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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1979)
1 ;■ I ' 12 Portland Ob— r y r Thursday M arch 29. 1979 Rhodesia: Slip sliding into chaos by N. Fungai Kumbula Change School Board The April 3rd School Board election is of parti cular importance in light of the Board's lack of ability to respond to issues of special concern to the Black community, but of utmost importance to all of the people of Portland. This is the year that the power of the Board could shift — it would take the election of three new Board members — who would work to gether w ith incum bent Board member W ally Priestley to make the Board into an organiza tio n th a t w ould take com m and and develop quality programs for all children. We recommend the election of Steve Buel, Mike Verbout and Karen Masterson. Steve Buel is a teacher, who is deeply concern ed about the quality of education in the district's elementary schools, which he calls the w orst in the metropolitan area He has endorsed the Coali tion's pairing proposal, advocates more realistic and direct citizen participation, stronger Board leadership, and a shift of resources from admini stration to teachers. Bettie O verton is also a candidate fo r the position now held by Evie Crowell. Ms. Overton started her campaign late, has few funds, and has confined her campaign mainly to the Albina area. Ms. Overton — who has years of experience working w ith com m unity organizations at the grass roots level — would be a welcome addition to the Board — another kind of Black person — one who is "unbossed, unbought and uncontroll e d .” Although she has virtually no chance of election, Ms. Overton offers an alternative for those who wish to vote for a Black candidate but cannot support Ms. Crowell. Evie Crowell — per haps because of the circumstances of her ap pointment — has not demonstrated the indepen dence necessary to represent the concerns of those who most need strong advocacy. The most difficult choice is between Bill Scott and Mike Verbout. Beverly York — the incum bent — has added little to the Board and is out of it as far as we are concerned. Scott is a member of the Coalition and has endorsed its report with some reservations about pairing; Verbout is not sold on busing and prefers the development of other alternatives when possible. Both prefer voluntary solutions; both talk about the Board's lack of credibility and the need for public partici pation. S cott proposes citizen involvem ent in development of the budget; Verbout advocates changes in selection of advisory boards. Scott has the support of the liberal establishment; Verbout’s support is from the working class neighborhoods. We will go with Verbout and see him as more willing to make more rapid, radical changes — in curriculum, staffing, board functioning, and ad ministrative personnel. Karen Masterson is opposing incumbent Joe Reike, along w ith several other candidates. Mrs. Masterson is disturbed about the way the Board treats the public and accuses it of debilitating schoo ls to p ro m o te its ow n plans fo r reorganization. She prefers desegreation through boundary changes but will support pairing where necessary. She wants smaller classes, better teachers and more attention to education. Reike, appointed nine m onths ago, defends much of the Boerd's procedures and decisions. Reike frequently expresses a fear that the Board may be sued over many of the difficult decisions it must make and expresses his opinion that this th re a t is a d e te rre n t to m ore open B oard discussion. He feels political cons derations pre vent mandatory transfer of whites fo r desegre gation. Although a master of rhetoric. Reike has offered little independent decision-making in his nine months on the Board. Perhaps had he come on a different Board at a different tim e he m ight not have felt so constrained by the leadership and m ight have done a better job. Frank McNamara is, in effect, unopposed in his bid for re-election. His opponents are perennial candidates and have expressed little specific in terest in education. We have long been dissatis fie d w ith M cN a m a ra 's p e rfo rm a n ce on th e Board. He probably has good intentions and oc casionally has the courage and good sense to vote against the majority, but his disrespect of the C o a litio n and the B lack c o m m u n ity in general, his sarcasm, and his upholding of the administration at all costs prevent him from ser ving the public adequately. We cannot endorse Mr. McNamara but suggest our readers write in friends or neighbors for this position. PCC — Bryant Portland Community College has been remiss in its responsibility to the North-Northeast com munities. This school — which received a g ift of its Cascade campus from the Model Cities Pro gram at a tim e when the college was new and was in need — has not kept its com m itm ent to provide educational and vocational programs for the residents of this area. W ith expansion to other sites — Rock Creek is a good example — programs have been shifted from this area. Emphasis has been placed on meeting the needs of the suburban students at the expense of the inner Northeast. The college w ill soon