Ilfs Frances Schoen-Newspaper Roo»
U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon L ib ra ry
Eugene, Oregon 97403
PORTLAND
OBSERVER
Volum e 8 No. 11
Thursday, M ay 18, 1978
10c per copy
Beaumont
vote rejects
middle school
/ ■
The Beaumont community turned out
in force to vote on the proposed plan that
would make Beaumont a ipiddle school
serving the Beaumont Alameda Sabin
attendance areas.
The middle school has been approved
by the school's Citizen Advisory Com
mitte, but an opposition committee or
ganized and was able to get a community
vote.
The committee, led by John Rumpakis,
Karen Masterson, Donna Frey and others
canvassed the community asking resi
dents to come out and vote. An unpreci-
dented 1.589 persons came to the school
to cast their ballots.
The vote tallied: 1,014 to remain a
Kindergarten through eighth grade
school; 575 to become a middle school for
grades 6, 7 and 8.
» M ath g ra d e r* ■
Joyce C U y and Leigha G iv e n . - presented
P*ay “W hen th
. w ith K a re a S a y as prom pter and Vickie
T he g irls famad the play about H a rrie t Tubm an in a lib ra ry book,
«ad then asked to present it to the scheeL “W h en the Rattlesnake
in which H a rr ie t Tubarne assures a runaw ay slave th a t ft is
v b e a th s re is re a l d anger.
(Photo: D e b ra M iah ier)
The proposal is expected to go before
the Area Citizens Advisory Committee
on June 13th. If the middle school
proposal is adopted by that body it will go
to the administration for referral to the
School Board.
The School Board's policy is to promote
middle schools but to establish them only
with community acceptance. No proced
ures for determining community accept
ance and no specific measure of “accept
ance*' has been adopted.
The Lincoln and Wilson attenance
areas have rejected proposals to re
organize into K-5 and middle schools. The
Roosevelt reorganization plan will go
before the Area I CAC on May 23 at
Clarendon School and the Jefferson re
organization plan will be heard by the
CAC on May 30th at Beach School. Both
meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m.
Wendy Roberts seeks Labor Commission post
Senator M a ry “W endy" Roberts is a
candidate for the Dem ocratic nomination
for Lab or Commissioner
Mary Roberts first held elective office
in 1973 when her East Multnomah
County district elected her State Repre
sentative. At that time she was the
youngest woman ever elected to the
Oregon Legislature. Two years later she
ran for State Senator. District 11, and
won. In that race she received both
parties' nomination. She served in the
Senate for four years, holding positions
on the Labor. Consumer and Business
Affairs Committee. Joint Ways and
Means Committee. Transportation Com
mittee, Local Government and Election
Committee, and Human Resources Com
mittee. She served four years on the
State Emergency Board. Roberts was a
member of the Legislative Task Force on
Apprenticeship and the Affirmative Ac
tion Task Force. Both of these commit
tees dealt in areas which fall under the
Bureau of Labor's jurisdiction.
In her legislative career. Senator Ro
berta has been concerned with human
problems. For example, Roberts directed
the establishment of the Secure Treat
•
■- s i
Philip M cLaurin, state <
______________
o U s presidential appointm ent to the National A dvisory
C a n a d ia n !
NAIROBI. KENYA |PN8) - Ethiopia's
intensifying, all-out war against secces
sionists in the country's northern. Red
Sea province of Eritrea is posing a grow
ing dilemma for both Cuba, which is
aiding the Ethiopian government, and
Africa itself.
For Cuban Premier Fidel Castro, the
question is whether to send the estimated
20.000 Cuban troops now in Ethiopia into
direct battle against the Eritrean Marxist
guerilla army which Cuba helped train.
And for the much respected Organizat ion
of African Unit, the issue is one of
determining which government, that of
Eritrea or Ethiopia, has the moat legiti
mate claim to Eritrean sovereignty.
The stakes are high. They include
respect for the long honored African
principle of maintaining rolonial national
boundaries; the reputation of Cuba aa a
friend to Marxist independence move
ments; and ultimately, control of the
Ohm sized territory of Eritrea, with its
strategic Red Sea porta and its developed
agricultural and industrial base,
The Eritrean rebels, who have been
fighting for independence since 1982,
gained control of an estimated 95 percent
of the territory in a string of stunning
military victories against the Ethiopian
army last year.
But with the end of the war against
Somali secessionist.» in Ethiopia’s Ogaden
desert earlier thia year, the bulk of the
Ethiopian army has shifted its attention
to Eritrea.
Ethiopia recently stepped up its aerial
bombing attacks on Eritrea and thou
sands of soldiers are being airlifted north
from the Ogaden.
A major ground
operation is expected sometime thia
month aimed at finally ending the 17 year
rebellion.
