Curtís Ramsey seeks welterweight championship
P o rtla n d 's newest hope fo r a
W orld Championship in boxing is
C urtis Ramsey, a Portland lig h t­
weight who w ill make his main event
debut tonight. Manager Mike M or­
ton says o f his fighter, "C urtis has
the talent and the ability to be a
world champion. A ll he needs is the
self confidence and the willingness to
tra in ."
Ramsey —
w ith
a 9-5-1
professional record — w ill meet
Alan Webb, an undefeated welter­
weight for the National Welterweight
C ham pionship to n ig h t. Ramsey,
who usually fights in the lightweight
division, w ill go against Webb at
143 pounds.
Although encouraged by some to
remain an amatuer until after the
1980 Olympic trials, Ramsey turned
professional at the age o f nineteen.
“ I couldn't wait. 1 could see that
cham pionship out there and was
ready to start."
Ramsey is tense with anticipation
today, but all that leaves when he en­
ters the ring. "A fte r the first blow
everything else leaves my mind —
I ’m ready and eager and nothing else
counts.”
Is the fight a matter o f reflexes?
"N o . It's thinking all the way. You
have to be thinking fast — seeing his
every move and adjusting for that
move — thinking what to do to take
advantage o f his mistakes — like
running it all through a computer,
constantly through the entire fig h t."
Ramsey explains that this is an im­
portant fight for him. " M y record
looks bad — five losses — but I
should be undefeated. 1 lost those
fights because I wasn’t in shape."
M orton explained that in previous
fights Ramsey hasn’ t put in the
necessary running so he tired in the
Utter rounds. "W hen he beat Harvey
Arnold, who had a 30-2 record, in
Las Vegas I thought he was on his
way. But he went into a slump and
hasn’ t done w ell. I t ’ s all in the
psychology o f knowing you can do
it. P sychologically, he wasn’ t
ready.”
Psychologically he is ready this
time. "This fight won't go ten rounds.
I ’ll beat him before the end,” Ram­
sey claims. " I ’ m ready for him. I ’m
in good condition. I ’ m sharp."
Ramsey, a native o f Lousiana,
came to Oregon with his family in
1969. He attended Ockley Green
Elementary School and Jefferson
High School, where he graduated in
1976. His mother is Lena Ramsey.
He became interested in boxing at
the age o f ten, when an acquaintance
asked him to go to the gym and try it.
He went on to win state Golden
Gloves and in 1976 fought to the
semi-finals in the Olympic trials.
Ramsey is currently a recruiter for
the Northwest M inority Contractors
Association’s Youth Employment
Program, where he recruits young
people between the ages o f |6 and 22
to be placed in training on jobs.
A win tonight w ill put Ramsey in a
position to meet the leading light­
weights including Howard Davis, the
gold medalist for the 1976 Olympics,
and eventually a shot at the champ­
ionship now held by Roberto Duran.
The Ramsey-Webb match will be
held on January 18th at 9:00 p.m. at
the Jantzen Beach Arena, west o f
Jantzen Beach Center. Preliminary
bouts begin at 8:00 p.m.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume 9 No. 3
Thursday, January 18.1979 10c
Oregon Legislature honors King
Both Houses o f the Oregon
Legislature honored D r. M a rtin
Luther King, Monday, January 15th.
Members o f the Senate unami-
mously passed Senate Resolution >1,
honoring Dr. King. Reverend John
H. Jackson, Pastor o f Mount Olivet
Baptist C hurch, led the opening
prayer. Sponsors o f the resolu­
tion, Senators Bill McCoy and Jan
Wyers, as well as other Senators
spoke about the efforts o f Dr. King
to strengthen and preserve human
rights.
The resolution reads in part:
Whereas Dr. M artin Luther King,
Installation of officars and
board mambara of tha Portland
Branch. NAACP. will ba hold
January 21a* at 4:00 p.m . at
Maranatha Church, 1222 N.E.
Skidmora.
Outgoing Praaldant John
Jackson will giva tha Branch's
annual raport. Entartainm ant
will ba providad by tha 4-H En­
sambla, tha Mt. of Olivas, and
Stophania Hicks.
Jr., was assassinated in his quest for
equity and justice as he called upon
this nation to live by its own
professed ideals; and
Whereas Dr. M artin Luther King,
Jr., through his own willingness to
jeopardize his physical well-being,
dem onstrated the necessity and
ability o f the individual to take direct
action in achieving the rights o f the
individual; and
Whereas his adherence to the prin­
ciples o f nonviolence in his crusade
against the denial o f human rights
earned him the 1964 Nobel Peace
Prize; and
Whereas Dr. M artin Luther King,
J r., strove fo r the rights o f all
peoples regardless o f race, as evi­
denced by his efforts on behalf o f the
sanitation w orkers o f M em phis,
Tennessee, on the eve o f his death;
now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate o f the
State o f Oregon:
That the members o f the Senate o f
the State o f Oregon honor the
memory o f Dr. M artin Luther King,
Jr., on this, the anniversary o f his
birthday, January 15, 1929, for his
dedicated efforts to strengthen and
preserve the rights o f all human
beings.
