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EDITORIAL/OPINION
Aid for refugees shifts into high gear
by N. Fungai K ambula
Affirmative Action needs commitment
Lee Johnson, Adm inistrative Assistant to
Governor Vic Atiyeh, revealed that the Governor
plans to eliminate the position of Affirmative Ac
tion Officer in the Governor's Office and move
that position to the Personnel Department.
There has been much controversy over where
the Affirmative Action Office belongs. The City
of Portland placed its Affirmative Action Officer
in Personnel; Multnomah County placed the
position directly under the Chairman, they recent
ly moved it to Personnel. The State began with a
unit in Personnel, then at Governor Straub's
request, the Legislature created a position direct
ly responsible to the Governor.
It would appear that the location and line of
command would depend on the commitment of
the Governor and of the department heads.
Each department, and some agencies, have
their own Affirmative Action Officers who are
supposed to work closely with Personnel to in
sure that the department or agency adheres to af
firmative action guidelines. These people are re
sponsible to the department and agency direc
tors and of course if these directors are not
willing to hire and promote minorities, there is not
much the Affirmat've Action Officers can do.
With enthused and committed department and
agency heads, an Affirmative Action Office in
Personnel could be productive. It could insure
that the Personnel Department recruited and se
lected qualified minority people for referral to the
department and agency heads. Without commit
ted agency heads, this effort would be useless.
An Affirmative Action Officer directly respon
sible to the Governor, however, has additional
clout. If the Governor is serious and committed,
the Affirm ative Action Officer has all of thé
powers of the Governor to enforce his efforts.
Since the Governor hires and fires these depart
ment and agency heads, only he has the power
to enforce his affirmative action policies. But no
Affirmative Action Officer — no matter where the
office is located — can be successful without the
Governor's support.
Any change in the Affirmative Action Office's
line of command should be done only after
careful thought and study — and not be done for
fiscal or management reasons alone.
LUTHER
By B ru m s ic B r a n d o n
SC T m E CORPORATION^
* 1 LU LOOK u v e A
M IN O R IT Y o * ined
Over the past several months, we
have been discussing the plight o f the
refugees in Southern Africa. There
are now anywhere from 200,000 to
500,000 o f these people displaced by
the fighting and the repression in
South A frica and Rhodesia. At the
moment, they are housed in camps in
M o zam b iq u e and Z a m b ia . Some
time ago, we announced a clothing
drive aimed at collecting used but
durable clothing for them.
This past weekend, the first batch
o f such clothing left for San Francis
co, the first leg o f its long trip to the
Motherland. The clothing collected
in the Portland area, amounted to
two tons. For obvious reasons, it is
impossible to count or measure the
clothes any other way except by
weight. This first batch o f clothing
was the result o f a joint effort by The
American Friends Service C om m it
tee and Portland Citizens Against
Racism. They left ‘drop o f f boxes in
various parts o f the city and periodi
cally carted the clothes that donors
left to the American Friends office in
Southeast Portland.
Over the past year, fifteen tons o f
clothes were collected in the Seattle
area. Los Angeles and other South
ern C a lifo rn ia localities collected
some fifteen to twenty tons and the
Bay Area topped the list with some
37 tons. In San Francisco, a fund
raising drive fo r the purchase o f
medical supplies netted S25.000. This
was in addition to the several huge
boxes o f medical supplies that were
also collected in the same area.
A fter getting to San Francisco, all
the supplies collected on the West
Coast will be transshipped to South
ern Africa. The National Council o f
Churches had paid for the shipment
o f similar supplies from the East
Coast so now there is an effort to see
if they will foot the West Coast bill
too. Collecting articles for Southern
A fric a n refugees has brought to
gether a lot o f groups across the
country. In the Bay Area, the effort
is being spearheaded by The Interna
tio n a l Longshorem en W arehouse
Union.
Much as they would like to do
more, the Countries o f Zambia and
Mozambique that have offered sanc
tuary to the refugees, cannot because
their limited resources are stretched
almost to the lim it. Both are in the
process o f recovering from their
respective co lo n ial legacies which
have also been aggravated by repeat
ed raids from Rhodesia. Ian Smith
would like nothing better than to
ruin them economically so they will
stop providing aid to the guerrillas
So, this clothing that is being
donated will probably be the only
clothing the refugees will have for
quite some time. A t the moment, for
most o f them, the only clothes they
have are what they have on their
backs. A ‘change o f clothes' is a lu
xury they have not entertained in
a long, long time. Visitors who have
been there recently send back reports
in which they mention seeing more
and more jeans, boots and other
items o f clothing that have been sen;
from this country. The southern win
ter is fast approaching ( June-August)
and, hopefully, this one will not be
quite as cheerless, thanks to your ge
nerosity.
Recently also, now that they know
they have friends out here, the refu
gees have been sending specific re
quests for some o f the things that
they need the most. One request
heard over and over again is for edu
c a tio n a l supplies. The P a trio tic
Front (Z A N U ) has 20,000 children in
schools in M o za m b iq u e and the
other wing o f the PF, ¿ A P U has an
equal number in Zambia. So, such
supplies as books, b lackboards,
notebooks, pens, pencils are badly
needed. The A N C (South A frica) in
Lusaka is also requesting art sup
plies: art has always played a central
role, as a powerful vehicle for pur
suing social change.
