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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1971)
2 School measure fails Portland / Observer Thursday May 6. 1971 The Northwest'« Best Weekly ___________ A Blqck Owned Publication “ Published every Thursday byE xw Publishing Company K illingsw orth Portland, Oregon 97217. 2201 N « vwmP“ y. ^ 0 1 N. <SUiYt nPtl° n ruteS 4? .cente Per month by earner,$ 4 .0 0 per year 5 Tri-County 5 .0 0 per year by mail in Tri-Countv ' **• area. Phone 2 8 3 - 2 ^ 6 an*» ™ ■<« * 5 ’25per vear u b* mal1 <«“ ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher and Editor People count not machines There is more behind the move of The Portland Observer to considerably la rge r quarters at2201N.Killingsworth than the moving of equipmentand gaining additional machines. Even though the move w illa llo w T h e P o rtla n d O b se rve rto ca rry on the com plete function of publishing this weekly newspaper without any work done elsewhere, what is fa r more important is that we are preparing fo r people. With the kinds of help we a re receiving from many in and out of Portland the re a lity of a strong and healthy newspaper fo r the Model C ities area is in the process of becoming a re a lity . We have plans of making The Portland Observer a training ground fo r people in the printing industry. Here they w ill learn the trade of publishing apaper, and if things go as planned w ill be trained in the functions of a com m ercial printing plant. There are not many, if any, m in o rity people in this industry. The good Lord w illin g we’ ll prepare able people to make a living in typesetting, press operation, make up, photography, to mention a few. A t the same time we intend to concentrate on making The Portland Observer a newspaper which tru ly serves the people. A personal voice fo r the individual who often feels that no one re presents him. The goals are high and we expect the tra il not to be easy; but we seek to do what a newspaper is suppose to do: P rim a rily to be a public watch dog. We are of course proud of the move to la rg e r quarters but we know that we owe the growth to our readers and advertisors without which we could do nothing. The last one? In an interview with the press, President Nixon has said that the war inVietN am is ending, and added, “ In fact, 1 seriously doubt if we w ill ever have another war. This is probably the very last one.’ ’ If this statement is to have a chance of proving true, the United States must end the war in Viet Nam while retaining a position of honor and strength. If this is to happen, it is imperative that the m oral force of world opinion be brought to bear to compel humane treatment of U«S. prisoners of war, held under diabolically cruel conditions in the stockades and penitentiaries of North Viet Nam. The Reader’ sDigest, in its A p ril issue, has sought to m obilize public opinion and gen erate an upsurging public pro test in the form of m illions of signed statements to be d e live r- Youth Caro Funds Each department and division of State government is covered by an appropriations b ill. House B ill (HB) 2045 would appropri ate approxim ately$3l m illio n from the General Fund to the C orrections D ivision. Of this money. Youth Care F a cilitie s would receive $763,214. Youth Care F a cilitie s are an alternative to sending de linquent youth to MacLaren School fo r Boys o r H illc re s t School of Oregon fo r g irls . Youth Care F a c ilitie s also take youths who might otherwise be returned from Juvenile Detention to an unchanged fam ily situation. HB 2045 is in the J oint W ays and Means Committee. Senators on the Committee are George E ivers, Edward Fadeley, E .D . Potts, Jason Boe, LynnNewbry, Betty Roberts, and Berkeley Lent. Representatives are P h ilip Lang, W illiam Gwinn, B ill Stevenson, Hugh M cG ilvra, Allen Pynn, Rod McKenzie, and Stafford Hansell. ed through the Am erican Red Cross to the government of North V iet Nam. The Digest a rtic le , entitled “ Inside the Prisons of Hanoi” should be read bye ve ryA m e rica n .lt is a report of actual POW conditions as described by some of the men who have been released and by informed sources in Washington Saigon and P a ris. It describes such conditions as prisoners being caged or tethered like animals so that villagers could file past to strike them or urinate on their bodies. It speaks of constant hunger, steady weight loss, nausea and and hopelessness of the “ Hanoi H ilton, ” an old French enitentiary, in which prisoners are kept in tiny cem ent-walled, heavily - barredcells and sleep on cement slabs or rough boards stretched across sawhorses Progressive starvation, isola tion from