Mrs Fra n ces S c h o e n -ie w sp2p2r Ro9l
U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y
Lugana, Oregon 97403
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Want to ride the Goodyear blimp?
The Second Annual Portland Ob
server - Goodyear blimp ride will be
held on Saturday, June 23rd. The
Goodyear blimp •‘Colum bia’ ’ is in
Portland for a three week stay.
The airship Colum bia is owned an
operated by the Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Co. o f A kron. She is 192 feet
long, 39.5 feet high and 50 feet wide.
The sausage shape is maintained by
202,700 cubic feet o f helium inside a
rubber-coated polyester fabric en
velope.
The ship is powered by twin six
cylinder, 210 hp engines, giving a
cruising speed o f from 30 to 35 miles
per hour and a maximum speed o f 50
miles per hour. Flight altitude is
normally between 1,000 and 2,000
feet.
The Columbia and her sisterships,
the A m erica and the M a y flo w e r,
travel more than 100,000 miles a year
as public relations ambassadors.
The ship is staffed with a crew o f
22 ~ five pilots, a public relations
representative and 16 crewmen, some
o f whom a r t engine, rad io , elec
tronics and structural experts. W ith
fo u r s p ecially-eq u ip p ed g ro u n d -
support vehicles, the Colum bia crew
is almost self-sustaining in the field,
as far as operation and maintenance
o f the blimp are concerned.
Four lucky young people - ages 11
through 15 - will win a ride in the
Colum bia by completing an entry
blank and winning the lucky draw.
(See page 10)
1978 winners were fo u r eighth
graders fro m Boise E le m e n ta ry
School. This year’s winners could be
you!
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume 9 No. 23
Thursday, June 14,1979 109
USPS
Rose Festival charged w ith racism . . . again
Boise honors graduates
T o the strains o f “ L ift E v’ry Voice
and Sing’ *, fifty students graduated
from Boise Elementary School.
H erb C a w th o rn e co ng ratulated
the students for their cooperation,
p rid e , respect and ach ievem en t.
M entioning the district cham pion
ship girls basketball team and the
ru n n e r-u p boys team and the
student newspaper “ Boise Speaks” ,
he com m ended them fo r th e ir
achievement in reading, language
and arithmetic - the best in Boise’s
recent history.
Cawthorne challenged the students
to be ambassadores — representing
them selves, th e ir school, th e ir
families and their race. “ A n am
bassador is a special representative,
empowered with skills and the ability
to make peace and understanding.”
"T h e problems o f race relations
are not solved,” he told the class.
" Y o u will have to carry the burden
You represent all Blacks or all whites
as you interact. You can continue
what we began.”
R eceiving c o n g ra tu la tio n s and
their final report cards from their
p rin c ip a l, D ave M c C re a , were:
C h ris tin a A b ra m s , T in a A dam s,
T o n y A nd erso n , C a rlo B agley,
Daniel Binns, David Binns, Antuan
Blocker, Allen Brock.
Jeff Brown, Geraldine Cary, Luci
C ook, Dalton Dalcour, Raye Den
son, Dorris Drew, W illim Dye, Kent
Ewell, Alonzo Franklin.
John Gahagen, Debra Green, Jim
F ry e , A n th o n y H a n s o n , S andra
H a rd y ,
L o re n zo
H ic k s ,
Lisa
Holmes, Renee Hudson.
L ulu Jackson, R etta Jefferies,
Linda Lewis, Shirley Lewis, Roger
M a rc e ll, T e rry M a r tin , Sharon
Mayes, Cheryl M cG innis, Michael
Nichols.
Gary Page, Demetia Paul, Jeanice
P ra tt, D avid R o b in so n , M ich elle
Ross, M e lv in S pencer, D eb b ie
Staples, Joe S to d d a rd , E d w a rd
W a te rs , A n th o n y W h ite , T in a
Wrisley.
M athew Young, Rosetta Young,
Sine Taylor, Tony Thomas.
South African Bishop visits
by Gregory Gudger
When Father W illiam Cleary first
met Bishop Stephen Gregory Naidoo
while in Rome in 1977, and invited
the A uxiliary Bishop o f Cape Tow n,
South A frica to visit his parish if he
ever came to the U n ite d States,
Father Cleary didn’ t think that he
would see the Bishop at least for
quite a while.
