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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1977)
*** ■ lira Frances Sehoen-?ie»sp9psr U n iv e rs ity of Oregon L ib rary Lagene, Oregon 97403 RTLAND Parents oppose desegregation plan OBSERVER 7 Ne. 29 r, July 14, W H Ito per copy Sr (p V fetfr**.' ** 1 « M u s a t o . Portland loot 8 - 7 to pbee a t the to Hefdfee of PO District To Carter awards Dr. King Medal of Freedom President Carter has announced that he is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to D r. Martin Luther King. Jr. and D r. Jonas E. Salk. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the government's highest civil award. It may be awarded only by the President to parsons who have made especially m erit orious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. f P w cautions accompanying the medals “Martin Luther King, J r. was the conscience of his generation. A Souther - ner, a Black man, he gaaed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. “From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to free all people from the bondage of separation and injustice, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream of what America could be. “He helped us overcome our ignorauee ot one another. He spoke out against a war he felt was unjust as he had spoken out against laws that were unfair. “He made our nation stronger because he made it hotter. Honored by kings, he continued to his last days to strive for a world where the poorest and humblest among us could enjoy the fulfillment of the promises of our founding fathers. “His life informed us, his dreams sustain us yet.” “Because of D r. Jonas E . Salk, our country is free from the cruel epidemics of poliomelitis that once struck almost yearly. Because of his tireless work, untold hundreds of thousands who might have been crippled are sound in body today. "Those are Doctor Salk's true honors, and there is no way to add to them. This Medal of Freedom can. only express our gratitude, and our deepest thanks.” KBOO airs Black History FORRE8T JENKINS [Photo: I A new radio program entitled “Black History”, the first of its kind in Oregon, will premiere on July 19th at 5:15 p.m. The half-hour weekly program will be broadcast on KBOO, 90.7 radio. Forrest Jenkins, commentator for the program, is responsible for this improve ment in Portland radio. “I t ’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Jenkins said, “so I sold my idea to the radio station.” The program «rill be broadcast live and will focus on contributions that Black's have made in America and the world, Jenkins sai/. A special feature of the program «rill be an open-line for callers who have comments and questions. Edu cator Joyce Harris «rill be the first guest on a special one hour Black History show that «rill reveal some interesting facts about Black inventors in America. Jenkins is a business man who has been a resident of Portland for 27 years. He was a successful insurance man for thirteen years. For the last five years he has been working to establish a founda tion in education and the arts, something he feels that the Albina community is greatly lacking. He established and taught a tutorial program at Jefferson High School that was so successful that it was adopted by Puerto Rico. He founded a Junior Drama program, produced an adult theater play, “On The Other Side O f The Coin”, and is building a small production agency to promote and produce local talent. During the first «reeks of the program, Jenkins will feature radio drama on Black History. The first dramatization «rill be on Frederick Douglass. Already, a line-up ot interesting topics and guests are scheduled. They include: Ron Sykes, sports editor for the Portland Observer; Joe McHenry, discussing his recent trip to Africa; Rosemary Allen, co-director of an all-Black musical variety show - "Stardust"; and Sagirah Banks, visiting dancer-choreographer from Kansas City, Missouri. Jenkins hopes families «rill tune in the show. “People are sick of hearing about tragedies. They’re starved for Black History, 'Roots* has proven that." Black and white parents and citizens confronted the Portland School District's Board of Education Wednesday night, calling for a halt to desegregation policy changes until the community is involved in a comprehensive atudy and planning process. Johathan Newman, School Board member who introduced the new plan that would d tectly affect Boise and King elementary schools and Jefferson High School, explained the history of desegre gation in the Portland Public Schools. Explaining that desegregation came as the result of N AA CP demands in 1902, Newman said that one-way voluntary busing of Black students began in 1964. In 1908 transfer of Black students to sub urban schools outside the district began and in 1909 the opening of Adams