have a new president and substantially a new board. Dr. Howard Cherry is the only remaining member w ho was on the original board. Dr. Cherry serves on the M u lt nomah County Education Service District Board, the PCC Board, is a former member of the Port land School Board and a member of the Oregon legislature. We do not question his dedication to education. It is time for a change — time to elect a mem ber who is more representative of the young people of this area that the board is elected to serve. Two persons, both deeply involved in the community, are candidates Carol Bryant has been involved in education and social work, and is the form er director of a com munity child care ser vice, and Ed Leek, is Chairman of the Northeast Coalition and active in neighborhoods. Because of her experience in education, child care and in budgeting and program development, the Observer endorses Carol Bryant for the P ort land Community College Board, Zone 2. Letters to the Editor To the Editor: To voters in the Albina area, I am asking you to support Mrs Bettie Lou O ve rto n , fo r School Board position <5. I have worked with Mrs. Overton over the past ten years in the Boise Neighborhood Association and other organizations involving the Albina co m m u n ity . Her d e vo tio n , hard work and leadership in this commu nity have helped lo enhance the lives ol young and older people in this Bettie is a knowledgeable person, and would add a lot to a dying School Board. Unlike her opponent, who is now serving in this position. Instead o f following the leader who controls the decision-making policy, M r. Newman, Bettie would be her own person and stand up and vote on an issue only if she believes in it — not just to please the majority. W ith so many decisions being made for the Black co m m u n ity, w ith o ut their in p u t, we need someone who is.strong, not only for the Black community, but for the City o f Portland. I want to make one point clear, that I am not supporting Mrs. Over- ton because o f any dislike for Ms. C ro w e ll, or her vote against the Coalition, but my support for Mrs. Overton is because o f her strong leadership ability, her devotion to the community, and her understand ing and caring for children. Sincerely, Vesia Loving ( its PORTLAND OBSERVER Th« Portland Observer (LISPS 969 «801 • puMnlwd e/e>v Thur» 2201 North Kitlirtgswortr Portland Oregon 97217, Poet Ottice 80» 3137 Portland. Oregon 97208 Second cla n postage paid at Portland. Oregon U t by E«te Publebing Company. Inc ALFR ED L HENDERSON E d ito r/P u b lish e r 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1973 1st Place Best Ad Results ONPA 1973 Subscriptions S7 50 per year in Tn-County area »8 00 per year outside Tn-County Area P ostm aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P .0 Bon 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 6th Place Best Editorial NNPA 1973 The Portland Observer's official position is ««pressed only m its Editorial column Any other material throughout the paper « ttie opinion of the individual writer or subm itter and does not neceaaanly reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1973 National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers Inc New Vork 2nd Place Beet Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1976 3rd Piece Community Leadership ONPA 1978 n E fip A A a ic x jf/.o n / LPER roonbad t« M Oregon Newspaper ____Publishers »'»I Association A ll is fu r in love and war. so goes an old saying. Whoever said this must have been very naive because there is nothing fair about war. Most times I think w e is a losing game and the only difference between vic tor and vanquished generally is that: to the victor go the spoils and to the vanquished, the “ soils.** Take a look at the war in Zimbab we (Rhodesia) for instance. It is a necessary war and it was inevitable. The guerrillas are fighting to liberate the country while S m ith and his cohorts are fighting to keep the people enslaved forever. Caught in the middle are the people over which both sides are fighting and in the end. all three ‘sides’ arc going to have to come together to build the new nation o f Zimbabwe. It's a shame that in such a war, the main losers are always the people who stand on the sidelines — the very people that both sides claim to love so much they have to go to war over. The civilians in Zimbabwe war have an uncommonly rough time: they are caught in a five way war. That’s right, five way. There is the Rhodesian racists on the one hand and Robert Mugabe's Z A N U forces on the other. These two, in addition to fig h tin g each o th er have oc casionally clashed with the forces o f Joshua Nkom o, who forms the other half o f the Z A P U -Z A N U guerrilla alliance. Together, they are called the Patriotic Front. Also in this con flict are the so-called "auxilliaries.” The a u x illia rie s are essentially private armies that owe their loyalty not to Zimbabwe but to individual leaders Muzorewa is known to have such an army as does Ndabanmgi Sithole, two o f the Blacks who form the internal government along with lan Smith. In the eastern highlands, towards the border w ith M o za m bique for instance, there are areas that are