On Sunday, June 17th — a short
two years later — Bishop Naidoo
and Father Cleary will concelebrate
the 10:30 a.m . Mass at Portland's
Holy Redeemer Church, 25 N . Port
land Boulevard, during a five-day
stopover in Portland. The Bishop is
on a factfinding tour o f the U.S. to
study the achievements, problems
and other facet* o f living in an inte
grated society, and the role that the
Catholic Church has playeu in the in
tegration effort. The Bishop and his
State D epartm en t escort, Joseph
W alton, will arrive from San Fran
cisco and will leave for H a rtfo rd ,
Connecticut after his visit here.
The national tour is sponsored by
the U .S. Government’s International
Visitor Program o f the International
C o m m u n ic a tio n Agency, in con-
junction with the Visitor Program
Service o f M e rid ia n House In te r
national. The Bishop’s Portland visit
is coordinated by the W orld A ffairs
Council o f Oregon.
The 52-year-old Bishop is a native
o f Durban, South A frica and is o f
South Asian In d ia n descent. He
began his studies for the priesthood
in 1953 and was ordained in 1961. He
holds a diploma in Social Science
and a Doctorate in Canon Law from
A n g lic u m U n iv e rs ity in Rom e
(1964). He has been Assistant Bishop
to the Archbishop o f Cape Tow n
since 1974, with jurisdiction over 60
parishes.
One o f the key objectives o f the
Bishop’s current visit to the U .S. (he
first came to the U .S. in 1973), is to
study the extent o f racial integration
in the schools. An added bonus to his
unscheduled visit to see his friend
Father Cleary will be the knowledge
the Bishop obtains regarding the ef
fo rts o f the lo cal C o m m u n ity
Coalition for School Integration. An
inform al reception at the home o f
N ick and K im B arn ett has been
arranged for this purpose.
" I ’m only disappointed that he’s
(Please turn to page 3 col. 3)
Charges that the Rose Festival is a
racist event are being made again this
year — much o f it centered around
the queen selection and the parade.
The first charges came when Black
students — joined by white students —
protested the princess selection
process at W ils o n H ig h S chool.
Students informed the Observer that
after the initial vote, won by Lori
Smith, Vice Principal Elva M a rtin
said there would be a ru n off between
the two top vote-getters.
T o q uo te W ils o n S tatesm an
journalist David Kahn, “ It is hard to
find anything more bizarre than the
events that led up to the cancellation
o f the Rose Festival ru n o ff by Mrs.
Elva M artin , vice principal in charge
o f W ilson’s princess selection.
“ Not less than two hours after all
six court members had curtsied their
way o ff the stage, Mrs. M artin an
nounced to a handful o f P T A mem
bers attending a meeting at Wilson
that there would be a ru n o ff election.
P T A members were in attendance
because they are responsible fo r
decorating the auditorium fo r the
Rose Festival assemblies, so they
needed to know that there would be
another assembly to hold the runoff.
“ As one might assume, the story
was leaked. Some o f the members o f
the court found out Monday night
th a t a r u n o f f w o u ld take place.
V e rific a tio n was p ro vid ed the
following morning when Mrs. M a r
tin called all six court members into
her office to relate that there would
be a ru n o ff between H olly Burton
and Lori Smith.
“ Faculty members, the student
body and the court were stunned,
perhaps because no one could even
recollect the last time Wilson had a
runoff, much less any other school
conducting one.
Students, angered over what they
considered an in ten t to take the
honor from a Black student, notified
the press and the Rose Festival
A sso ciatio n . T h e Rose F estival
Association representative met with
Mrs. M artin and explained the rules,
so she decided to cancel the runoff.
The student body was informed at
an assembly the next day. “ W e have
two Rose Festival candidates, neither
one having the ‘most’ votes but each
having the potential to be queen,”
Mrs. M artin explained to the stu
dents. The runoff, she said, was o ff
“ in order not to foster distorted
relatio n sh ip s,
dishonest
com
munications, or misunderstandings
among capable, qualified candidates
»»
A t a third assembly, six girls were
displayed on stages — even those who
already knew they had not won —
and Lori was crowned.