High School drew Black students from Jeffer son. In 1970, Jefferson was redistricted, bringing in white students who were formerly in the Roosevelt district. A t that time the development of Early Childhood Education Centers began, with the removal of the upper grades from Albina schools and busing those students out to other schools. Newman's plan is a response to the fact that Jefferson now has an enrollment of over fifty per cent minority, which is contrary to state requirements. His pol icy would bar students living in the portions of the Boise and King element ary school areas that lie in the Jefferson attendence area from attending Jeffer son. The Newman plan gained immediate rejection from the Black community when it first appeared in the press approximately a month ago. ' In response to community complaints expressed by letter and in the press, Newman changed some aspects of the plan. Rather than leave the students with out an assigned high school, he now would assign Boise students to Lincoln and King students to Lincoln. Also minority students will not be barred from the magnet programs at Jefferson and Adams. The Committee for Equal Opportunity for All Children notified the Board of their rejection of the plan and asked that no change be made until a proper plan can be developed. This stand was endorsed by additional community organisations including the N AA CP and the Metropoli tan Human Relations Commission. The School Board meeting was the first opportunity for the public to express itself. A private meeting was held be tween some school board and staff mem bers and selected members of the Black “leadership” last week, which resulted in the district being advised to meet with the Committee for Equal Education for All Children. The Committee was contacted on F ri day and asked to meet with District people on Monday, hopefully to endorse the new proposal. The Committee declin ed to act on such short notice. A meeting was held at the School District Office, called by School Board member Gladys McCoy, on Monday afternoon with sever al parents and community people who were invited on Friday and Monday. According to those present, they rejected the new proposal. A t the School Board meeting Wednes day, Chairman Robert Ridgley stated that no decision would be made but that an hour would oe designated for public input. He allowed no discussion the Board members. No interaction be tween board members and the public was allowed except for that of Newman. Dick Frey spoke for Jefferson High School Dad's Club, Jefferson PTSA, and the Principal’s Advisory Committee. He suggested that the following be consider ed in an acceptable integration plan: 1) Current unilateral busing policy is intolerable to this community. I f busing is to continue, it must be multidirectional, and, further, greeter effort must be expended to achieve acceptance in re ceiving schools. 2) Francitionalization of neighborhood elementary schools is not satisfactory. A consistent policy, to include K through 8, or a middle school, is felt most desirable. 3.) To arrive at a realistically fair ratio of students selected from this area by Benson and Monroe is necessary. This ratio should be based upon the current average of majority-minority population (Please turn to P.2 Col.l) PMSC denies Head Start waiver The Finance Committee of the Port land Metropolitan Steering Committee has rejected the bid of the Portland Public Schools for a waiver of federal regualtions governing the admission of non “poverty" children into the Head start program. The School District submitted a propo sal for funding a “Pilot Project” that would provide Head Start for 40 addi tional pre-school children, but 20 of the children would be from non-poverty level families. Federal guidelines require that 90 per cent of the childen be from families with below poverty level incomes. Ten percent of the children can be from families with incomes above poverty level to provide a social mix. The stated purpose of the School District proposal is to bring white child ren into the program and desegregate the Head Start centers located in Albina. The district has centers in St. Johns and Southeast Portland that are nearly all white. District personnel also stated that if the pilot project were successful they would apply for the waiver to apply to all their Head Start eenters. Objections form PMSC board members are based on their belief that Head Start funds are to be directed at low income children and should not be used for other purposes. The finance committe rejected the proposal Wednesday night. Since there are no funds available for additional projects, they were of the opinion that the school district's main objective was the waiver. Governor asks minority waiver Governor Bob Straub has requested a waiver of the Economic Development Administrations' ten percent