now under the control o f the guerrillas, areas from which Smith's forces have been expelled. It is in these liberated areas where most o f the fighting between the guerrillas and the auxilliaries takes place. Each force is fighting to wrest control fro m whoever happens to be in charge at the time. The guerrillas are, o f co in « , doing it in the name o f lib eration o f the masses but, the auxilliaries are doing it in the name o f Muzorewa or Sithole. The term “ a u x illia ry ” comes from the fact that these private armies usually act as appendages to the Rhodesian ar m y. By keeping some o f the guerrillas tied down fighting these traitors, that takes some manpower, personpower rather, from the main task, fighting the Rhodesian colonial army. You may wonder why some people would so stupidly let themselves be used like this but, like they say: *a sucker is born every minute.* The biggest loser is once again the poor, defenseless civilian. Fully 70% o f the 12,000 casualties that the six year war has so far claimed have been civilians. There are many cases docu m ented o f how the Rhodesian soldiers, any time they lose some o f their ’comrades' and, frustrated by their failure to locate the enemy, will usually take it out on the local civi lians. A t the moment, the Smith regime acknowledges there are some 600,000 Blacks fenced in in what they call “ protected villages” — more like concentration camps. This is a futile attempt to keep the people from pro viding the guerrillas with supplies and or shelter. This forced removal not only uproots whole villages, dis rupting fam ily life and destroying house and home but imposes other haidships as well. Food becomes very scarce as families are forced to abandon their crops and livestock. They also have to observe a very strict curfew. Violators are shot on sight — no questions asked. W ith such conditions, the soldiers hold the lives of these 600,000 souls in their hands. The living conditions in the ’pro tected villages* are appalling, to say the least. Toilet facilities are inade quate or totally lacking. What little drinking water there is is unfit for consumption, either by humans or a n im als. M a ln u tr itio n has risen dram atically over the past several months. Compounding this problem is the fact that most rural hospitals and clinics have been closed so they cannot provide medical attention to the freedom fighters. These health facilities were inadequate to begin with but now even those few no longer exist. Result: fully 80% o f Rhodesia's Africans are left with no medical facilities at all. Schools have been closed en masse too. A t last count, over $00 had been closed leaving 250,000 students with nowhere to go and nothing to do. All they can do now is sit and wonder fearfully how long they can success fu lly dodge all five armies. They wake up in the morning wondering if they will live long enough to see the sun go dow n. A t nig h t, they lie aw ake w o ndering . . . In these outlying areas utter chaos has taken over. There is no central adm ini s tra tio n , the people ju st fo llo w whoever happens to have his gun trained on them at the time. The elections that are scheduled for A pril 20th will merely aggravate the situation. The internal regime w ould lik e a large tu rn o u t, the guerrillas would like zero turnout. Each site will be using force to punc tuate its orders and, again, the poor civilian is caught dead in the middle. The only thing that could possibly ease their suffering is a quick conclu sion to this war o f independence. Let us hope and pray that the conserva tives in the U .S. Congress are thwart ed in their efforts to come to the aid o f the murderous Rhodesian regime. D on’t let them use your tax dollars to support yet another dictatorship. The people o f Zimbabwe have suf fered enough. Priestley staff: Activism in the Legislature (Continued from Page I Column 6) workable, a governmental appointee has been rejected by the Senate as in appropriate and another appointee forced to withdraw due to a flagrant conflict o f interest. An energy plan which is years behind its times and gives birth to yet another bureau cracy rather than implementing a plan o f action. Finally, the Gover nor, contrary to his own campaign promise, is attempting to influence the decision o f the Energy Facility Siting Council. Now we find our at ten tion being diverted by these charges o f unethical conduct. Forces outside the government have been part o f this illadvised hatchet job on my s ta ff. . . " W e shall not desist from making taxes, energy and nuclear power the heated issues o f the day. Our future depends on the choices we make today.” Johnson and Pitler are assigned to Priestley’s nuclear energy bills. HB 2 5 7 1 regulates transp o rtatio n o f radioactive m aterials in O regon, requires that counties have radio active response teams, requires that PUC be notified and the counties be notified. H B 2555 would restrict the use o f Trojan to times with peak needs and when other power sources are not available. It limits storage o f wastes at any future nuclear plants to six months. H B 2570 would place a m o ra to riu m on nuclear pow er plant construction until safe waste storage