Monday was proclaimed Dr. Martin
Luther King Day by a unanimous
vote o f the House o f Represen­
tatives. Sponsored by Representative
Wally Priestley, the resolution reads:
Whereas, Dr. M artin Luther King
strove for the rights o f all people,
particularly those in need, and
Whereas Dr. King showed great
service to our country in working
with others to organize the M ont­
gomery, Alabama bus boycott after
the refusal o f Mrs. Rosa Parks to
move to the back o f the bus, and
Whereas D r. King touched the
conscience o f the entire nation and
dramatized the needs o f poor people
in organizing with others the March
on Washington in August o f 1963,
and
Whereas Dr. M artin Luther King
was born on this date in 1926.
Be it resolved by the House o f
Representatives o f the State o f
Oregon that this day, January 15,
1979, be declared Dr. M artin Luther
King Day in honor o f his memory
and the principles and ideals fo r
which he stood.
..
’
Ruth Haefner, civil righto activist and Gray Pan­
ther, blows out her birthday cendlss. Ms. Haefner
BW
i
1
was honored on her 86th birthday.
(Photo: Debra Mishler)
Parents question state textbooks
The Citizens for Public Eucation
w ill appear before the State Board o f
Education today to protest adoption
o f approximately one-third o f the
text books selected fo r use in the
state’s public schools.
Jeff Nelson, co-chairman o f the
group, is concerned about the integ­
rity o f the books used by school
children.
Mlaa Carmen M. Moora; Jarry Chrlatlanaon, Su­
pervisor Forestry Technician; and Deway Tate,
Forester, Estacada Ranger District, meet with young
people during recruitment seminar sponsored by tha
Northwest Minority Contractors Association Youth
Employment Program. Tha U.S. Forestry Service is
recruiting for full and part-time employment.
(Photo: Al Willians)
Some o f the areas inwhich the
group believe many books fail are:
Value clarification vs education:
“ Value clarification" is seen as in­
doctrination o f children in relativism
or "situation ethics” - that is, that
values are relative and depend on the
situation. Nelson gave one example
o f a text that shows pictures o f a
child breaking a window and a child
shooting herion, and the question
“ Which is worse?” When children
are taught that morality is relative or
comes fro m group consensus, it
destroys the values or the religious
faith children learn at home.
A ffictive vs effective: Texts deal
with “ feelings” rather than facts.
Questions tend to deal with, "H o w
do you feel about it?” rather than
with factual events.
Negativism: American history is
taught in a negative manner with
greater emphasis on the problems
and failures — slavery, poverty,
p o llu tio n , child labor, denial o f
women’ s rights, etc. -- than on the
ideals o f the nation’s founders or the
goals o f the Constitution.
One text book was a series o f
problem s, according to Nelson.
"W hen I finished reading it I felt like
this country was as bad as Cambodia
or Vietnam, as i f we we slaughtering
thousands o f people. That is the
negative impression it left with me
and I ’m concerned about the im ­
pression it must give students."
Nelson believes the teaching o f
American history should be factual
but balanced so students learn the
good as well as the bad.
Free enterprise vs Planned Society:
Some texts advocate government
co n tro ls and prom ote laws and
government programs rather than
P'ivate solutions.
ZoUTdependence vs Dependence:
Texts promote the dependence o f the
US on other nations and look toward
a "One W orld Government” .
Nelson is concerned that children
are taught the cultures o f other
nations before they learn American
history. He is concerned about the
choice o f cultures, whether those
with positive principles are taught.
For example, one group leaves its
elderly on the ice to die. He questions
whether a person learning this as a
young child would find it easier to
accept euthanasia in this society.
“ I want children to get the very
best education possible,” Nelson ex­
plained. “ Education should provide
respect for the individual and the
idea that all persons far valuable and
equal.”
The second annual Call to Ac­
tion Leadership Workshop will
be held on January 27th at the
Keg and Platter, Salem, from
8:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Focus w ill be on major
organizations in the Black
community, communications,
1979 legislation, and the
development of responsiveness,
accountablity and productivity.
