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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1977)
4 Hr« France» Schoen-Newapaper Room U n iv e rs ity of Oregon L ib ra ry t-vgene, Oregon 97403 Leaders informed PORTLAND PPS chongas Jefferson proposal OBSER 7 Ne. 88 Thursday, July 7, 1977 i I 10e per Bess Representatives of the Portland Public Schools met with selected Block ‘leaders* at the home of E. Shelton Hill, Wednesday night. Attending were Superintendent Robert Blanchard, Ernest Hartxog, school board members Jonathan Newman and Gladys McCoy, M r. Hill, James Brooks, Mrs. Hazel G. Hays, and Ellis Casson. Invited tu t not attending were Reverends John Jackson and Rozell Gilmore. Johathan Newman explained his new attendance proposal, a plan that has met with opposition from the community. This plan would bar students living in the Boise and King areas of the Jefferson attendence area from attending Jefferson and would allow them to attend only schools that have less than 18 per cent minority enrollment. Newman stated that some misinterpretation of his plan had occurred but admitted that the district had not provided copies of the plan to the public. Newman then presented changes to the plan, designed to answer some of the complaints from the community. Basic changes include: Any student who, on October 1,1977, is not a student at Jefferson High School, and who is, or after said date becomes, a resident of the Area I portions of the attendance areas of the King or Boise Schools, shall for high school not attend Jefferson High School, but the student shall if living in the Boise district attend Lincoln and if living in the King area attend Wilson. If students were in other high schools on administrative transfers they could remain in those schools. If they attended elementary schools on administrative transfers they could a t tend the high school serving that elemen tary school. They could attend Benson or Monroe, or could select any other high school that did not already have a minority enrollment exceding the district average (18 per cent). The new proposal makes exceptions for students who have brothers or sisters attending Jefferson, and allows students to enroll in the magnet program at Jefferson if they are qualified for admis sion and perform adequately. The initial proposal had banned minority students from the Jefferson and Adams magnet programs if minority enrollment exceded 18 per cent. However, the new proposal does state that when applications for admission in distict wide programs en code planned optimum capacity, the principal will select those students moot likely to benefit from the program. If adopted the new proposal will be on a trial basis, with a report and recom mendations from the Superintendent not later than December 16. 1979. The Black persons attending were unanimous in advising the school person nel that they meet with the Committee for Equal Education for A ll Children and affected parents before making any deci sion on this proposal. Remarking that no one mandates white kids, Ellis Casson said the first thing Black parents see is that it is Black kids who always get on the bus. Calling the problem of desegregation a highly emo tional issue, Jim Brooks said Black parents don’t follow why it is always their children who must be bussed. Mrs. Hays recommended that the school officials meet with parents and community members and that idea was strongly supported by Gladys McCoy. Mrs. Hays also asked about the Depart ment of Health, Education and Welfare’s finding of discrimination in discipline and remarked that the problem of tardiness and parent participation will increase as students are sent farther away from their homes. The Black representatives agreed with the need for desegregation and recogniz ed the problem that racial isolation at Jefferson High School presents for the district, but advised that ways be found to bring more white students into Jeffer son rather than continuously busing mere Black students out of the school. Lois Berry: Poet of all trades County plans Geriatric Center Don Clark, Chairman of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, has proposed that the County provide funds for a fiscal review for a proposed “M ult nomah County Geriatrics Service Center. Inc." and that the center be housed at the building on M t. Tabor abandoned by the Seventh Day Adventist hospital. The committee recommended that the center be a private, non-profit corpora tion. with all eounty residents over «6 being stockholders in the corporation. The Board of Directors, however, whould be appointed by the Chairman of the Multnomah County Board of Commis- The committee recommendations are substantially the same as those of an earlier committee appointed by Commis sioner Clark to study the future of Edgefield Lodge, a county operated nur sing home facility. Clark had proposed that Edgefield be dosed, but