I
t
Page 2
Portland Observer
Thursday. August 21. 1975
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES
Political football
Portland
O bserver'*
article about Miss Gwen­
dolyn Brooks' decision arti­
culated the concern of a
person who is really striv­
ing to make life worthwhile
for many people.
Miss Brooks' decision
emphatically reveals that
she truly cares. The fart of
declining to appear in a
facility currently under
public scrutiny for "alleged"
questionable practices is a
reminder that the current
International Women's Year
is a time for both celebra
tion and corrective humani­
tarian action. Miss Brooks'
courage has added a dimen­
sion. for good, to life in
Portland.
Sincerely,
J.M. Gates
-
THRILL
TIME...
EYHOUND
7:30
Tbey would rather have job«
Reading method a disaster
Dear Editor:
The
11
August 2.3rd. 10:00 a m
the rating services are
dominated largely by three to 4:00 p.m.: Women in the
agencies: the A.C. Nielsen, Arts in America. Panel
•FC C
which uses a patented discussions, seminars, film
C o m m i s s i o n kr
device inserted into a set to on photographer Imogene
measure audience viewing; Cunningham, audience par
the American Research Hu ticipation. With Gwendolyn
The P ortland Poetry Festival has m o ve d its
reau lARB) which sends a Brooks, painter Judy Chi
Recently, the A.C. Niel
include enough people But
sen Service made what it
"W om en in the A rts " fe s tiv a l fro m the YWCA to
I hastened to say that I diary to its viewers to be cago. choreographer Bella
filled in. and Pulse, Inc . Lewitzky. writer/translaler
called a "pure" survey of a
could not rutionally analyze
P ortland State U n ive rsity.
The o rg a n iz a tio n
which deals exclusively in Suzanne Massie, musician
B la ck
A m e r ic a n TV
the
situation
because
I
m o ve d its p ro g ra m a fte r Miss G w e n d o ly n Brooks,
radio and uses the (tersonal Katherine G eorge, poet
audience, centering its focus
lacked both skill and exper
Black p o e t w h o m the fe s tiv a l honors this year,
in representative areas: the
interview to attain its playwright Diane di Prims
tise as a mathmetician or
refu sed to a p p e a r a t the Y a nd a fte r Black
Papers by Mindy Aloff,
sampling results.
Nation's Capital which is
statistician to do so.
seventy six percent Black,
There are others, but Anita Ilelle, Susan Kirsch
Citizens th re a te n e d a p ic k e t o f the prem ises
I felt, however, that even
and in Chicago and Detroit,
though the sampling of their share of the market is ner. Jeanne M cKmghl,
It is u n fo rtu n a te that a g ro u p e n lig h te n e d
minimal.
Portland State University.
both of which have large
Black households was pro
e n o u g h to in v ite Miss Brooks to P ortland w o u ld
Black populations.
Because the FCC seems
Saturday. August 2.3rd,
bably
not
representative,
not h ave a lso b e e n sensitive e n o u g h to fo rse e
to have, at the very least, a 8:00 p.m.: Reading in Honor
It was a first of its kind
the fart that the effort was
her o b je c tio n s to an o rg a n iz a tio n
c u rre n tly
tagential interest in the of Gwendolyn Brooks. El
and some interesting rev
finally made by Nielsen
e n b ro ile d in ra c ia l c o n flic t.
ratings game, it has been luage Anthony. Bill Maxey,
elation* resulted from it.
represented a significant
suggested that the public and other poets. Albina
But more about that later
W e a re g la d the P ortland Poetry Festival fin a lly
shifting in power relation
For years Blacks and
ships between the hitherto interest might lies! lie Arts Center. 8 N.E. Kill
saw the lig h t a n d h op e this m ove also m eans that
served if il conducted the ingsworth
other m inorities asked
ig n o red m in o r ity com
they h ave g a in e d som e insig ht in to w h a t Miss
"Nielsen who’".’ When the
Sunday, August 24th.
munity and the audience audience samplings, taking
Brooks' p o e try is a ll about.
name of this electronics
measuring agency whose the services away from Annual Washington Park
media sampling service was sampling findings ran spell commercial agencies
Poetry Celebration. Wash
I am opposed to this plan, mgton Park Garden Am
mentioned. In other words life or death to a television
just as I am op|xixed to a phitheater, near the Roses
Nielsen (and other such or radio program
services! agents in minority
Nielsen's Black audience companion suggestion that (in case of storm. Portland
the United States Census State Smith Center Ball
communities were almost as survey covered an eight
Bureau with its built in room, Broadway at Mont
plentiful as Eskimos in the
week period from January
Sahara Desert. It was. and
Noon: Opening
10th through March ttth I expertise of lung standing gomeryl
indeed, is, hard if not
won't go into the numbers in making national surveys, C erem o n ies; 1,00 p.m:
impossible to find a Black represented in the so called should take over the samp
Duane Niatum, author of
ling It is true the Census A sce n d in g Red C ra ter
or a Spanish surnamed. or "share rating", but it suf
an Indian or an Oriental
fires to say that Nielsen Bureau does have the ex
Moon, etc . 2 00 p m :
American who has been
found, as could have been perience, but like the FCC.
