The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 17

mm MS EDITION MEMPHIS THURSDAY AUGUST 27 1987 TkE Commercial Appeal SECTION grandson to study at Ole Miss Journalist to focus on race relations Gandhi's techniques were later adapted by Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement in the South in the 1960s By Clay Hathorn Northwest MIm Bureau definitely a strong Ferris said an interesting Ferris said presence should create an understanding for the struggle of the Indian people and how that compares to the American civil in Mississippi have worked with the Hindu lowest class called or the untouchables This group has traditionally held the lowest jobs and although the 1950 Indian constitution outlawed discrimination against the untouchables many Hindus still believe in the old rules that hinder the hntouchables am convinced there are lots of Gandhi said the measures the Indian government has taken to bring them up socially and economically are almost parallel with the measures the US government has taken with the blacks in the United States the result is almost the same Both these measures have created more resentment instead of understanding So what we plan to do is is study all aspects of these two problems write about it and try to find out where we have gone rights movement Ga indhl was analyzing the civil rights of the American blacks to a similar situation of a segment of Hindus who have been subject to discrimination in India for thousands of years feel that there are a lot of parallels in the Eroblems they face and the problems that the lacks in Mississippi Gandhi said yesterday in a phone interview from his home in Rochester NY a new look could be taken at the issue to see where we went wrong and why" Gandhi said It's not the first time Gandhi and India have been linked with the American South Mahatma (which means Gandhi proved nonviolent resistance an effective means of civil disobedience during struggle for OXFORD Miss The grandson of Mahatma Gandhi whose example helped shape the civil rights movement in the South is coming here to study race relations for a year Arun Gandhi S3 grandson of the Indian independence leader will arrive in Oxford in about 10 days to study at the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture are very excited" said Dr William Ferris director of the center "I think the whole country is going to be thrilled to have him" Gandhi plans to write a book comparing and assassinated by an Indian in 1948 a year after India's Independence from Britain He had four sons ana Arun is the son of second son He is not related to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Arun Gandhi is a free-lance journalist after working for 23 years for The Times of India newspaper and three years with India's Imprint Magazine He and his wife Sunanda who will assist him PAC battle Mobile home By Liia Waddell gives edge to lawyers Races decided in Legislature By James Young Jackaon MIm Bureau JACKSON Miss Legislative candidates supported by trial lawyers fared slightly better than those backed by doctors in the second round of Mississippi's three-step election process Returns from runoff elections indicated that in 11 races in which candidates supported by opposing political action committees faced each other six winners had help from lawyers while five had support from doctors With opposing views on the calls for changing civil litigation laws the Mis-Medical Association PAC and Lawyers Involved for Mississippi Betterment have become the most active groups contributing to this year's legislative races Unlike their counterparts in Tennessee and Arkansas Mississippi legislators serve concurrent terms and all 174 seats are up for election this year generating PAC interest that is being disclosed under a new campaign finance code During runoff candidates backed by LIMB met MMA-supported opponents in 11 races Including two North Mississippi Senate contests In the race for Senate District 2 Benton Marshall and Tippah counties Bill Renick who had MMA support defeated LIMB-backed Keith McNatt But in Senate District 10 Panola and Tate counties Ronnie Musgrove with TTMR support defeated Price Darby backed by the MMA In Pontotoc County's House District 15 Ted Foster who had MMA support defeated Barry Ford While LIMB won more of the head-to-head matches the lawyers group backed two Incumbent lawmakers who were Motorists on White Station Road crossed paths with a road hog yesterday Watkins The house which had been located at 729 Suggs was sold by Jeff as Epperson Epperson House Movers hauled a house belonging to Billy Epperson to Watkins and was transported to Twin Lakes Subdivision Special legislative session begins today unseated in Tuesday's runoff In Senate District 36 covering portions of Claiborne Copiah Hinds and Atom smasher disbursements are on agenda Please see ELECTION Page B3 development programs The session will begin formally at noon with Allain scheduled to outline his plans for bidding on the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project and for distributing extra money The governor is asking legislators to approve creation of an SSC authority in his office to coordinate Mississippi's proposal for construction of the federal facility in the Lowndes-Oktibbeha-Clay-Noxubee county area Under his proposal the authority would have the power to issue a maximum of $500 million in bonds to guarantee that area facilities could be upgraded to handle the additional demand created by the facility It is ex By James Young Jackaon MIm Bureau ment a state-backed nonprofit organization $500000 for the State Department of Education to be matched with $500000 from junior colleges in support of adult literacy programs Although legislative leaders indicate general agreement with the spending proposals the special session is expected to run into the weekend at a daily cost of $24414 in salary and expense payments for the 174 legislators At least 13 of the 52 senators and 32 of the 122 House members will be making their farewell legislative appearances during the special session Ten Senate members and 19 representatives did not run for re-election this year Three senators were defeated in the primary and runoff elections this month while 13 representatives have been unseated in the election process that ends with the Nov 3 general election marked for a special fund and probably would cover most of the state's costs including the purchase of about 16000 acres that would be donated to the federal government Allain also is asking legislators to approve a package of