met public opposition. Critics of the new proposal emphasise that although the findings are similar to those of the Edgefield Com mitte, the Edgefield committee did not have the political influence to gain com munity support - hence a new committee. Multnomah County would not purchase the property, but would provide the funds for the Geriatrics Center to pur chase it »t approximately 18.1. Private foundations would be invited to partici pate in the funding. The committee estimated that the a nnu al operating expenses would be about 82,684.000 a year. The county now spends about 81 million a year on programs for the elderly and the differ ence would have to be made up from taxes. “The Committee is not prepared to recommend at this time the establish ment of a tax base to provide 82 million a year, but we would urge the Official Board of the Corporation to carefully consider that possibility,” the proposal states. The “start-up” money would come from Multnomah County. Services to be provided by the Center include: 1. An evaluation, placement and fol low up unit staffed by geriatric specialty health profaisirnsla Thia will take up to 80 days, all or part of which will be spent at the Center.* 2. Crisis intervention (24 hour service) 3. Supportive health care and social services to enable elderly to remain in their own homes. 4. Information and referral 5. Rehabilitation and renewal center with 75 to 100 beds. 8. Medically oriented housing to pro vide emergency housing for the elderly. 7. Outreach program 8. Pharmaco-consultation program, in cluding continuing education for profes sionals regarding drug use. 9. Nursing home bed registry 10. Staff registry 11. Rheumatoid arthritis center The center would also provide training and education in care of the elderly. A Chair of Gereontology would be estab lished at Warner Pacific College. The person filling this position would super vise the education and training of persons in gereontology and related fields. Baccalaureate degree programs in physical and occupational therapy would be developed in cooperation with Warner Pacific College. A continuing task force of faculty and laymen would study cur riculum development and pilot projects outside of Oregon which could be applic able at the Center or be used in coopera tion with other agencies and Warner Pacific College. A Chair in Gereatrics would be established at the University of Oregon Health Science Center with that serving as Medical Officer of the Critics of the proposal are asking a few basic questions. Is the purpose of this program to serve the elderly or to assist the Seventh Day Adventist hospital by purchasing its out-dated property? What is the relationship of this proposed purchase to the purchase of Glendevere Golf Course from the same organization? Why establish educational programs to duplicate programs already in operation at Portland State University, the Uni versity of Oregon and Oregon State University? I f the County wants to fund an educational program, why select W ar ner Pacific College, a private institution, and one where Edith Green serves on the Board of Directors and her son has taught and may wish to teach again? Can the County establish a Chair in Geriatrics at the University of Oregon Health Science Center? And if so, who would pay this salary? I f a much needed Chair of Geriatrics were to be established The City of Portland has more Black artists than you can shake a stick at. Regardless of what circles you make your rounds in, chances are you’ll meet some one who eithr dabbles or dedicates himself to paining, drawing, sculpture, design or writing (or any conbination thereof). Many are born here; others come from varous points on the globe, their packed satchels filled with collaps ible drafting tables and protruding ’T ” squares, hammers, chisles and various blocks of wood, putty, paints and pens. Lois Berry lugs around a trunk, a cornucopia overflowing with writings of several decades. She is a woman of many experiences all of which she interprets through her medium - “social poetry". “I w rite about anything that moves me,” says the fortyis grandmother who defies time with her youthful, yet experi ence weathered, appearance. “I ’m not a trained poetess . . I ’ve never been to a (poetry) class and I don’t chose to because I don't want my work, my creativity, re-arranged or brainwashed." Mrs. Berry, a native of Texas and a long-time resident of New Mexico, who has been writing “for as long as I can remembe”, is a woman of many trades. During her first years in Portland (from 1962 to 1972) she spent time as a teacher, independent businessperson, accountant and bookkeeper. She has a BS in Business Administration and a Secondary Educa tion Teaching Certificate from Portland State University. W riting, however, is her stock in trade. “W riting is something that I ’ve always wanted to do . . . and this is where I expect my bread