Gwendolyn Brooks, guest of
it is a federal agency, and I honor . .3:00 p m Williams
interviewed by this or any
predicted, that Black au
other sampling agency.
dienres in DC.. Chicago think the heavy hand of Toy Theater, performing
RELIEF
Given the fact that these and D etroit, tuned in government does not belong
marionette play. "The Myth
CHECKS
agencies base their findings
heavily to Sanford and Son. in this sensitive private
of Perseus.“; 4:00 p.m :
on such a small number of starring comedian Redd area.
Robert Hass, Field Guide,
OPENS
There are many flaws in
people
1.400 out of 200 F’oxx. with slightly less
Yale Younger Poets Prize ;
AT- fAtA
million one is hard put to
viewing of Soul Train Flip the surveying techniques of
5:00 p m : Diane di Prims,
discover anyone even in the
W ilson's variety
show- the service agencies and
Revolutionary Letters, etc
majority community who pulled well as did Fat one of the biggest hereto
6:00 p.m
John Beecher.
has been included in such a Albert comedy cartoon on fore, was its bland mdif
Collected Poems 1924 1975,
survey.
"One man recorder of
Saturday mornings. Blacks ference to the inclusion of
Many people, and espe
American history
7 00
also tuned in heavily to minority samplings in its
But a federal
ciallv minorities, are skep
p m
Vern Rutsala, Th*
weekend college basketball conclusions
tical of the ratings game and pro NBA basketball government take over won't
Window. etc
that results from such shows. It is significant that
ho a cureall.
samplings. And when I was both Sanford and Son and
Black Journal's Tony
queried by some members Soul Train took significant
Brown and other leading a
of the press after Nielsen plunges (by more than
Black communications fi
announced its sampling re
gures have led the fight in
thirty rating points! when
suits in Black Washington, N ielsen sam pled mixed
this area, and they should
D.C., I said it was my gut l Black and white) com
he commended for it. be
feeling that this random munities.
cause now Nielsen ratings
sampling was inaccurate
For the information of service is beginning to
bi-cause I felt it did not those who may not know.
res,Mind
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor:
The West was won. the
frontiers conquered and
seemingly there were no
more lands to subjugate.
Not so. say the educational
and publishing elite.
We
will change the form of
teaching children to read.
We will kick out as old
fashioned the tried and true
method that has made this
nation one of the literate
lands of the world. Used in
one room schools, even
those cabins hewed out of
logs in the wilderness to
teach children and adults
from foreign shores as well
as natives, this type of
teaching shall be no more.
To make use of the know
ledge the child has acquired
in learning to talk is passe’.
Instead of using the alpha
bet of twenty six letters to
produce about forty two
sounds, we will start a new
system
of mem orizing
whole words as the Chinese
do. Verily, this pictograph
method shall be the estab
lishment's sacred cow.
For almost fifty years
this configuration process
has been eating at the heart
of our educational system
until the number of non
readers or those reading
below the third grade level
is approaching calamitous
levels.
Actually anyone
who has learned to talk ran
learn to read if he has a
sim p le and o rg a n iz ed
method based on the alpha
bet.
One can truly say educa
tion in the United States is
a disaster.
If the reader
doubts the truth of these
statements. I challenge him
to volunteer to help one of
the thousands of young
people and grown ups who
are struggling to communi
cate by reading and writ
ing.
At the present time the
military budget is the
highest item of government
expense. The second high
est cost is for education.
What can we do to get our
money's worth?
As you
well know, it is the tax
payers; namely, you and I
who have to pay these
costs.
Let us admit that the
children are not failures,
but that this whole word
method kJ the failure. This
look s a y . co n fig u r a tio n
method is the festering sore
that is eating away at not
only our children's grasp of
reading, but also at his or
her self respect.
Radical
surgery is needed. Let's do
it.
Donald J. Herzog
2328 N.E. 19th Avenue
Portland. Oregon
P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 2201
North Killingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217.
Mailing
address: P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. Telephone
283 2486.
Subscriptions: $5.25 per year in the Tri County area, $6.00 per
year outside Portland.
1st Place
( ommunitv Service
ONPA 1973
1st Place
Best Ad Result*
ONPA 1973
5th Place
Best Editorial
NNPA 1973
4-C Child care
(Continued from p. I col. bl
the books seem unable to pinpoint the
exact amount of surplus funds or
their source, but some former board
members believe the figure is much
higher. During the period that these
funds have been known to exist,
programs have been closed and
children terminated due to lark of
funds.
