Chemistry, University of Toronto Tuesday, March 6, at 8 pm Duffy Amphitheatre, U.P.=.1.

EVERYONE WELCOME

FREE ADMISSION

This lecture is one in THE ETHICS SERIES presented by the U.P.E.I. Faculty of Science in cooperation with Saint Dunstan’s University Board of Governors.