to be coming from.” She continues, “The urge to write interupts my sleeping and waking hours”, noting that there have been times when she has had to stop driving to put her words on matchbook covers. “When I have the urge, I must stop everything Her first book of poetry, “Looking Glass Thoughts”, has boon published and is being sold in Portland. New York (where she spent the last four and one-half years before returning to Port land) and Puerto Rico. Mrs. Berry hand led teh publishing because she feels publishing companies do not give artists a fair share of their own rewards. “The publishers I went to wanted 90 per cent a t the royalties and I was only to got 10 per cent. When I told them that my nephew was going to do the artwork. I was told that I wae to share say ten per cent with him and they would still get 90. No way." The other books Ms. Berry plans to (Please turn to page 2 col. 5) I; Realtors promote voluntary fair housing Representatives of public and private human rights organizations, fair housing groups and national, state and local Boards of Realtors met with U.S. Depart ment of Housing and Urban Development personnel in a HUD-sponsored confer ence held in Washington, D.C. June l-3rd. entitled “Fair Housing, An Ameri can Right/Right for Americans, the con ference was arranged by H U D ’s Office of Voluntary Compliance and was intended to communicate information regarding voluntary concepts and programs in support of fair housing. Conference participants agreed strong ly that fair housing is a major problem in the U.S. today, with the effects of discrimination being compounded by eco nomic factors. Conversation on this topic often turned to a discussion of economics and how this element of the problem was (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) approaching (or even surpassing) tradi tional forms of discrimination as a cause for inequality in housing opportunity. One panelist provided the statistic that one of four American families with an income under 811,500 per year suffers some form of serious housing deprivation. Such deprivation is defined to include one or more of the following factors: a physically deteriorated building, over crowded living conditions, excessive amount of income spent on housing, or lack of essential social services in the immediate area. Solutions offered looked in the direction of preservation of the existing stock of low and moderate cost housing through rehabilitation projects and new construction, as well as expan sion of subsidized rent programs. Persuading people to do voluntarily what is required by law appeared to be worth the effort to most of those involved in the conference. There was some agreement on the hope that individuals or firms complying voluntarily might see the way clear to engage in efforts beyond those strictly required. A number of panelists and speakers related their experiences in the formulation of volun tary agreements and the effect they have had on achieving fair access to housing and integrated communities. Even while subscribing to the need for voluntary efforts, however, conference participants cautioned that such efforts must be backed up by strong enforcement. To underscore this belief, conferees adopted a resolution stating their support for legislation that would give the Secretary of H U D “the statutory authority to grant relief from discriminatory practices with (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) Andrew Young win» hearts in East Africa by Clark Norton* D A R ES S A L A A M . Tanzania (P N S )- "We both have great presidents.” said Jim Mukirya, a 86-year-old Tanzanian air force engineer, referring to Jimmy Cart er and Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. “And Andrew Young has been the best thing the U.S. has ever done for Africa." With that declaration, Mukirya's wide circle of friends at the bar-laborers, military personnel, office workers and taxi drivers-raised their glasses of the potent African gin kenyagi in salute to Nyerere, Carter and Young. “Some of these people gave me funny looks when I walked in here with a 'European,' ” Mukirya later confided. “But when they found out you’re an American, and you like Andrew Young, they relaxed.” Whatever the relations between the U.8. and African governments, Africans across the continent-including socialist states like Tansania-are openly friendly to Americans and more likely to identify with U.S. leaders like Andrew Young than those of other superpowers now contending for influence here. Wfife Dorsey, noted , 17th, a t 9:88 p.as. The i Ns stage at the Nsighberfelr, July etti feature displays and heaths, If Andrew Young has struck a popular chord here, it is in spite of Tanzanian government charges that his support for Black majority rule in southern Africa is just so much window dressing. In Tanzania-one of five “frontline” states backing guerilla war in Rhodesia and