A lot has been done sure, but a Icy
more remains to be done and your
help, participation and involvement
is what w ill make the difference.
Whatever you have and can spare be
it a book, art or other educational
supplies, medical paraphernalia will
be most welcome. By contributing
what you can, you make their burden
less onerous.
Letters to the Editor
Plan with, not for the elderly
T o the Editor.
1 congratulate you on your ex
cellent edition o f February 15, 1979.
W h ile your special sections on
Black History should be read by both
Black and white Portlanders, and
discussed in the public and parochial
schools, I am not naive enough to
believe that this will actually happen
to the wide extent your efforts deserve.
However, I wish most especially to
commend your articles concerning
aging citizens. The headline reads:
“ Misguided Programs for the Elder
ly Miss M inorities.” I should like to
concur with M r. Gates remarks as
you have reported them. T o this,
however, I wish to add a comment of
m y own. Programs F O R the elderly,
not planned W IT H them also miss
the elderly, and dissolve into wasted
tax dollars.
In 1967 I helped elderly citizens of
C lark C ounty, Washington plan a
program to meet their needs. M y role
was to write it up for them, and to
suggest a structure in which they could
do it for themselves. Then I suffered
a stroke and was unable to continue
to help them battle their program
through the C lark County Economic
O p p o rtu n ity C om m ittee, Vt poor
people, 16 elected officials or their
designated delegates. 16 represen
tatives o f the community . This 16-
16-16- B oard was know n as the
Green Amendment for the Economic
Opportunity Act o f 1964. Represen
tative Edith Green felt that public
funds should be administered under
the supervision o f elected officials.
P r io r to the Green A m en dm ent,
Boards such as the C lark C ounty
Econom ic O p p o rtu n ity Com m ittee
were com posed o f 16 “ p oo r
people” and 16 representatives o f the
community. Federal funds were dis
tributed directly to such Boards and
the s ta ff they em p lo yed . Then
''grants” became the order o f the
period, “ grantsmanship" the word,
and the poor who once thought they
were about to have some control
over their own destiny, found them
selves pawns in a game presided over
by those who know best — elected
officials, administrators, managers
and bureaucrats.
When I recovered 1 was told the
pro gram I had w ritte n w ith the
senior citizens o f Clark County had
been “ fu n ded ." However, when 1
picked up a copy o f what had been
funded, it was not the originally de
signed program at all. It had been re
written in design and language accept
ab le to bureaucrats and social
workers, and 1 assume the elderly
were fined into something less likely
to rock the ship o f state with the real
needs o f the elderly. A program with
hope, as you say in your Editorial,
had been snatched away.
The highly successful Senior Adult
Service Center on U n io n Avenue
was, as you w rite on page three,
nearly dismantled, when the paterna
lism o f “ those who know best” pre
vailed and the self-determination o f
the Center was stifled. This Center,
created a program which in many
respects converged with expressed
needs o f C la rk C o u n ty citizen s,
without either group having contact
w ith one a n o th e r. F o r n e ith e r,
however has adequate senior housing
been solved for those who wish or
need to live in housing other than
their homes. Does Emanuel Hospital
have enough undeveloped property
left that Lutheran Family Services
might build another Fairlawn Town
close to the hospital? — or i f not
where else in the county could a
similar non-highrise housing facility
be b uilt. F a irla w n Tow ne in cast
M u ltno m ah C ounty has a waiting
list. A friend told me today o f a
highly satisfactory development built
by the United Church o f Christ in
Tennessee which helps people o f
limited resources to conserve them
while retiring with dignity, in lifetime
care.
Elizabeth L . Sale
Don't panic
T o the Editor:
O f course we are all grief stricken
and regret the senseless tragedy that
cost the lives o f two people in the
C o u rt o f D om estic R elations on
Tuesday. This tragedy is a reflection
o f the troubled times in which we live
and the disturbed people among us.
O u r sym pathies go out to the
families o f the victims.
We have an obligation to try to
p ro tect those fo r w hom we are
responsible. H o w e v e r, we must
re fra in
fro m
im p lem en tin g
procedures borne out o f panic. The
Justice Services D e p a rtm e n t is
developing a more responsive pian
relating to security and emergency
medical procedures for the C ourt
house. 1 am sure these efforts will
now be m oved fo rw a rd on the
priority list.
Gladys McCoy,
M ultnom ah County Commissioner
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ALFRED L HENDERSON
Editor/ Pubi la her
The ffprtlaad O b te n v r , orfflcie) poartran « axpraaaad only in da
P johahar a column (W e Sea The World Through Black Eyas) Any
Other material throughout the paper a the opmwn ot the mdmduai
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the P ortland Odaerarr
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B ast Editorial
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C o m m u n ity Leadership
O N P A 1875
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Power companies owe refund
Likes History
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
N e a rly ?()•’• o f O rego n voters
enacted a lim itation on the public
u tility rate base by vo tin g fo r
Measure 9 in November. Oregonians
know rates are climbing too rapidly
to balance our budgets. We need rate
relief. That is why Measure 9 was
overwhelmingly approved.
