Hra tra n c e s Schoen-Newspaper Roca
U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y
Lugene, Oregon 97403
O ck le y G reen 6 - 8
PORTLAND
Committee adopts middle school
The Portland Public Schools Area I
Citizen’s Advisory Committee accepted
the recommendations of the Jefferson
Reorganization Study Committee to
establish Ockley Green as a middle school
for grades six through eight.
» Ne. 23 Thursday, Juua 1, 1978 10c per eupy
Applegate, Beach, Chief Joseph, and
Kenton will become kindergarten
through fifth grade schools and Peninsula
will remain a kindergarten through
eighth grade school.
The plan had no organized opposition
and
received the approval of the Citizens
spent."
Advisory Committee of all the elemen
Jordan explained that Northeast was
tary schools involved.
in a worse condition originally and must
Humboldt will remain an Early Child
continue to receive funding until it is in
hood
Education Center, serving pre
equal condition to other neighborhoods.
school and grades one and two. Other
"We have to commit funds to neigh
children will continue to be bussed to
borhoods until all reach a state where the
other areas and will not attend Ockley
residents consider them adequate. One of
Green or Jefferson.
the most important aspects of this study
The elementary school committees also
is that it enables us to compare the
had specific recommendations. Applegate
delivery of services in different neigh
asked that it be provided adequate space
borhoods and to determine the impact of
for Special Education and Title I classes,
city services on the livability of neigh
space for a media center, a covered play
borhoods.”
area, additional playground equipment, a
The Boise neighborhood contains 234
cafeteria. They also requested that the
acres with 2,907 residents, or 12 persons
kindergarten through five program be
per acre. The mean income is $6,399 and
maintained and, if enrollment increases,
52 per cent of the residents own their
the fifth grade not be removed.
homes.
The Beach committee recommended
Sabin has 307 acres with 5,404 resi
that Ockley Green Middle SChool be
dents. Density is 18 persons per acre. The
provided adequate science facilities. They
average income is $10,314 and 74 per cent
also requested that lower grade students
own their homes.
COMMISSIONER CHARLES JORDAN
who must be moved from Ockly Green be
Maplewood is 403 acres with 2,059
assigned to new schools by neighborhood
residents. Density is five persons per
A summary of the findings follows:
so they can be with their friends. They
acre. The average income is $20,979 and
Sanitation: Boise has the worst trouble
also recommended that if Kenton is ever
87 per cent of the residents own their
with unsanitary conditions (garbage in
closed, the property be used for a park.
homes.
(Please turn to page 2 col. 11
The Peninsula committee, describing
Peninsula as providing a highly struc
tured, controlled environment stressing
basic skills instruction, asked for special
classes for upper grade students. Shop
and homemaking have been eliminated
from the school. They also asked that the
difficulty because of decreasing enroll
"We had a situation at Adams High
administration
encourage all divisions to
School this year where there was no ments. With all the new activities being
provide services to Peninsula, which is a
offered, some of the traditional sports are
baseball team because only seven players
year-round school, during the summer
likely to suffer. And with so many
turned out,” McCall said.
"There is
months.
teachers on tenure who doesn't want to
obviousiy sympathy in some quarters to
The Jefferson Reorganization Study
allow those seven to transfer into a school
coach, we have to look at it from the kids*
Committee proposed that students in the
viewpoint - do they have the right to
that fields a baseball team. Another
other elementary schools can volunteer
school with no gymnastics program had transfer under extraordinary circum
to attend Peninsula, with enrollment
two kids turn out. Can those two young stances?"
governed by racial balance and capacity
sters go some place else?"
But the Oregon School Activities Asso
of the building.
The first of a series of meetings, on the
ciation, which oversees the schools' athle
The committee also recommended that
transfer issue, will be held on June 5th.
tic programs, remains cool to the idea.
appropriate facilities be provided at the
Coaches, athletic directors, vice princi
“We've had requests in the past from
kindergarten through five schools.
pals, area administrators and staff repre schools who wanted to combine for
Although the committee recommended
sentatives from the superintendent's of athletic purposes," said John Hilsente
that the proposal be put into effect as
fice will be in attendance.
ger, assistant executive secretary of the
soon as possible, Area Superintendent
McCall said he expected the problem OSAA. “But they’ve always been turned
iA'ill Fletcher projected a September 1981
to build as time goes by because of the
down because we fee) a student must
effusion of new activitiee. a shortage of represent the school he or she attends.'' »-« .‘ate. He explained that the proposal will
be considered along with proposals from
coaches and dwindling enrollments.
