The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 29

'Thursday, Aug. 18, 1994 Fulton County Commissioners fear land grab downtown Th2 military Dobbins loses bid to keep Cbssifod In this section C7 The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution air guard unit News briefs a C5 Obituaries CS GEORGIA'S MOMENT OF REFLECTION Crash Course in Quiet I i i 1 ralks says 5 $350 in cash: Council President Arnneton sharply denies prosecutor's claim he helped Aa(arAr until PAwr-im rt nWtxrmA KriVu U- -I -i "-'X' 'ir-l Is I 'T. re. D.L Fowlkes: The'f fcrrrcouT3pJ man is acaiseJt of having takeii -weekly bribes; i from an airport stinging de-J day but issued nunciation of Yates "The topic alleged by Ms XS v-I 'fcT V' Yates never came up in any way," Arrington said a written statement "I find it disturbing that a federal prosecutor would -JI i LI-J tantly dishonest tactics in 'a PHIUPMeCOLLUM Staff Some of Gladys Abotsi's students continue to eat their breakfast during the moment of reflection. -Teachers are troubled about possible lawsuits and reflect on ways to prevent them strained attempt to fabricate, case of wrongdoing." Jurors seldom smiled i Through hours of question! 5 ing from his own attorney, Ed A Garland, and then from Yates Fowlkes maintained that his A videotaped meeting -witlj Echols, on Jan.

6, 1993, was the: only time in dozens of meetings' that he took money front Echols. Fowlkes said he didn't protest when Echols stuffed the Jf money into his pocket because Fowlkes' wife had told him thai morning that Echols would be giving him a donation. Through most of the testij mony, Fowlkes often chuckled and joked. But the jurors rarelf cracked a smile. i i Fowlkes also said there was Hew to keep bwsuits ever 'mcxcR? quiet Education groups aid school districts are offering guidance on how to 'institute the "moment of quiet rtfkctkm" required by a new state km without imMng lawsuits.

Here some of their advice. By Douglas A. Blackmon STAFF WRITER V9he lead prosecutor in the II airport corruption investi-U gation accused Atlanta City Council President Marvin S. Arlington on Wednesday of helping former Councilman D.L. "Buddy" Fowlkes fabricate a cover-up for an alleged $350 bribe Fowlkes received last year.

Testifying for most of the day in his U.S. District Court trial on 55 counts of bribery and tax evasion, Fowlkes, 66, vehe-, mently denied he ever betrayed the public trust He said the $350 was a donation for his re-, tirement party. "I am not guilty of the charge," Fowlkes boomed into the courtroom microphone, under questioning from his lawyer. "I have never sold my vote, nor would I consider it" But in a grilling cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attor-.

ney Sally Yates maintained that Fowlkes took weekly bribes from airport concessionaire Harold Echols the government's star witness and that he knew nothing about a surprise retirement party for him at the time of Echols' $350 payment After FBI agents secretly videotaped that payment and a separate one to Arlington, Yates said the two met on a Sunday afternoon at Arlington's office and discussed the payments. It was then that Fowlkes decided to claim Echols' payment was for tickets to the party, she said. "Isn't it true, Mr. Fowlkes, that you got the idea cover this up as retirement tickets from Mr. Arlington?" Yates i asked.

"No," Fowlkes said. Fowlkes conceded that he met with Arlington on Feb. 14, 1993, a month after Fowlkes received the $350 and 12 days after Echols gave Arlington $500 in cash. But he said several oth- i er council members were pre-, sent and the payments were not discussed. Arlington has said the mon- ey he received was for tickets to an annual fund-raiser birthday party.

He has not been charged. Arrington said Wednesday that he met with Fowlkes that The moment of reflection Is not Intended to be a rellgkxii exercise, but a reflection on "the anticipated activities of the day. Don't suggest or imply that students should or should not use the moment of reflection for prayer, Don't stop students from using the time for quiet prayer. Don't allow students or staff, slngty or In unison, to pray audibly. nothing wrong with Echols pur chasing airline tickets for hiiq and denied that Echols bought a diamond tennis bracelet Fowlkes gave his wife in 1989.

Echols purchased plane tickets for a 1987 Florida vacai Don't get Into a discussion with students about whether they may pray silently during the moment of reflection. Teachers, however, are thinking and talking a lot about the law. Leaders i of teacher groups say classroom teachers fear an unintended comment or gesture will draw a lawsuit. In the opening days of school, the focus is how to make the practice inoffensive to students of varying beliefs and backgrounds, teachers said. "We're mostly just trying to have something quiet, with an emphasis on nature, because that is the sort of thing that is not going to upset anyone," said Ginger Curylo, a teacher at Memorial Middle School in Rockdale County, where classes began today.

State Sen. David Scott (D-At-lanta) introduced the moment of silence legislation. He said that, in an era of increasing violence, pupils need to calmly reflect each day. The Legislature overwhelmingly backed the bill, with senators carefully avoiding any mention of God or prayer during their debate. House members, by contrast, if a student asks about using the time for quiet prayer, advise the student that that Is his or her decision.

