To All Public Servants
To All Public Servants:
As the Yuletlde Season ap­
proaches we are reminded of
the valued service rendered by
the Public Servants of our city,
county and state. The knowledge
you impart and the guidance you
give to the people of this great
country of ours make your pro­
fession one great importance to
all of us.
We wish to express our
thanks and appreciation to you
for a job well done. Such work
like yours helps our community,
state and nation to keep the prin­
ciples embedded in our consti-
tution. This is what makes this
land of ours a great country.
Keep the good work goingl
If during the balance of the
year we can be of assistance to
you in your various activities of
service to mankind, please do
not hesitate to call us.
Portland Observer sends Sea­
sons' Greeting to you and yours.
May your Christmas be joyous
and may the next year bring
good health and happiness to you
and those dear to you.
The Portland Observer
Staff members
Few Black
State
Troopers
There exists a racist group
which advocates the arming of
white students and the ultimate
killing of all blacks who attend
integrated schools.
In a taped telephone message,
the speaker for the group, who
would appear to be a white
youth, defames black people,
calls them apes and generally
preaches white supremacy.
ectronics reigns supreme, it
electronics
„on™ that there ___U
would seem
would be
some regulatory power that
would police this type of slander
and put an end to all the hatred
that is being preached via the
telephone wire.
In the past, attempts to have
these phone messages taken out
of circulation have met with
utter failure. These messages
are instruments that will tear
down all the progress that has
taken place in this nation over
the past hundred years.
There are many things wrong
with this country and, from all
indications, it will take some
time to get things straightened
out, but some small amount of
progress has been made and it
seem s extremely foolish to lose
t h a t progress because of the
whims of some irresponsible
people who would like to see
this nation involved in an inter­
nal war.
Messages that preach hate
also preach destruction for this
nation. Until some effective, en­
forceable laws are passed deal­
ing with these phone calls and
all the hate literature that goes
through mails daily, there will
be someone trying to create
turmoil where peace reigns.
Hatred is a disease and these
p e o p le seek to make it an
epidemic. Only level heads and
effective laws can deal with
these people. The sooner this is
done, the better off the nation
will be. It has been proven that
h a t r e d breeds hatred and we
need to try another plan of at­
tack if we are to survive.
The director of the Afro-
A m e r i c a n studies program at
Indiana University has formed
the Black Merit Academy to
recognize outstanding achieve­
ments in that field. Prof. Henry
E. Simmons, founder and acting
president of the academy, said
recognition would be given to
achievement in three areas;
academic excellence in courses
related to the black experience,
contributions to black communi­
ty. Simmons has appointed an
interim steering committee of
black scholars from several uni­
versities and the first annual
meeting of the academy is
scheduled for next summer.
Plans call for publication of a
newsletter, beginning in Jan­
uary, and a journal starting next
fall.
Low-Potential
Students
. -
A new project for low-poten­
tial students has been launched.
The Vocational Training Project
for L o w - P o t e n t i a l Students
began operation in the fall of
1970 in remodeled headquarters
at 1820 N.E. 40th Avenue. The
Project is operated by the Port­
la n d Public Schools; it is
directed by Dr. Vernon Thomas;
and it is designed to help mildly
mentally retarded youngsters
between the ages of 17 and 22
who exhibit an exceptionally low
potential become socially com­
p e t e n t and economically self-
sufficient.
The Portland school system
i n cooperation with the State
Department of Vocational Reha­
bilitation (DVR) has for many
years provided facilities for the
t r a i n i n g and job-place ment of
the majority of youngsters cer­
tified as mildly mentally re­
t a r d e d . However, youngsters
with the lowest potential were
found to need a more intensive
course of evaluation and train­
ing than existing facilities could
provide. The Vocational Train­
ing Project for Low-Potential
Students is designed to fill this
need.
Enrollees in the Project in-
PORTLAND/OBSERVER Dec. 17, 1970
The N o r t h w e s t ’ s Best W e e k ly
A B lack O w n e d P u b lic a tio n
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 7l4'/2 N.E.
Alberta, Portland, Oregon, 97211.
Subscription rates: 60 cents per month by carrier, $5.00 per year;
$6.00 per year by mail in Tri-County area; $6.25 per year bv mail outside
Tri-County area. Phone 2 8 2 - 0 9 2 9
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher and Editor
in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
O P IN IO N LEADERS
C O M E IN SEVERAL COLORS
A special survey of state po­
lice forces found that “ no more
than 250 of the nation's 40,000
state policemen are black."