Hilsenteger pointed out that the Port
other areas and that remodeling is a time
"There may be football programs that
land Interscholastic League has a com
consuming process. Building contractors
will be in trouble down the road," he said.
mittee which must approve any transfer
“Washington and Adams are having
(Please turn to page 8 col. 1)
OBSERVER
seem to give school jobs, and especially
remodeling, a low priority and sometimes
contractors willing to do the work cannot
be found, he explained. Liz Welt, chair
man of the Peninsula Parent Advisory
Committee, suggested that the school
district contact minority contractors who
are in need of work.
Fletcher gave the Area I CAC an
overview of his reasons for favoring the
reorganization. He said Jefferson is the
most stable area in the district in student
population and suffers no decline in
students. Some schools are overcrowded
and removing the upper three grades will
(Please turn to page 8 col. 1)
Study compares citizen views of neighborhoods
Neighborhood Livability Profile« have
been completed, under the direction of
Commissioner Charles Jordan, on the
Boise, Sabin and Maplewood neighbor
hoods. The neighborhoods were assessed
in thirteen categories of “libability"
through citizen surveys, field inspection
and city and county bureau data.
The purpose of the survey was to
determine the livability of neighborhoods
both from on-site inspection and from the
citizens' points of view. “We are attempt
ing to measure and compare the physical
and social conditions of neighborhoods,"
Jordan explained, “so that we can more
adequately determine how community
development money should be spent. It is
not enough to put a quarter million
dollars into Northwest, a quarter million
into Northeast and another quarter mil
lion into Southwest and then think we
have treated all equally when they didn't
start out even. Some people think North
east has already had its share of the
money, but if we compare where the
neighborhoods started that isn't true. We
have to have equity in the results of the
money spent, not equity in the amounts
PPS considers athletic transfers
by Bill Schaefer
Portland School District officials are
studying the possibility of allowing cer
tain athletes, under special conditions, to
transfer from one school to another for
athletic reasons.
Normally, student athletes are forbid
den to transfer into another school for
athletic purposes.
The district does
operste under the open enrollment con
cept but this is restricted to achieving
racial balance and permitting students to
attend schools that offer advanced scho
lastic programs.
Transfers for athletic reasons only are
prohibited because of the possibility of a
^recruiting war among the high schools.
Bui unusual circumstances Involving
some athletes are forcing the district to
rethink its policy, said Paul McCall,
director of athletic activities for the
Portland district.
NAACP appoints manpower specialist to assistant
RICHARD BARBER
NEW YORK - Richard E. Barber, a
manpower management specialist from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been ap
pointed the NAACP*« new Deputy Exe
cutive Director.
Benjamin L. Hooks, the organization's
Executive Director, announced the ap
pointment at the Association's recent
National Leadership Summit Conference
in Chicago. He said Barber's “strong
personal desire to improve the living
conditions of the poor and the downtrod
den, and his well-earned reputation as a
sincere and dedicated managerial lead
er." were the outstanding traits which led
to his selection.
Richard “Dick" Barber is the son of
former sharecroppers in Trenton, North
Carolina, Mr. and Mrs. John Barber. He
attended North Carolina A & T Univer
sity, where he graduated with s B.S.
degree in physics. He later earned an
M.S. degree in Systems Management at
the University of Southern California,
with additional work at the University of
Pittsburgh.
In 1969 Barber left a promising career
with Westinghouse Electric to become
Deputy Director of the Opportunities
Industrialization Centers (OIC) in Pitts
burgh. In July of 1970 he co-founded
Urban Talent Development, Inc. - a
management development and business
orientation center. In what has been
described as “a classic story in manpower
and management development success,"
Urbar. Talent Development trained the
unemployed, the underemployed, ex-of
fenders and the forgotton, and placed
over one thousand of them in meaningful
jobs. In 1974 the organization was cited
in the Congressional Record as one of the
most effective manpower development
centers in the country.