Emphasize that the statute specifically calls for quiet reflection, which clearly precludes using the time to audibly pray. Coercion by some students to force others to pray will not be tolerated. By Betsy White STAFF WRITER, In a typical school day, the new, state-mandated "moment of quiet reflection" will take less than 1 percent of students' time. But school attorneys and ad-' ministrators are giving teachers and principals more legal advice about those 60 seconds than about the rest of the day. Educators are worried that opening the school day with a moment of silence will force them into a legal thicket To help, most metro school systems are offering tips on how to follow the law without making the moment of reflection a religious event (which would be illegal) or denying individual students the right to pray quietly (also illegal).

ACLU plans to file lawsuit Leaders of the American Civil, Liberties Union of Georgia openly acknowledge that they are likely to file a lawsuit seeking to stop the practice and probably will do it soon. -1 1 "This legislation clearly un-): tannines the wall of separation between church and state," said Teresa Nelson, the group's executive director, i. Many states have laws per- mitting non-sectarian student-' led prayers at school events. But tion for Fowlkes, his wife! Vicki, and their dog. Fowlkes said he assumed his wife paid for the tickets and never rea( fc ized Echols bought theni "Viclri handles all that." i In 1990.

Echols paid to fit Fowlkes back to Atlanta to vote you. Have a good day." The moment of quiet reflection has not generated much dis-cussidn among parents or students. "Frankly, it doesn't seem to be on the front burner of parents' offered up fiery speeches linking agenda," said Janice West, presi legal experts said they know of no other state that requires students to pause daily to reflect. Fulton County has gone furthest in specifying how to handle the new requirement, preparing a script of the 22 words principals should read over the intercom each morning. The principal or assistant principal is to say, "We will now pause for the next 40 seconds for a brief period of quiet reflection," then, after "exactly" 40 seconds, is to conclude, "Thank on an amendment to the airpor concessions contract that saved ft Echols hundreds of thousand of dollars.

I Under cross-examination! Yates asked: "Is it your testimo ny that it was better for somet one with a direct interest in thA vote to pay for your ticket than the taxpayers?" I Fowlkes responded: "I didn't see anything wrong it at the time." dent of the Georgia PTA. "Most the end of school prayer to a drop parents reel Me tneir values in tesi scores ana rising crime But they agreed to a compromise measure that says the moment of reflection "is not intended to be, and shall not be conducted as, a religious service or exercise." have already been instilled in their children," so they dont have to give them special advice about how to use the time. Plus, she said, "it's only 60 seconds." will detemiinem Committee's report ftennee have heen checked out of the hieh schoot 1 By Rebecca McCarthy Staff writer VYatklnsville While a divisive debate over book banning and obscenity raged in Oconee County for most of July, the 19-member school system media committee was trying to deter-. mine if nine books by young adult horror author V.C An- GEORGIA 4 1 drews should return to the Oco- brary. In keeping with Oconee's media policy, which is being rewritten, the challenged books were pulled from the library shelves and copies were distributed to the committee members.

"When somebody told me these books were best sellers, I was shocked," said Connie Rushing, who read all nine books in question. "We don't allow drugs or cigarettes in our schools why should we allow trash like this to pollute chil- dren's minds? Having them in the school library is a silent endorsement of Others have challenged author's books During the July 11 school board meeting at which the Rushings voiced their objections, the board ordered Harden and the systemwide media, committee to remove school library books and materials found to be "sexually explicit andor pornographic." Under fire from many in the community and wary of possible lawsuits, the board later revoked its order on Aug. 1 and asked Harden to rewrite the media policy. Parents in Oconee County arent the first to question V.C Andrews' books. "Flowers in the Attic" and "Petals on the Wind" were challenged in 1983 in Rhode Island; "My Sweet Audrina" was library between three and 20 times in the past si years.

i Reviled as obscene by some for their explicit 5 discussions of incest rape, sadism and sex, An-1 ,1 drews' books have been popular with teenagers jj since "Flowers in the Attic" first introduced the abused Dollanganger children 15 years ago. At the crowded Aug. 1 Oconee County School, Board meeting that included public comment on the July 11 order, a citizen read aloud sexually ex plicit excerpts attributed to different Andrews books until several in the audience demanded he stop. "Reading out of context is a frequent strategy ij of censors," said Anne Penway, assistant director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the Amen lean Library Association. "That's an inappropri-J ate way to judge a book, by using a few passages It's an unfair way to judge any artistic material, because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." By 1986, when V.C Andrews died, four of he books "Flowers in the Attic," "Petals on the Wind," "If There Be Thorns" and "Seeds of Yesterday" had sold 14 million copies.

U3. Stiff nee County High School library. At its Friday meeting, the committee is expected to reveal the fate of the books, recommending that all, some or none should remain on the shelves. If parents Geoff and Connie Rushing, who asked that the books be removed, are not satisfied, the couple may appeal to Superintendent Debra Harden and then to the Board of Education. "I will do whatever it takes for these books to be removed," said Connie Rushing.

"I don't intend vto let the matter drop." In May, the Rushings objected to the works after their 15-year-old daughter checked out Andrews' Garden of Shkdows" from the school Shelved? A decision is due on whether V.C Andrews' books should be pulled from school libraries in Oconee County. challenged in Washington and rejected in Hay-ward, Calif. The nine Andrews books being challenged in.