Philadelphia cops
The City of Philadelphia agreed to settle out of court in a federal lawsuit filed by Cynthia Dawson for the shooting death of her son, Donta Dawson, by police officer, Christopher DiPasquale. The award totaled $712,500.

Dawson, 19, was approached by DiPasquale and his partner as he sat in his car on October 1, 1998. When Dawson didn't respond to their demands to identify himself and show them his hands, they called for backup. With some three patrol cars and six cops present, Dawson is supposed to have made a sudden movement. DiPasquale then fired two shots hitting Dawson in the face. The young man died later that day.

Twice the District Attorney filed criminal charges against DiPasquale and twice the charges were dropped following court hearings. The NAACP and city and state officials are asking for a Municipal Court review of the District Attorney's decision to decline to press charges a third time. DiPasquale was fired from the police force but is campaigning for reinstatement.

After Dawson's murder, family members and others held picket lines demanding that DiPasquale be prosecuted.

Candace Wagner

Philadelphia

Campaigned for socialism
It is my sad duty to inform readers of the Militant of the death after a lengthy illness of Glenn White in Washington, D.C. on August 9, 1999. Glenn will be remembered by many as a activist and campaigner for working people and against racism.

Glenn was won to the communist movement in St. Louis, Missouri, in the early 1970s where he had been a natural fighter. In the mid 1970s, he moved to Washington, D.C., as a leader of the Young Socialist Alliance. Throughout the next decade he represented the Socialist Workers Party in many campaigns, gaining respect and support for the party in both the community and in the workplace. His early 80s campaign for mayor of Washington, D.C., was particularly successful in gaining a hearing for socialist ideas. In the mean time, he was organizer of a large and active chapter of the Young Socialist Alliance, and a militant in the Amalgamated Transit Union. He also played a key role in the formation of the short-lived National Black Independent Political Party in D.C. Glenn always had the ability to include humor and a bit of irreverence in his work, which won him many allies.

In recent years, he had taken on family responsibilities and concentrated his work there and in the ATU, but remained a friend to the SWP and never stopped being a fighter against injustice wherever it was manifested. He leaves behind a wife and child. His former comrades miss him very much.

Fritz Edler

Washington DC

Drought and environment
On August 18 the Delaware River Basin Commission voted to tap into the reserve water supply in order to counteract the effects of the current drought. A maximum of 20 billion gallons of water will be tapped from these sources which would increase the supply of water for about 10 days. This decision begs the questions, what is the source of the drought, and what can be done to alleviate this potentially disastrous problem?

Because of global warming, the amount of water in the oceans is increasing. Today the technology exists to desalinate water. Desalinization plants operate on several Caribbean islands and on battle ships in the U.S. Navy. Therefore desalinization plants could be built to alleviate the drought, but to my knowledge this idea has not even been discussed in the media.

Hundreds of years ago the land east of the Mississippi River was one big forest with numerous Native American villages. Trees give off water and this water creates rain. The deforestation of this area, no doubt has contributed to the decrease in rainfall.

Today there are several nuclear power plants in the Northeast. These plants require massive amounts of water to operate. In the state of Pennsylvania there is an enormous amount of anthracite coal. Coal can be mined cleanly and burned cleanly, yet this process is apparently more expensive than generating electricity from nuclear power plants.

This state of affairs clearly demonstrates that the only way for humanity to live in harmony with nature is by having a workers and farmers government where human needs are more important than profits.

Steve Halpern

Philadelphia  
 
 
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