The board has refused to deal with
the problem of the unallocated funds
and where they should be used for
several months, with the controversy
reaching emotional heights when the
suggestion is made that these funds
could be used to support the Model
Cities programs Robert Fell, former
director of 4 C. confidentially advised
Model Cities personnel that these
were United Way funds and to
United Way people that they were
Model Cities funds In light of the
large amounts of Model Cities money
allocated to child rare, especially
during the first three years of the
program, some board members arr
certain that the funds are actually
HUD monies allocated for child rare
through Model Cities and that there
might have been some infraction of
HUD guidelines in holding this
money
The major concern of many board
member*, and especially those from
Columbia and Clackamas Countie*, is
that those funds not be used for
Model Cities children. Mrs. Jerry
Frye, current chairman of the board,
in discussing the injustices of rutting
Model Cities programs while using
their money for administrative costs,
remarked. "I'm not in favor of
straightening out past wrongs."
The board did ultimately pass the
$11.240 allocation with the promise of
director Steve Ixiwen to attempt to
further rut the budget.
The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only in
its Publisher’s column (We See The World Through Black
Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the opinior
of the individual writer or submitter and does not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer.
Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorial Award
NNA 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorial
3rd Place
MATIOWAL
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Community Leadership
O NPA 1975
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ALFRED L. HENDERSON
Editor/Publisher
POETRY FESTIVAL
SCHEDULED
r a
Move proper
CETA fu nd s are fe d e ra l m on ie s a llo c a te d to
p ro v id e tra in in g a n d /o r e m p lo y m e n t to u n e m ­
p lo y e d persons CETA II a nd VI p la c e e m p lo y e e s
on jobs w ith n o n -p ro fit co m m u n ity agencies, thus
p ro v id in g |obs and, as a b y-p ro du ct, som e d e g re e
o f co m m u n ity service.
A lth o u g h these fu nd s are the re s p o n s ib ility o f
M a y o r G o ld sch m id t a nd C om m issio ne r Jordan,
the C ou ncil has ta ken upon its e lf the re v ie w o f
each a nd e ve ry jo b p la ce m e n t.
This is lik e
asking C om m issioner M cC ready to su bm it each
m u d p u d d le to the C ou ncil fo r a p p ro v a l b e fo re it
is fille d .
The C ou ncil, in d e lib e ra tin g each a nd e v e ry jo b
slot, is sh o w in g its lack o f u n d e rs ta n d in g o f the
CETA purpose
They fo rg e t the p ro g ra m is to
su p p ly ¡obs; they th in k it is to p ro m o te th e ir o w n
p o litic a l biases.
N ow each p ro g ra m m ust pass
the p o litic a l and social, a nd e ven the sexual
scrutiny o f the com m issioners.
W e d ne sda y's C ou ncil m e e tin g w as a lesson in
p a rtic ip a to ry d em ocracy to
those
w ho
are
d e p e n d e n t on the decisions o f this august body.
A t o ne p a rtic u la rly e m o tio n a l p o in t. C o m m is ­
sioner Schw ab scream ed a h e a rty "s h u t u p " to an
o v e rly enth usia stic o bse rve r; C om m issio ne r Iv a n ­
cie a n n o u n ce d g ra n d ly , "Y o u can support this
g a rb a g e if you w a n t to, M r. M ayo r, but I w o n 't."
Miss S chw ab a n n o u n ce d her c o n tin u in g o p p o s i­
tio n to c o u n s e llin g sexual m in o ritie s .
C om ­
m issio ne r
M cC ready
w as
absent
b ut
her
o p p o s itio n w as a b ly a n n o u n ce d by C om m issio ne r
Scwab.
Those pro gram s th a t p ro v id e m usic a nd dan ce,
a rt a n d ca b le TV w e re a ccepted w ith no p ro b le m .
Program s th a t address som e ra th e r basic s o e a l
issues — m in o rity e m p lo y m e n t, h o m o s e x u a lity ,
le g a l p ro ble m s, sexism , w o m e n 's rights, a n d
those sponsored by PMSC w e re le ft u n til next
w e e k.
W e le a rn e d a fe w th ing s W ednesday
C om m issio ne r S chw ab kn ow s little a b o u t social
a ge n cie s a n d a lth o u g h she w as a b le to pass on
som e a fte r a b rie f d e scrip tio n , PMSC re q u ire s a
m o re in -d e p th pro be . C om m issio ne r M cC re ad y is
o pposed to assistance to n e ig h b o rh o o d associa­
tions; C om m issio ne r Iva ncie d o e s n 't lik e h o m o ­
sexuals e ith e r; the M a y o r likes " g a r b a g e " .
It is u n fo rtu a n te th a t a p ro g ra m th a t is so v ita lly
n e e d e d in this a re a has to b eco m e a p o litic a l
a re n a fo r those w h o h a v e h ig h e r p o litic a l g oa ls
We d o u b t th a t this p e rfo rm a n c e g a in e d m uch
c re d ib ility w ith the voters.
Courage
ttv iija m in
L.
H ooks
City
Zip
State