other human contact, the numbing cold, lack of medical care fo r wounds, as well as illnesses o r injuries contracted during captivity, are part of the picture. Wages F o rt Dodge, Iowa,Messenger “ It should not be forgotten that so fa r as some potential workers are concerned— the handicapped, the aged, those with less than average com petence and the young— a m ini mum wage is fa r from an unm ix- ed blessing. It condemns many thousands to idleness, as em ployers cannot afford to pay the wages required fo r what these people can accomplish. The re cord has established that every time the minimum wage goes up more fringe workers lose th e ir job opportunities. There would seem to be no good reason fo r doubting that it w ill happen again pa rticu la rly if, as seems likely, It comes at a time when un employment already is dis turbingly high.” The final ta lly of the vote on Portland School D is tric t’ s re quest fo r a$36 m illio n building bond issue and a $7 m illio n operating budget, registered a 2 to one turn down. While state wide school wonders why Portland s measure was defeated. We believe that the m ajor element in Portland sSchool D is tric ts money measure being turned down was the lack of under standing concerning middle schools. A t numerous public meetings real questions about m id d le schools were never answered definitely o r we re side-stepped. Portland School D is tric t has not been able to satisfy many peopled feelings that schools being re-shuffled and re-labled “ middle schools’ ’ was not just putting old goods in a new bag. That the remodeling of schools is a need which is obvious to anyone making a v is it to most any three or four schools; but now the concern is fo r q u a lity educational program s. Portlanders haven’ t been convinced that such q u a 1 i t y exists nor that the approval of the d is tric ts asking price of$43 m illio n w ill provide the quality. Socially, many of the racial problems of schools such as Jefferson and Roosevelt have remained unsettled in the main and d r u g abuse s till r u n s rampant. Academically high school graduates have poor qualifi cations fo r jobs and vocational programs are lagging. The Portland School Board and adm inistration could better plan and show the people some hope fo r success and not expect the voters to approve a system which hasn’ t convinced the public they are getting th e ir money’ s worth. The C ity of Roses school system is indeed in need of re p a ir and needs much more crea tive direction than shown the past (at least) ten years. better phone 283—2486 “ From Our Readers* T h e P o r t l a n d O b s e r v e r w e lc o m e s l e t t e r s to th e e d i t o r . W h e th e r th e y a r e c r i t i c a l o f t h i s n ew sp ap er or c o m m e n ta rie s on th e p r o b l e m s o f o u r s o c i e t y , a l l w ill b e g iv e n j u s t c o n s i d e r a t i o n f o r p r i n t i n g in t h i s c o lu m n We r e s e r v e th e r ig h t t o e d i t a c c o r d i n g t o o u r sp a c e lim ita tio n s . DISTRS. earnest« TIRU RECAP SPECIALISTS ' 'HUH SAID" 284-9758 3368 N.E. UNION \ _____ PORTLAND CLEANING WORKS NORTH & N.E. PORTLAND >ONE DAY SERVICE knit blocking WELFARE statement OUR SPECIALTY We Give m in o r repairs - n o charge PICK-UP & DELIVERY 282-8361 A Statement by a Welfare Child T o a l l the people who don’t care about me and kids like me STAM PS 3»6 » N. W illiom . “ You’ve Tried The Rest, Now Try The Best N. Alexander, Proprietor My Mom crie s a lot and I know she loves me but I needed a p a ir of shoes fo r school and she couldn’ t get them fo r me, so I took a p a irfro m a sto re .I didn’ t want to but I didn’ t have any money to buy them and I want to go to school so I won’ t have to go Personal Service of High Quality! Pricing That Meets Your Requirement! Courtesy That Is A Tradition on W elfare like Mom. W e d o ft have enough toeat ail the time either and I didn’ t have a coat fo r a long tim e this w inter. Nobody likes welfare and they don’ t like us welfare kids, but nobody wants to do anything to help us get off of welfare. I know enough about politics to know I don’ t have any rights. I don’ t have the right to ask fo r more to eat o r to be warm o r to even have a house to I ive in . I don’ t vote so I don’ t count. Those people in Salem decide whether I w ill be hungry and cold or not, and I ’ ve been cold and hungry a long tim e. C. D on V ann There Is No Doubt When You Call Vann. Vann’s Mortuary 2 8 1 -2 8 3 6 But I am told I must respect the people whodo this tom e. I try to - I try very hard. "W elfare C risisC o m m itte e ” We have moved to 2201 I Killingworth to serve you 5211 N. Williams Ave. Portland, Oregon ♦