sites are in operation. States with sim ilar laws include W isconsin, Io w a , M o n ta n a , C a lifo rn ia , and Clark County, Washington. H B 2509 would require that owners o f nuclear power plants post a bond to cover cost o f decommis sioning. HB 2509 — sponsored by Senator Jan Wyers — requires that there be evacuation plans for areas within a fifty mile radius o f a nuclear power plant. Priestley opposes — and his staff is working against — two laws to in crease tresspass penalties. H B 2498, sponsored by Representative Carolyn Magruder, would make in terference with the operation o f or access to a nuclear plant a Class B felony, punishable by ten years in the penitentiary and/or a $2500 fine. HB 2565 would raise tresspass from a Class C to Class B misdemeanor, in creasing the jail penalty from one to six months and the fine from $250 to $500. Legislative hearings on each o f these bills provide opportunity for fu ll discussion o f the dangers o f nuclear power. This session, for the firs t tim e , many o f O rego n 's legislators are becoming well versed in nuclear power and in alternative sources o f power. P itle r, who is a p a rt-tim e em ployee, confines his work to energy and energy-related issues. Johnson, who works full-time on a part-time salary, also works in housing. Ron Huntley gets less publicity, but also is making waves. Hutley's work has mainly been in the area o f nur sing homes. (Priestley is a member o f the Committee on Aging). Huntley is interested in the "forgotten people” — the abused, neglected and ignored who are confined to nursing homes. He is fast becoming known for his “ midnight raids” in nursing homes. In one spot check o f five nursing homes in the Salem area he found numerous problems — inadequate staff, facilities, linen, and food. He made a second visit to one home with Representative M ary Alice Ford, a member o f the Committee on Aging. “ We arrived at 7:45 a.m . and found 65 gallon garbage cans in the door ways o f rooms, collecting water (hat was pouring through the ro o f.” The cans were blocking the doorways to the rooms. He was informed it had been that way for two months. “ W e were told patients were without baths for two weeks because there was not enough hot water. This, we were told, had occurred o ff and on for two years.” Huntley sent a report to the Health D epartm ent and fines have been levied against the home. H u n tley also checked on the patients food and was told that o f 32 feeder pa tients, 17 were not fed, that only 20 percent o f the patients receive meals while still hot, and that at least three patients were so upset at the quality o f the food that they were p u r chasing meals from a food truck. In his research Huntley has found that 25 percent of the state’s nursing homes generated from 75 to 80 per cent of the complaints. He has drawn up a list o f problem homes in Port land which he will visit with Repre sentative Priestley. Huntley is working on a bill that would make payments for nurse prac titioners and doctor's assistants to see nursing home patients Current ly, 83 percent o f the nursing home patients who need medical care are sent to a hospital emergency room — at an average cost o f $290 for trans portation and care. O f those, 50 per cent are returned the same day and the other 50 percent stay in the hospital for one to three days — at an average cost o f over $100 per day. Added to the cost o f hospital care is the continuing charge o f $24.23 per day for the nursing home bed. O f that 50 percent, hospital nurses esti mate only 10 percent need to stay for medical reasons. Those patients who remain in the hospital for more than three days lose their bed in the nursing home and most stay in the hospital from seven to ten days while a place is found for them. Over a four month period, Salem M em orial Hospital had 304 patient days w aiting for placement, at $103 per day — a total o f over $10,000, or $30,000 a year for one hospital. "T h ird party reimbursements’* — paying nurse practicioners or doc to r’s assistants — would cost $14 per call. It is being done for private pa tients — those who pay for their own care — but not for those receiving welfare. H u n tle y 's other assignment is adoptions. H B 2367 — authored by Priestley — would provide access to adoption records while protecting the rights o f the child and parent. I f the adopted child over 21 years old sought contact with or medical in formation from the biological pa rents, the court would appoint a confi dential intermediary who would con tact the parent and get permission for the contact. If the parent refused, the intermediary could still ask for fa m ily medical histories. The process could also be initialed by the biological parent. There are 72,000 adoptive children over the age o f 21 in O regon. Although adoption records can be released by the court, Judges are reluctant to do so because there arc no guidelines. Only one out o f 187 requests are granted. Since a similar lew was passed in Washington in 1976, 190 successful reunions have taken place, with only three refusals. Persons interested in these legislative issues are urged to contact Representative Priestley's office - 378-8815 — in Salem