Another outstanding tribute to Dick
Barber's talents is Pittsburgh's New
World National Bank. The state's only
Black-owned full service commercial bank
was created and organized under the
dynamic leadership of Board chairman,
Barber, and opened its doors for business
on March 17, 1975.
Unlike most business executives who
never find time to become involved in
community activities. Barber is an active
board member of the Pittsburgh
NAACP, the YMCA, the Red Cross, the
Boy Scouts, and a Deacon and Trustee of
Pittsburgh Central Baptist Church.
In addition, he was chosen as one of the
“Outstanding Young Men in America" in
1970; one of the ten Outstanding Young
Men in America in 1975 by the U.S.
Jaycees; a recipient of the George Wash
ington Freedom Medal in 1963 and 1964;
a recipient of the North Carolina A & T
State University National Alumni Asso
ciation Achievement Award in 1970; and
the Robert L. Vann Memorial Award
from the Pittsburgh Courier in 1975.
As a military man. Barber was assign
ed to a special weapons company as
Executive/Operations officer in March of
1963 in Germany. In April of 1966 he was
promoted to the rank of Captain, and
assigned to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama a
company commander of the 599th Ordi
nance Company.
Barber, who was born December 22,
1939 is married to the former Betty
Witherspoon of Charlotte, North Caro
lina. and who now is an Assistant
Professor of Nursing at the University of
Pittsburgh. They have three children.
Victoria Lynette, Richard, Jr., and Sha
ron Elizabeth.
Articulate, intelligent and dynamic.
Dick Barber's accomplishments are the
result of a pragmatic and positive ap
proach to life. In whatever role he is
playing, say his friends, you can always
expect complete devotion, a firm commit
ment and sincere dedication.
Speedster Byron Howell finished first in the 100
AAA State Track meet held in Springfield Saturday.
and the 200 meter in the
Central’s Howell runs, too
by Ren Sykee
Byron Howell was looking for some
thing to do after basketball season, to
help his mobility, so he went out for Cen
tral Catholic's track team . . . and the rest
is history.
Last Saturday in Springfield at the
boys AAA State Track Championship the
Ram speedster captured both sprints.
Winning the 100 meters in 10.5 and the
200 in a fine 21.7.
“Howell's first love is basketball," says
Coach Jim Darks, “and that is where
Byron will probably receive his scholar
ship. Byron has run a wind aided 9.3 for
100 yards and if track were his main
(Please turn to page 5 col. 3)
Stanford graduates Gates
Among the graduates from Stanford
University this month is Miss Sylvia J.
Gates, 1974 Cleveland High School grad
uate. She will receive the Bachelor of
Science degree with a major in chemistry
and will enter medical school at Brown
University in Rhode Island.
While at Stanford, she worked on
research projects regarding the physio
logy of the kidney and the chemistry of
schizophrenia. Active in campus life, she
was a member of several organizations, a
tutor and a part-time dispatcher for
Northern California Infant Medical
Dispatch Center. She was co-organizer of
a Bay Area conference which brought in
national speakers to address pre-medical
students.
In her early education, her various
science projects won gold medals and a
trophy in the Science Fairs of the Oregon
Museum of Science and Industry.
In 1973-1974, she served as a member
of the Area 3 Citizens Advisory Commit
tee of Portland Public Schools.
She
testified in the Portland Hearings of the
Commission on Educational Governance
of the National Committee for Citizens in
Education. She was honored in Who's
SYLVIA GATES
Who Among American High School Stu
dents 1973-1974.
She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Osly J. Gates.
United Farm Workers Union: Under seige again
Douglas Z. Foster
SALINAS, CALIFORNIA |PNS| - The
United Farm Workers union, which was
expected to launch a major organizing
drive this year, has instead found itself in
another battle for sheer survival.
The union is threatened by isolation as
a single-state labor group, facing disaster
on two sides. In California the introduc
tion of harvesting machines may wipe out
half of all farm labor jobs in the state by
1985. Only fifteen percent of California's
farm workers are currently covered by
contracts with the UFW (another fifteen
percent are negotiating contracts), and
the fight over mechanization is diverting
resources that the UFW had planned to
use in organizing efforts.
On the other side, the UFW is faced
with increasing numbers of unorganized
workers forced to migrate from the
pervasive economic difficulties (and re
cent flpods) in Mexico. The union has
never (Effectively developed ways of
organizing “illegal” Mexican farm work
ers whb make up more than half of the
farm labor force in the Southwest and
Florida.