spending bills which he said would improve the image as it enters the national competition for the SSC The Allain package includes $16 million for university libraries and equipment $5 million for community and junior colleges S3 million for renovation of state buildings $1 million for state promotion through the Department of Economic Development $1 million for additional work on the SSC application being processed by the Institute for Technology Develop JACKSON Miss Mississippi legislators fresh from the campaign trail will begin a special session at noon today to support the state's bid for the government's giant atom smasher Committees will begin informal talks this morning on Gov Bill Allain's proposals for the Mississippi bid on a $4 billion to S6 billion federal research project and to dish out S26S million in spare money to shore up education and generated by the construction and operation of the facility would be ear Harold White school president dies in Jackson Runoff results show ins outs of politicking Two black candidates for sheriff in North Mississippi counties met with different results in Democratic primary runoff In Grenada County Lewis Johnson was defeated by white candidate Weston Birdsong 5235 to 3705 Birdsong now unopposed will replace Jesse Strider who died in office However in Coahoma County black candidate Andrew Thompson unseated Incumbent Jesse Bonner 4938 to 4442 Thompson trying to be that first black sheriff since records were kept will meet two independent candidates in November In another sheriffs race Webster County Sheriff Bill Middleton fought back challenger Parker by a 690-vote margin 3030 to 2340 in unofficial results In Marshall County Johnny Taylor defeated Henry Boyd 6296 to 5000 for the chancery clerk spot Taylor will replace 'Flick' Ash who has held the office for 20 years Boyd was trying to become the first black man since Reconstruction to hold the chancery clerk job In a quirky result unofficial results in Panola County show constable candidates Newt Davis and Cleve Yale each received 1705 votes State law says ties are broken by meaning any fair method of random selection according to Phil Carter of the Secretary of State's office In Pontotoc County only one incumbent supervisor will return to office in January according to unofficial returns Three of the five supervisors resigned after pleading guilty to fraud charges Incumbent Dist 2 supervisor 1022 votes enabled him to return to his position He defeated Leighton Benjamin who received 877 votes In the Itawamba County race Incumbent Sheriff Leland Taylor defeated a former sheriff who is a convicted felon Administrator led for 23 years By Norma Martin Nortlwaat MIm Bureau day morning by a hotel employee Martin said a shock and a great said Tishomingo County Supt of Education Alvia Blakney who is on the community college's board of trustees has done a lot for education in Northeast Mississippi and in leadership in other areas His biggest concern was for the students Everything he did was built around the welfare of those Blakney said White who received an un Magazine peek forces new trial JACKSON Miss (AP) The Mississippi Supreme Court yesterday overturned the sexual battery conviction of a Coffeeville man because jurors were shown six girlie magazines not connected with the case The court in an opinion by Justice Lenore Prather ordered a new trial in Yalobusha County Circuit Court for Billy Wayne Collins who received a 16-year term in a case involving an 11-year-old girl Justice Prather said the girl and a 12-year-old friend were returning a borrowed wrench when the incident occurred in August 1984 She said Collins told the girls he had something for a relative of one of the girls in his tool shed but once Inside showed them nude pictures Justice Prather said he was accused of fondling and molesting one girl and threatening the other before they managed to trip him and run away Mrs Prather said that while the copy of the magazine shown to the girls was proper evidence five others were not linked to the case and were improperly shown to the jurors Although the prosecution argued that the magazines revealed the lustful motives the high court held they were against the defense "The very nature of the magazines is highly she said might have been offended by the magazines because of in addition to nudity the sexual explicitness of the photographs including depictions of homosexuality and the sacreligious nature of some of the photographs sole function of the introduction of the five magazines was to inflame the Yalobusha County ju- man of the community college's board of trustees "Northeast has a reputation and deserves it as being a quality two-year college and I have to give a large measure of credit for that to The community college with more than 2000 students grew from a small junior college to a sprawling campus during white's tenure college officials said was a very intelligent brilliant and broad-minded man He knew how to get programs for the college and how to handle said Prentiss County Supt of Education Greene also a member of the college's board of trustees landed almost every program that's over there (at the college) One of the biggest programs he handled was getting in the computers all kinds of computers We have a technical program second to none When the school was small he would work with the maintenance people he could talk to people on any level He will be said Greene A special meeting of the board of trustees has been called for 9 am today on the community college campus McMillan Funeral Home in Booneville has charge of services Arrangements were incomplete yesterday BOONEVILLE Miss Northeast Mississippi Community College President Harold White described by colleagues as a broad-minded effective administrator has died at the age of 63 White a native of Stone County held the leadership reins for nearly 23 years at the school known as Northeast Mississippi Junior College until its name was changed Aug 1 White died after an apparent heart attack in a hotel room in downtown Jackson some time after checking in Tuesday night Hinds County coroner Robert Martin said He was alone in the room and was found sitting in a chair yester I dergraduate and a graduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi worked in several positions at Gulf Coast Junior College in Parkinson for 14 years before becoming president of Northeast in 1965 was one of the finest college presidents in the state He was very effective just the type of Individual he said Thomas Keenum chair fr I Please see RUNOFF Page B3 4.