Along with the estimated 50.000 Ethio
pian soldiers in the beseiged Eritrean
capital of Asmara, in the Red Sea port of
Massawa and at three smaller provincial
garrisons, are a reported 3,500 Cuban
troops. About 17,000 Cubans are be
lieved to remain in Ethiopia, about 5,000
more than at the end of the Ogaden war.
No one has yet confirmed that the
Cubans are fighting in Eritn s. But when
Ethiopia's head of state, Lieutenant Colo
nel Mengistu Haile Mariam, visited Cuba
at the end of April he told a Havana rally
that operations against the Eritreans
would shortly be intensified and, “The
Cuban masses will be tougher with the
Ethiopians in thia effort."
It is widely believed that Mengiatu
asked Castro for Cuban troop support in
the Eritrean campaign.
Yet when Castro addressed the same
Havana gathering he said nothing of
Cuban troops helping in Eritrea. He said
only that his soldiers would remain in
Ethiopia as long as necessary to protect
Ethiopia against “external aggression.“
Eritrea is a touchy subject for Castro.
The largest and beat organized Eritrean
nationalist movement, the Eritrean Peo
ple'a Liberation Front (EPLFi, has solid
Marxist credentials compared to the
Ethiopian leadership’s rather vague ideo
logy. In fact, while Mengistu and other
Ethiopian leaders were taking military
courses in the United States, Cuba was
training militants from the EPLF and the
Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in guer
rilla warfare.
, Thus it is by no means certain that the
Cubans will fight the very Eritreans they
trained. If they don't, the war is likely to
be a protracted guerrilla struggle.
Cuba has said that unlike the Ogaden,
where it helped repel a foreign invasion
by Somalia. Eritrea is an internal matter.
Castro is believed to have asked Men
gistu in Havana to explore negotiating a
solution with the Eritrean leaders.
But at thia point there seems little to
discuss. The Eritreans want total inde
pendence and literally have been fighting
and dying for it for years.
In 1976, Eritrea rejected ouright an
Ethiopian offer ol regional autonomy.
The Eritreans have a much stronger
case for independence than Ethiopia’s
Ogaden Somalis had for their failed
secession attempt. The Organization of
African Unit has resolved that African
countries should not alter borders in
herited from colonial administration».
Ethiopia, in fact, is one of two African
countries which was never colonized,
except for a brief occupation by Musso
lini. But Eritrea was an Italian colony
from 1890 until 1936, when it became a
«Ute in Italian Eaat Africa.
After Italy lost iu colonies in World
ittsl
, A r th n r I.
swearing-in
President names McLaurin to National Council
W. Philip McLaurin, Ombudsman for monitoring of the city's $24 million
the State of Oregon, was appointed by Comprehensive Training and Employ
President Carter to serve on the twenty- ment Act (CETA) program. He was also
one member National Advisory Council Executive Assistant to the Mayor of
on Economic Opportunity, which focuses Portland. A consultant to colleges on the
on programs designed to alleviate pov organization and development of Afro-
erty and encourage economic self suf American studies, McLaurin has been an
ficiency. The Council reports to the Assistant Professor of Afro-American
President and the Congress annually.
Studies at Smith College and Director of
the Black Student Center at Portland
McLaurin is the Ombudsman for the
State University. He is also an expert on
State of Oregon. He formerly served as
youth activities and community organiza.
the Acting Director of the Portland
tions and has served as director of the
Training and Employment Division re
Portland Metropolitan Youth Commis
sponsible for the planning, operating and sion summer youth programs and Chest
er. Pennsylvania Citizen’s In/ormat
Center.
McLaurin is a member of the Board
Directors of the Oregon Deveiopmen
Disabilities Advocacy Center; the Boa
of Directors of the Martin Luther Kii
Jr. Scholarship Fund of Oregon- t
Executive Board of the Tri-Communi
Council; the Albina Voter Registrati
and Education Committee and t
NAACP. He has held membership in ti
American Association of University Pi
fessors; the Oregon State Board
Higher Education; and the Board
Directors of the Parry Center.
Public payment for private privilege
During the next few months, the Black
community must pay careful attention to
a well-intentioned but dangerous piece of
legislation that threatens the continued
viability of public education in America.
If adopted the so-called Tuition Tax
Credit Act - commonly known as the
Moynihan-Packwood bill - would signal
the beginning of a potentially harmful
redistribution of public funds away from
public education.
Analysis
In providing new financial “blood” to
non-public schools, the bill would leave
the already battered public schools seri
ously weakened, and dying from financial
anemia.
Why is this particular bill so objection-
abe, especially to Black people? As
presently written, the Senate version of
the Moynihan-Packwood bill proposes
that the government provide annual tax
credits -- not simply tax deductions - to
parents who decide to send their children
to private schools. According to objective
estimates, such credits will reduce feder
al revenues by as much as $2.5 billion per
year. * staggering amount by any one's
book.