Ironically, the battle for union survival
comes at a time when the UFW can point
to concrete, long term benefits won for
farm workers, especially in the Salinas
Valley, the "salad bowl" of the nation.
Wages for lettuce workers, for example,
have multiplied several-fold since the
historic strike led by the UFW here in
1970 and 1971.
The hated system of contract labor has
been wiped out, replaced by a union
hiring hall. "When I started out in farm
work, it was very bad," recalled an
elderly Chicano who, like most farm
workers, still nurtures a fear of being
identified in the press. “We had only
piece rates, and everything was through
the labor contractor. He decided every
thing. We
'* know about politics and
about laws . rich were supposed to
protect us. After striking, and bringing
the union in, we learned about those
things. Now we work under a contract,
through the hiring hall. We have a say in
what happens to us."
Part of what has happened to farm
workers since union recognition is that
jobs guaranteed by legal protections, at a
liveable wage, have led many Salinas
workers out of the migrant stream into a
stable life in their communities.
However, this dream of security as
non-migrants, which has become the
backdrop of UFW organizing, is under
the gun in Salinas.
Iattuce is the
financial backbone of agriculture in the
state, even more lucrative than tomato
production, and California alone provides
well over sixty percent of the nation's
lettuce supply. If California's lettuce
growers were to turn to a mechanical
harvester, the promise of non-migrstory
farm labor would dissolve for about
13,500 farm workers and their families.
Currently, lettuce growers - including
the corporate Interharvest farms • are
not inclined to shift to a mechanical
harvester. labor relations have been
relatively smooth and there would be no
financial advantage, at this stage, in
making the shift. Besides, there are
technical difficulties: researchers have
yet to develop a machine that supplies
"field wrapped" lettuce efficiently, and
that is the preferred packing method.
But the University of California and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture
remain hard at work to provide technical
breakthroughs in field wrapping. Over
$720,000 has been spent at the Salinas
Research Station to perfect the har
vester.
Lettuce workers have only to look over
their shoulders to predict their future
once the harvest is mechanized. When
cotton was mechanized in California
nearly thirty years ago almost 100,000
jobs were wiped out and a generation of
welfare families was created. And more
recently, when the tomato harvester
(developed al the University of California
at Davis) took hold in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, many workers in tomato-rich
Yolo County were stranded in farm
communities and nearby cities, unable to
earn enough money to move on.
Some of the workers found local jobs -
in gas stations, stores or restaurants -
but the number of jobs on the bottom
rung of the employment ladder is limited, of mechanization.
with stiff competition from teen agers
"We're not saying we’re against me
and women. The vast majority of farm chanization," Marc Grossman, an aide to
workers displaced by mechanization will Chavez, said. **... We don't bemoan the
have to attempt to re-enter a stream of technology; all we want is for some of this
migratory workers that is already swol
wonderful technology to be used to help
len to the point of bursting.
those who are hurt by it now."
In the fight over mechanization, UFW
Brown has not responded to Chavez’s
President Cesar Chavez has zeroed in on plea and it is possible, in this election
the use of public funds by the University year, that he will take a hands-off
of California in developing agricultural approach to farm worker problems.
machines. “It is intolerable," he has said,
The University of California has also
"that the university uses tax money to do resisted Chavez's call to study the social
research that benefits only the few. effect of its mechanization research.
Mechanization must benefit everyone, During a Board of Regents hearing in
not just the growers."
May, J.B. Kendrick Jr., vice president for
The UFW has proposed legislation agriculture, announced, "The university
including a bill to tax farm equipment and is an agent of change in terms of
fund projects to aid displaced workers. So discovery of new knowledge and in the
far, the state legislature has killed such
analysis of public issues . . . It does not
proposals in committee.
decide public policy or compensate losers
Chavez recently telegrammed Gover among conflicting societal interests."
nor Jerry Brown to ask that a committee
Vkhen he heard a translation of Ken
determine the impact of mechanization
drick's remark, a young lettuce worker
research, especially in light of a report
remarked, “They want to treat us (ike
from U.C. Davis that alleges that there
pieces of fruit. Once you squeeze the
will be minimal job loss as a consequence
(Please turn to Page 4 Column 1)
a