Available figures suggest that
another 500 state troopers are
from other racial minorities. At
least 10 states have no black
troopers and only five states
have as many as 10. The mail
and telephone survey got re­
sponses from 46 of the 50
states. California has the high­
est number of non-white offi­
cers - 80 blacks and 174 from
other minorities. Four other
states - Illinois, Maryland, new
Jerse y and Pennsylvania - have
between 13 and 23 black patrol­
men. Oklahoma has 102 minori­
ty officers other than black and
most of them are Indians. A full
report and table on findings in
next issue.
Black Merit
Academy
Formed
Hatred is a Disease
hi
elude certified mentally retard­
ed students, recent graduates,
and dropouts recommended to
the P r o j e c t either by the
schools or the DVR.
The Project can accommodate
up to 32 enrollees a day. Each
spends three hours a day at the
Center. Enrollees who are stu­
dents spend the rest of the day
at school.
The Project is staffed by the
director, a counselor, and three
vocational
instructors
all
trained or experienced in work­
ing with the mildly mentally re­
tarded.
At the Project, the enrollee is
tested, trained, and evaluated in
a variety of ho me-living situa­
tions and vocational roles—in­
cluding assembly line work and
clerical type work such as fil­
ing, marking, and packaging.
He (or she) spends half his
time in a workshop doing piece­
work for pay. This experience
is especially valuable in in­
creasing motivation and endur­
ance. He spends the other half
of his time in one of two train­
ing rooms learning more spe­
cialized skills in accordance
with a vocational plan estab­
lished by the counselor.
Typically the enrollee is re­
turned to school full-time or the
DVR for placement after about
eight weeks, or when he has ac­
quired the social and vocational
skills consistent with getting
and keeping a job.
The Center is completely
maintained by the enrollees.
Enrollees also run a small
snack shop where staff and fel­
low-workers can buy homemade
cookies, coffee or other snacks.
The less you sleep at night,
the more efficient and hard
working you're apt to be. Sounds
strange, but that’s what psychi­
atrists at Boston State Hospital
found out in a study of 400 men
aged 20 to 40.
As reported, men who habit­
ually sleep more than nine
hours a night tend to be intro­
verted, p a s s i v e , and mildly
depressed. Men who get along
with six hours sleep or less
were efficient, hardworking, and
achievement oriented.
The times are different.
Times are better although we
all remember the good old
simple days. The days of yes­
terday we can remember when
color was a convenient guide to
w h a t was what and who was
who? Well, the times they are
a'changing.'
Consider the conversation a
friend of ours overheard in an
apartment house elevator. Two
matrons were chatting.
"You used to be able to walk
up to one of them in the lobby
and ask if she had a free day,"
complained the first.
" a i t you don't dare now,"
said the othr, "She might turn
out to be your neighbor."
" E x a c t l y . Or your kid's
teach er."
" O r your Local Planning
Board Representative."
"O r (like some of the people
in the Photo above) a personnel
specialist, w riter, researcher,
communications e x e c u t i v e or
social worker on a professional
call - or a social one, or a
member of model citie s."
Black people, you see, have
come a long way since the
"good old days." Their opinions
are being heard and felt, and for
responsible black opinion lead­
ers in Portland, there is one
' ' m u s t ' ' newspaper - THE
PORTLAND OBSERVER.
The Portland Observer has
s o m e t h i n g of Interest for
everyone.
The Portland Observer tells
which Nixon policies affect them
most and how.
The Portland Observer tells
them what Mayor Evers, and
o t h e r Black lawmakers are
doing.
The Portland O bserver tells
them about Black artists, inven­
to rs, business men and student
leaders you never heard of.
And black w riters, black law
e n f o r c e m e n t officials, black
churchmen and we even bring to
other readers, people of other
ethnic groups.
T h e O bserver tells them
about inside story of City Hall
and city officials also what hap­
pens in Salem. For local and
national news it is found in the
O bserver.
People of all color look for­
ward to the O bserver every
T h u r s d a y . Most of them will
never see the other papers. So
what Observer reader thinks of
your products is what the Black
community at large thinks even­
tually of your products.
So now that you know what's
what and who's who, shouldn't
we get together? Just say when.
CALL; Mr. Groves
Verna Hendersen
Dewey Taylor
Bill Ingran
A. L. Henderson
At: 282-0929
As Christmas comes to you this year, wt
warm ly wish tha t i t m ay bring a h o ly meaning
ever deeper, hopes ever brighter, and joyous
blessings ever richer.
Jack Gradwohl
Jack Gradwohl, Jr.
Gary Jewell
Jean Worsop
Fred Hickerson
Ellis Watson
Jim Waggoner
Doug Howard
Ron Wilson
N.E. 22nd & Broadway
Coll 281-1171