If the bill is adopted by Congress, as
seems likely at this time, taxpayers wifi
be shouldered with the additional burden
of paying half the tuition of every
youngster attending private schools, in
cluding elite and upper-class institutions.
But the bill contains another feature
which is even more objectionable: the tax
credit plan will almost certainly be a
financial bonanza for upper-income
groups. Since many private schools have
traditionally catered to the educational
needs of America's more affluent citizens,
the relatively well-off - who can already
afford private private education - will
enjoy a significantly reduced tax burden
at the expense of poor and working
people. Even with the proposed $500 tax
credit, I honestly doubt that many work
ing class Blacks could easily finance a
private education for their children.
To further illustrate the anti egali
tarian bias of this proposal, it is worth
noting the results of a recent study. If the
bill passes, the study concludes, nearly 60
per cent of the tax credits will end up in
the bank accounts of families earning
Intensified Eritrean war poses dilemna for Castro
by Roger Mann
-^1
V -
by Bayard Rustin
ment Unit for Emotionally Disturbed
Children and Adolescents at the Oregon
State Hospital in Salem. This program
has substantially improved the lot of such
children in Oregon and saved the state
money by avoiding inappropriate (and
more coolly) placement of children in
already crowded correctional facilities.
Mary Roberts’ legislation includes the
Department of Human Resources reor
ganization bill SB 951 (1975), a version of
which (SB 81 was passed in 1977. Under
this bill, the various divisions of Human
Resources are pulled together under firm
administrative control, making possible a
common accounting system and reducing
program overlap and costly duplication.
Other pieces of legislation include: the
Dual Driving Records for Professional
Drivers Bill (1973). the Natural Death
Act (1977), Property Tax Relief and
Homestead Property Tax Deferral at 62
(1975), repeal of the Relative Responsibi
lity law, and passage of numerous bills on
day care, discrimination in employment
M A R Y RO BERTS
and housing, and labor. Her legislative
record earned her high marks from the
She is a former Juvenile Court Coun
Oregon AFL-CIO, environmental groups
selor and caseworker assigned to the
and civil rights organizations.
Albina Human Resource Center.
*
War II, the United Nations fostered i
federation between Eritrea and Ethiopia
But in 1962 Eritrea, then ruled bj
Emperor Haile Selassie, became an into
gral part of Ethiopia. Eritreans wh<
opposed the action formed the Eritreai
Liberation Front to fight for indepen
dence.
The ELF eventually spawned two riva
offshoots, with the EPLF being the mos
important. The ELF follows a pro-Arab
pan Islamic Line while the more radic«
EPLF emphasizes its Marxist ideology
From the beginning of the indepei
dence movement the Eritreans drei
support from Arab countries and socialit
states, with Cuba being among thei
sUunchest allies.
But since Haile Selassie was replace
by a Marxist miliUry dictatorship m ost«
the Eritieans' traditional backers, indue
ing Cuba, have switched sides.
Castro is said to still cling to his idea c
a socialist federation between Ethiopi
and Eritrea, but the Eritreans are n
more sympathetic to Ethiopia’s Marxis
rulers than they were to Haile Selassie*
conservative feudal regime.
The Eritreans can field 40,000 we
disciplined and highly politicized guerl
las, provably one of the best guerrilL
armies in the world.
And Eritrea’s rough hills and den*
bush is better suited to the type o
guerrilla warfare the Eritreans hav<
perfected over the years than to t
massive mechanized assault such as the
over $25,000 per year. With this in min
it is quite dear that the Moynihan-Pac
wood proposal is hardly a “poor mar
bar.
Considering the horrendous tnjustic
of our tax system, it seems foolish - evi
immoral - to propose additional ti
breaks for those who already escape the
fair share. But the bill even goes beyor
that: it threatens to erode the alread
precarious tax base which supports loc
public schools.
Thomas Shannon of the National A
sociation of School Boards explained thi
point in a recent discussion of the ta
credit proposal. By offering lucrativ
tuition tax credit. Shannon argues,
growing number of middle-class student
will transfer to private schools.
As more students attend privati
schools, taxpayer support for publi
education will rapidly decline. With theii
children attending classes in privati
schools, middle-class voters will becomi
even more reluctant to support loca
school bond issues which entail property
tax hikes. As a result. Blacks and othei
low income groups will be forced to use
under-financed and inferior schools while
middle-income students flee to well fund
ed private institutions.
ARABIA
KENYA
Ethiopians and Cubans used to drive
Somali forces from the Ogaden.
Thus, even if the Ethiopians manage to
break the seige of Asmara and Massawa,
the battle for the Eritrean countryside
could drag on for years.
(Roger Mann reports on Africa for the
“Washington Poet" and Pacific News
Service. For the past two months ho has
been talking to Eritrean lenders in
Khartoum and to Ethiopian officials in
Addis Ababa. |