Group meets to organize
Chicano ‘education chapter’
By SCOTT DALTON
Of the Emerald
The first meeting of the Oregon
Chicano Educators Association
(OCEA) was held in 111 Fenton
Hall at the University on
Saturday.
The meeting began at 10 a.m.
and was attended by a group of
about 25 persons.
Leading the discussion was
Juan Guzman, President of
OCEA. The purpose of the first
meeting was to help establish an
OCEA chapter in Eugene.
A variety of topics were
discussed at the meeting in
cluding the need to put pressure
on the local school districts,
development of membership
rules, and identification of
Chicano students. Part of the
OCEA program will be to help
students receive scholarships
and to develop job openings in
Oregon.
The state leaders encouraged
Eugene residents to meet to
organize a chapter and elect
officers. The local chapter will
begin recruiting drives in four
different areas: educators and
professionals in education,
college students, Chicanos from
the community at large, and
members of the broadcast media.
During a break in the
proceedings, Guzman explained
some of the goals and problems of
the OCEA.
According to Guzman, the
association was started in May of
1973.
“This is our first official
meeting,” he said of the Eugene
gathering. He added that OCEA
Juan Guzman
hopes to get four chapters started
this fall. The group is based from
Mt. Angel College in Mt. Angel,
Ore.
Guzman was asked by the
Emerald to explain who Chicanos
were as a group. “I would de
fine Chicanos as people of Spanish
speaking ancestry,” he said. He
noted however, that many im
migrants from Latin American
countries or Mexico feel a much
stronger sense of identity with
their old homelands.
“We may not be able to reach
them, but we can help their
children,” said Guzman. He
noted that the term “Chicano”
was coined by Spanish speaking
people in the United States. He
compared it to the establishment
of a “Black” identity by
Americans of African ancestry.
“My family has been in
America for three generations,”
said Guzman, “this is my home.”
Guzman complained that many
people in the greater community
emphasize the differences bet
ween the various groups rather
than the similarities.
“People of Spanish speaking
background really have the same
problems,” he said. Guzman
pointed out that education for
Chicano students can be very
difficult because of their need to
learn a second language.
“You know how difficult it is to
speak anything in a language
class,” said Guzman, “well, that
is how it is for Chicanos in every
class.”
OCEA also puts out a monthly
newsletter with information and
editorials on the progress of the
organization.
Also attending the meeting
were Alicia Romeriz, Consultant
for the Northwest Educational
Technical Lab in Portland and
Alfonso Cabrera, assistant
director of SESAMEX.
OSPIRG charges sales \fraud ’
in Top Ranch land promotion
By LEE SIEGEL
Of the Emerald
American jrvict men overseas are being
defrauded by the promoters of the Top Ranch
subdivision in Grant County, the Oregon Student
Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) charged
Saturday.
In a letter to State Real Estate Commissioner
Jeffrey Holbrook, Doug Babb, OSPIRG staff
member, has accused Kamala, Inc. of Seattle, and
its agents, of selling lots at Top Ranch to ser
vicemen stationed in Okinawa, Taiwan, and other
rest and recreation bases, without first informing
them of a Real Estate Division public report that
points to the unavailability of water and electricity
at Top Ranch.
The report also states that the State Health
Division has rejected Top Ranch property as un
suitable for subsurface sewage disposal systems,
thus leaving pit privies as the only allowable means
of sewage disposal.
The Oregon Subdivision Control Act (ORS
92.290) requires that realtors show prospective
customers Real Estate Division reports on the
property prior to the execution of a sales contrast.
Prospective buyers depend on these reports for
information on property they have not seen.
Of six veterans contacted by OSPIRG, three
were not shown the public report on Top Ranch
prior to the sale.
Babb has asked Commissioner Holbrook to
investigate the sales practices of Kamala, Inc. and
its agents, Capital Management Systems, Tapei,
Taiwan, and Unival Investments Ltd., Seoul, South
Korea, and to enjoin further sales at Top Ranch.
In addition, Babb has requested that the Real
Estate Division seek convictions for violation of the
Subdivision Control Act, and that Top Ranch
property owners be informed that they may be
victims of deception.
Real Estate Commissioner Jefferey Holbrook
would not comment on the content of the OSPIRG
investigation. He said that he will send a letter in
response to OSPIRG s study today, and will make
copies available to the press if OSPIRG does not do
so.
Babb conducted the investigation of Top Ranch
as an offshoot of his study of the Real Estate
Division, which will be released in Early October.
He decided to look into the Top Ranch matter after
being told by Jack Jones, Subdivision Section
Supervisor of the Division that while the Top ranch
situation was a mess, no complaints had been
received, and thus nothing could be done.
This reply was termed “irresponsible” by
Babb, who said that “The most simple investigation
would have revealed the evidence...which shows
violation of the Oregon Subdivision Control law and
a likely pattern of calculated deception to defraud
American servicemen stationed overseas.”
While Babb said that he was sure some pur
chasers were aware that their property could not be
fully developed, many did not realize that an
outhouse would be the only allowable means of
sewage disposal at Top Ranch.
According to Grant County records, the
veterans contacted by OSPIRG are among 45 who
own property at the subdivision.
Photos by Trish Weisman
A featured speaker at Saturday’s meeting of the OCEA was Alicia
Romeriz.
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