set aside program for minorities. The Governor requested that Oregon’s minority parti cipation of ten percent be figured in the aggregate rather than on each project. The requirement of the Local Public Works Capital Development and Invest ment Program states: “No grant shall be made under this part for any project unless at least ten percent of the amount of such grant will be expended for Contracts with and/or supplies from Minority Business Enter prise.” The E D A regulations hold the prime sponsor (the city or political sub-division awarded the grant) responsible for mino rity involvement. The project contract should be put on competitive bid, then the prime contractor «rill advise E D A of their minority participation before the contract is awarded. Minority participa tion «rill be monitored by E D A . The Governor requested that rather than requiring each sponsor to insure minority participation on all of its pro jects, the sponsor could relegate minority participation to one project or a portion of one project, thus relieving the prime contrators on the other projects from their responsibility for minority partici pation. The intention appears to be to avoid conflict «nth those political jurisdictions or prime contractors that would object to minority participation or claim that qual ified minorities cannot be found, yet would insure minority participation by placing them on separate jobs “that can be performed in whole or part by minority firms «rith a minimum of confu sion and delay.” “This method of Implementation would allow jurisdictions to survey present minority capabilities and bonding capaci ties. determine their availability set-aside contracts that can be performed in whole or in part by minority firms «rith a m i nim u m of confusion or delay.... “Each jurisdiction that opts for using the set-aside approach...." The Governor expressed the opinion that this method would allow the state to insure minority participation in the 155.7 million expected to be granted in Oregon but would eliminate the conflict and confusion of requiring each prims con tractor to deal «rith minorities. Oregon Blacks anile in state - wide organization The Oregon Assembly For Black A f fairs presented its program to the public at a Saturday press conference. The Assembly was formed on A pril 9th and elected an interim Board of Directors on May 21st. The purpose of OAFBA, according to its president, Calvin 0 . L. Henry, is to improve the political, educational, social, legal and economic status of Blacks in Oregon. Although non-partisan, O A FBA «rill work «rith the Democratic and Republi can parties and «rill endorse candidates running for office throughout the state and «rill encourage Blacks to become involved in local and state issues relevant to the Black community. “There is a need for political maturity and activism among Blacks in Oregon,” Henry said. The Assembly emphasizes that it was not established to compete «rith other organizations addressing the Black com munity, but «rill work «rith them in building a better state. Among the initial efforts of the organ isation «rill be to educate the public and Black community about its goals and objectives. I t «rill seek to improve the image of Blacks by working «rith the news media. The interim Board of Directors are: Reverend James E. Jackson, Vice-Pres ident and Membership Committee Chair person. Eugene; Barbara Friday. Secre tary. Portland; William A. Denton, Treasurer and Finance Committee Chairperson. Portland; Nina Powell, Ed ucation Committee Chairperson, Salem; (Please turn to P.2 C oLl, the drugs «vithout supervision in any amount they choose. I t is this “take-home policy" that disturbs many U.S. critics, who contend American addicts would re-sell the drugs on the lucrative black market, as a number of methadone patients have done. But because heroin addicts require three or four injections daily, take-home privileges are probably the only practical way to carry out heroin maintenance. D r. Martin Mitcheson of London's University College studied Britain's 10-year maintenance policy and found success in three crucial areas: •The consumption of opiates by adoles cents decreased sharply from its 1908 peak, in part because heroin maintenance helped de mystify the drug sub-culture. •M ore addicts were attracted to heroin maintenance than other forms of treat ment, as evidenced by their low drop-out rate. •The number of doctors providing excessive heroin prescriptions dimin ished drastically. But Mitcheson observed several pitfalls of the British approach: •Heroin use increased among 20 34 year-olds, resulting in a group of “grad ually aging, chronic, self-injecting junk ies." •W hile some patients in this age group were reasonably stable and employed, the majority remained “socially unin volved and prone to chronic, minor criminal activity." •The