Namibia-the official emphasis is on armed struggle, not Young’s proposed peaceful negotiation. “Tanzanians support whatever is necessary for liberation," Mukirya said. "But we think Andrew Young is on our side. The government may criticize him, but that doesn’t mean we don't appreci ate what he says." Young’s strength here almost certainly goes beyond the fact that he is Black, or beyond his calls for change in southern Africa that lack the powerful rhetoric of the local government-controlled press. Rather, through his statements that Africans should solve African problems and that the U.S. should worry about racism more than communism in Africa, Young has tapped into Tanzania's one over-riding popular sentiment: fervent African nationalism. Strategically situated on the Indian Ocean and bordering such influential countries as Kenya, Zaire. Mozambique and Zambia, Tanzania is a key "swing” state in any real or apparent clash for power in Africa among the superpowers. Under the leadership of President Nyerere-noted as one of the few African heads of state who eschews Mercedes- Benz’s and other trappings of high office- Tanzania has become an influential voice for African unity, anti-colonialism and Black majority rule. Having declared its goal as economic self-sufficiency through socialism, accept ed Chinese aid in building the vital Tan-Zam railway, forced strong alliances with the revolutionary regimes in Angola and Mozambique, and hosted Cuban Premier Fidel Castro and ex-Soviet Pres ident Nikolai Podgorny on their African tours last spring, Tanzania recently raised fears among some Western ana lysts that it might become a link in a “red belt” across central Africa. Yet with a per capita income of 888 a year and a sagging economy that has left severe consumer shortages, Tanzania has also accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in low-interest loans from the world Bank, and in its 14-year history over 8100 million in economic aid from the U.S., including a highway project para lleling part of the Tan-Zam railway. Indeed, Tanzania today is a political and cultural melange where the role of Marxism is hotly debated at the leading intellectual centers, American country music is played about the Chinese-built Tan-Zam and copies of “Soviet Life" and "Sport in the U.S.S.R” magazines are sold side by side with “Newsweek" and “Modern Romances.” While it is as difficult to generalize about Afrcan countries as it is to compare U.S. States like Hawaii and Alaska, Tanzania may be said to represent a I developing Africa in microcosm. As one observer puts it, “If there is such a think as a "typical' African nation, in its problems and promises, Tanzania would be it.” If the heart of the emerging Carter- Young policy is to appeal to popular African aspirations-such as the national ism felt so strongly here- and not simply to bolster friendly leaders, then Tanzania could prove a test case. ARMS VS. A LM S The Soviet approach here has been to try to show solidarity with the fight against racism. Podgorny’s spring visit, in which he pledged arms in support of the guerilla movements, won friends for the Soviets here (and a friendly political “obituary” for Podgorny himself in the government controlled Tanzania Daily News when he was deposed as Soviet president in May). But Nyerere was more polite than enthusiastic in his welcome. A t one point, Nyerere chided the Soviets for having provided leas economic aid since independence than had Sweden. T h e Soviets just don't have interest in or the means to provide longterm eco nomic aid in Africa,” says noted East African expert Prof. Carl Rosburg of Kenya’s University of Nairobi. “They’re very popular now while Tanzania needs arms, but once that's over it should be a different story. As for China, the Tan-Zam railway here remains its most notable success in Africa, where Peking managed to alien ate many newly independent countries during the 1960's by advocating revolu tion against moderate Black govern ments. Chinese are still in evidence along the Tan-Zam line, where they provide technical assistance. In addition, Nyerere's model for social ist development-stressing agriculture and the traditional African extended family-is much closer to China's than the urban, industrial Soviet model. Even the Tanzanian national suit favored by government officials resembles the spart an blue uniform of China. But there is an enormous cultural gap between China and Black Tanzania. In the sparkling new Tan-Zam station in the southern Tanzania town of Mbeya, for example, the Chinese have installed long rows of cribs, decorated with ani mals, for baby travelers. They are invariably empty, since it is the practice of Tanzanian women to keep their child ren swathed to their bodies with doth. ‘T h e Chinese were very helpful to Tanzania," says Nicodemas Segara, a telecommunications expert with the Tan (Please turn to page 2 col. 4)