Asbestos: The quiet killer
Modern industrialization — nc
worker but to his family and com­
chem icals, the nuclear in d u s trX
munity.
rtdiation -» introduces new hazard|
In A pril o f 1978, the United States
to the n a n o n ’ s w orkers. In the
governm ent announced that ap­
United States, more than 14,000
proxim ately eleven m illion Am eri­
deaths on the jo b and about 2.2
cans had been exposed to asbestos
m illion disabling injuries are record­
since 1940, and advised the 4.5 m il­
ed each year, and a recent report esti­
lion men and women who worked
mates that the actual figures might
in the shipyards d u rin g the war
be as high as 25,000 deaths and 25
to contact their physicians to de­
m illion injuries.
tect cancer and asbestos. The na­
These figures do not include the
tio n ’s doctors were advised o f the
many occupational diseases that
potential dangers o f asbestos ex­
slowly cripple and k ill thousands of
posure and given inform ation about
w orkers. In 1968, the form er
detection and treatment o f those
Surgeon General o f the U.S., Dr.
diseases.
W illia m
H.
Stewart to ld a
Dr. Ivery Selikoff o f Mount Sinai
Congressional Com m ittee that 65
Hospital in New York estimates that
percent o f the industrial workers in
o f about 500,000 persons employed
the nation are exposed to toxic
with asbestos, 100,000 w ill die o f
materials or harmful physical condi­
lung cancer; 35,000 o f abdominal or
tions.
chest cancers; and about 35,000 o f
One o f the most dangerous air
asbestosis.
contaminants in industry is asbestos.
Asbestos is a mineral consisting o f
Unlike many work hazards, asbestos
fibers so fine that they can float in
can be a danger not only to the
the air indefinitely. The fibers are so
fine that they can be inhaled. Once
lodged in the lungs the body forms
scar tissue around them. As the scars
grow and accumulate the lungs fill
up and lose their capacity to transfer
oxygen to the bloodstream.
Asbestosis usually appears from
ten to twenty years after exposure to
asbestos.
Asbestos is also one o f the most
potent cancer-causing substances.
Asbestos workers contact cancer at
about three times the rate o f persons
not exposed to asbestos. Lung cancer
92 times more prevelant in asbestos
workers who smoke as in the general
public that does not smoke. Other
asbestos related cancers affect the
stomach, esophagus, kidney, larynx,
rectum or large intestine. Cancer
does not usually develop until from
20 to 40 years after exposure.
Mesothelioma, a cancer o f the
membrane lining o f the lungs or ab­
dominal cavity, is found only in per­
sons who have been exposed to
asbestos. M esotheliom a appears
from 20 to 40 years after exposure
and is fatal within two years after the
first symptoms appear.
Because symptoms o f asbestos
related diseases take from ten to forty
years to appear, the long range ef­
fects o f asbestos exposure are still
unknown. The increase in the use o f
asbestos increases the dangers.
C u rre n tly 90,000 people w ork in
asbestos related employment and
asbestos is found everywhere.
Asbestos is used in b u ild in g
materials, brake linings, textiles, and
many other products.
Asbestos is more dangerous than
many work-related hazards because it
can effect people who work in ad­
jacent areas. It also can be brought
home to the family on the workers
clothing or body. The fibers are
almost undestructable and have been
found in homes twenty years after
they were brought home.
Persons who have been exposed
on the jo b or suspect they may have
been exposed through a fa m ily
member, should have regular check­
ups to enable earlier detection o f
asbestos caused diseases.
Symptoms include: shortness o f
breath; cough or change in cough
pattern; coughing up blood; pain in
the chest or abdomen; difficulty in
swallowing or prolonged hoarseness;
rapid weight loss.
Since smoking greatly increases
the chance o f contracting cancer,
there is evidence tha, persons who
give up smoking might reduce the
risk o f cancer by half. Persons who
suspect they might have been ex­
posed to asbestos at any time in their
lives should not smoke.
Dr. Phillip L. Polakoff, Director
o f the Western In stitu te fo r Oc­
cupational/ Environmental Science,
Inc. o f Berkeley, spoke to a con­
ference on asbestos presented by the
Oregon Lung Association last week.
Speaking to workers, union repre­
sentatives and em ployers. D r.
P o la k o ff advised the workers to
organize fo r safer w orking con­
ditions and for added research on
occupational diseases.
“ People should have a right to a
healthy job environment,” he said.
He advised workers to document
work hazards, to research the avail­
able material and to insist that union
contractors include funds for health
research and that union officials give
attention to occupational hazards.
OSHA, he said, attempts to enforce
health and safety regulations but is
hampered by an adverse climate,
lim ited resources and management
hostility. Union officials often put
jobs ahead o f health safety.
Since the government and em­
ployers don’ t usually act in areas that
are not profitable, it w ill be up to the
workers themselves to insure en­
forcem ent o f health and safety
requirements.