black market heroin price jumped from 28 cents (U.S.) per 10 milligrams in 1967 to 15 to $7 this year (as high as 117.20 in times of scarcity). tration --«rith two agents stationed in London -believes the total British black market heroin supply ranges from 470 to 1100 pounds, still a far cry from the 115,000 pounds, or 57.5 tons-the D E A believes are consumed annually in the U.S. NAACP meets N A A C P «rill hold its regular monthly meeting on Sunday. July 17th at 4 p.m. at M t. Sinai Church of God in Christ - 930 N .E. Beech. A report from the National Convention «rill be given. U.S. crime fighters look to Britan’s legal heroin by Mark Shwartz’ W A SH IN G TO N . D.C. (PN 8) -Half a century after it began, Great Britain's controversial legalized heroin program has provoked a new wave of acrimonious debate. The furor, however, is not along the banks of the Thames but in the court rooms, precinct station» and government corridors of the United States -where a number of urban leaders are looking to the British model as a salve for rising addiction and crime rates. The antagonists in the debate over the British program are unyielding. On one side is D r. Thomas E. Bryant, president of the prestigious Drug Abuse Council in Washington: “In terms of the goals the British had, it has worked. There is still no crime associated with heroin addiiction. There is still no appreciable black market." Equally firm in his criticism of the British is Peter Bensinger, boss of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (D EA). “Scotland Yard has beefed up its anti-drug units, and so have the major metropolitan cities. I think they are having second thoughts in England about this accessibility to drugs-at least they are in law enforcement." Big city police and prosecutors in the U.S. are siding with Bensinger's position. California's law-and-order attorney gen eral, Evelle Younger, dismisses the B rit ish system as a failure, declaring it would bring “disaster” to this county if tried in any form. But a steadily growing number of judges and mayors are urging experi ments with legalised heroin programs. Last January, a survey of 80 New York City judges revealed the majority favor ed decriminalizing possession of small amounts of heroin. Other judges in New Orleans and San Francisco have spoken out nationally in favor of controlled experiments as has Gary, Indiana Mayor Richard Hatcher. B R ITISH R E A L IT IE S The facts of the British program tend to be muddled amid the volatile debate over heroin legalisation. About 200 pounds of heroin are legally manufactured in Britain each year for treatment of pain, as cough suppressants and for maintaining registered addicts. Addiction itself, however, has never been a crime in Britain although there are strict laws against smuggling and tra i ficking in illegal narcotics. From 1920 to 1900 Britain had no more than 600 registered addicts per year-mostly elder •y people who had developed their habits from medicinal treatments early in the century. There are now between 3,000 and 8,000 addicts thers. O f the nearly 1000 registered addicts-who can legally receive drugs only from »pecially licensed doctors in government-run elinics-only 83 are given heroin exclusively. Some take synthetic opiates such as metha done, others heroin or morphine mixed with synthetic drugs. The clinics that prescribe heroin do not actually dispense the drug. Instead, a clinic physician writes a prescription and mails it to a retail drug store, usually near the patient's home. A pharmacist can be authorised to prescribe up to two weeks supply of heroin, but patients use •The use of illegally obtained sedatives and tranquilizers rose gradually. “Overall the clinics seem to have made a reasonable job of their part in control ling a difficult situation," D r. Mitcheson said recently. Scotland Yard has expressed graver concern. British Customs agents seized nearly 47 pounds of heroin last year with a potential street value of 3720,000 per pound. Only nine pounds were seized in 1975. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminis U L T IM A T E Q U E STIO N S Drug Abuse Council President Thomas Bryant believes the British experiment has succeeded, but questions whether it can be adapted to the U.S. “A fter all,” he says, "England is a tight, little island. Their methods of control there, in terms of influx for the black market, we don't seem to have.” “Legalization is not a cure-all," says Boyd Stephens, coroner of San Francisco, the city that statistically has the highest rate of addiction in the U.S. (Over 100 people died from heroin-related causes in San Francisco last year.) “But if it reduces the cases of heart disease and kidney failure (caused by impure heroin or unsterile equipment) by 10 percent -as I believe it would-it would be worth it.” (Please turn to page 3 col. 1)