Measure 9 became law on Decem
ber 7th. From then on it has been
illegal for utilities to charge for faci
lities not providing service. Oregon
voters did what the Public U tility
Commissioner and the Legislature
would not do. Voters mandated the
private utility companies to provide
their own funds for expensive con
struction projects.
However, the Commissioner did
not enforce the limitation mandated
by the voters. The Commissioner
allowed P ortland General Electric
and Pacific Power and Light to con
tinue charging customers for future
High school
riot racist
T o the Sports Editor:
W h a t happened to sp ortsm an
ship?
What happened to sportsmanship
last Thursday night when forty fo»tr
happy young fans, cheering on their
h om ew ard bound ro o te r bus,
become still with fear as a teacher
warns them to keep their heads down
fo r safety?
What happened to sportsmanship
when rocks came smashing through
bus windows showering glass into the
eyes o f two victims?
What happened to sportsmanship
when a jeering mob is unable to be
dissuaded fro m th e ir in te n t to
destroy social consciousness and
revert to racist behavior o f the 50’ s?
What happened to sportsmanship
last Thursday night at Roosevelt
H igh School after their basketball
game with Jefferson?
H o w can I teach my Jefferson
students not to retaliate in frustra
tion at the injustice done?
Nancy Odman, Teacher
Jefferson High School
The “ O b server” w elco m es
“ Letters to the Editor“ . Letters
should be short end must contain
the writer's neme end address.
The “ Obeerver“ retains the right
to edit for space.
construction. Between December 7th
and January 25th PG E collected at
least J 1.5 m illion from ratepayers for
construction projects. P P & L is still
c o lle c tin g m onies outside the
limitation mandated by the voters.
T he la w , approved by Oregon
voters, must be enforced. To compel
the P U C Commissioner to obey the
law Senator Jan Wyers and I de
livered letters from ourselves and
eighteen o th e r leg islato rs fro m
around the state to Commissioner
Davis earlier this week. We demand
ed overcharges be re tu rn e d or
credited to ratepayers.
I f you believe the Commissioner
should obey the law and the over
charges should be refunded please
write me immediately at the State
Capitol in Salem.
Sincerely,
Rick Bauman
State Representative
(D -M u ltn om ah)
O ur heartiest congratulations on
your special edition o f February 15,
1979, commemorating Black History
^ c e k . It is one o f the best offering I
have seen in this area on the saga o f
Black Americans.
It is especially gratifying to read
about people o f the Northwest with
whom we can identify; such as James
Chase, an outstanding leader in Spo
kane; and George Fleming. Wash
ington State Senator from Seattle
Your three supplements constitute
a most graphic and constructive
means o f acknow ledging Black
History Week and paying tribute to
our ancestors who paid so dearly for
our heritage.
This letter represents my personal
thanks and that o f my staff for a
re a lly b e a u tifu l, h isto ry-packed
souvenir for our children, ourselves
— and our libraries.
Very Sincerely,
Thomas Kennedy, Jr.
Death penalty political football
T o the Editor:
“ Death penalty doesn't answer all
problems,” reads an editorial in the
February 17th Oregonian. In this
editorial Tom Wicker ventilates the
“ Deterrent” theory which has been
so thoroughly ventilated for decades
by knowledgeable writers both inside
and outside o f prison. He summed
up his argument with “ . . . whatever
justification some might give for the
death penalty, it obviously has been
no deterrent to crime in Florda or
anywhere else.”
T he arg u m en t o ver the death
penalty rages in Oregon. The bill re
introducing it passed, and it was
good that it did for the simple reason
that it throws some long needed at
tention on the judicial system and
state prison o f Oregon. No one will
die here as a result o f the death
penalty: it is, after all, a political
football — always has been, always
will be.
But it gives Oregonians a chance to
look closely at the entire judicial
process: it gives them a chance to see
how hundreds o f thousands o f their
tax dollars are absolutely wasted year
after year after year if they will but
look at their state prison.
Wicker stated ” . . . with the de
mand for capital punishment havirij
risen to something o f a crescendo, a
steady undercurrent o f humanity and
common sense is still flowing in this
crime frightened country.” His ar
ticle centered on the death penalty in
Florida, but hopefully his remarks
about humanity and common sense
apply nationally. Hopefully they also
apply to Oregon.
Sincerely,
Donald Danford
Hicks committed to lead
(Continued from page 1 col. 6)
necessary, o ffe r th e ir heart felt
criticism s. There w ill, o f course,
always be both forces In operation.
That is why those o f us who under
stand the situation o f the N A A C P
and the plight o f those who serve in
leadership roles must stand firm ly to
express our support and co m m it
ment.
As Carter G . Woodson wrote long
•g o. ” . . . by service we may work
out a program in light o f our own
circumstances . . . by service we may
teach the masses how to earn a living
honestly . . . by service we may prove
s u ffic ie n t unto the task o f self
development and contribute our part
to modern culture.”
Lucious Hicks has come forward
to serve. Let us return this noble
initiative with a noble service o f our
own.”