W h e th e r deceptio n , m is in te r
pretation or insensitivity brought on
this episode, it was c learly un
necessary. School D is tric t P olicy
4304 (J2/75) states: "Student vote o f
■ the selection o f a princess to
represent the school in Rose Festival
activities shall be by vote o f the
students o f the school, conducted in
accordance w ith the usual voting
procedures o f the school, provided
that: 1) There shall be no ru n o ff
HANK ARRON: Was the Home Run King slighted by Portland
protocal?
election; the girl receiving the larger
votes on the first ballot shall be
designated winner.”
The policy also states that the vote
count will not be made public and
that the winner will be announced to
the students and the public at an
assembly.
Attack on Adams
The next attack on student rights
came when Rose Festival Association
executive director Clayton Hannon
(Please turn to page 2 column 1)
Portland State closes Educational Center
P o rtla n d State U n iv e rs ity w ill
close its Educational Center on June
30th. The center, which was opened
in 1970 as a response to demands for
more PSU involvement in the Black
c o m m u n ity , was firs t located on
Union Avenue and more recently at
the King Neighborhood Facility.
The center has been under threat
o f closure for years, with form er
directors Harold Williams and Phyllis
Benton spending much o f their time
fighting to retain the limited budget.
Lucious Hicks, director fo r the
past four years, described the events
leading to closure. This spring, when
the current three year lease with the
King N eig hb o rh o od F a c ility was
ready for renewal, PSU objected to
the space cost. PSU had been pro
tected from rent increases for three
years, and considered the more than
20 per cent increase they faced as too
great.
Then PSU received a letter from
A m o De B ern ard is, resigning
president o f Portland C om m unity
College, pointing out that a contract
prevents PSU from providing lower
division college courses in P C C terri
to ry . In e ffe c t, P S U had been
operating in violation o f the contract
for nine years. Rather than protest,
D r. Joseph B rum el, president o f
PSU . acknowledged the stipulation
o f the contract and agreed to with
d raw . De Bernardis then offered
PSU the option o f providing upper
division classes (jun ior and senior
years) in the Cascade campus.
T his plan seemed acceptable
because students a ttend in g P SU
classes at Cascade w ould count
to w ards P S U ’ s en ro llm e n t and
would provide additional funds for
the university the following year.
T he 1979 L eg islatu re, how ever,
decided not to count students attend
ing off-campus classes. Therefore,
PSU was forced not only with the
cost o f providing the classes, but
with loss o f funds due to drawing
some students who otherwise would
attend on-campus classes.
That plan came to a standstill, at
least until the regulations can be
changed.
H ic k s recom m ended th at the
Educational Center serve a public
relations and recruitment role — to
enhance the university’s role in the
community, to provide counseling,
and to recruit. This idea was reject
ed.
(Please turn to page 3 col. 3)
A Father's Day Salute
by Kathryn H . Bogle
A modern day single father. What
were his feelings when the situation
first presented? W hat were his moti
vations? How did he approach his
task?
What is the form ula for being a
successful single father? There must
be many, many answers. Here is one
m an’s outstanding, successful, ex
perience.
James Zellton W alker I I , better
know n
as Jim m y
Bang-Bang
W alker, is a man o f varied interests
and careers. He has gathered and used
these careers as he has needed them
in his life. With them he has braided
one strong uniting cord to encircle
his young family.
Unity and strength for his family
were his aim and his goal. They
remain the same today.
James Zellton W alker II , now in
his mid-forties, was born in Birming
ham , A la b a m a . Born in a brick
house as befitting the first born son
o f an ambitious and loving father
and mother. Father W alker and Un
cle W a lk e r, the W alker Brothers,
were acclaimed as the owners o f the
first Black taxicabs in Birmingham.
They enjoyed some o f the “ good
life .”
“ Father was a beautiful m a n ,”
James recalls. “ He brought home lit
tle gifts for us children almost every
night. M other stayed in her home
and looked after the fam ily. Some
times she helped out a little with the
fam ily income by making cookies
and other little delicacies to sell from
her kitchen.”
The experience o f knowing how to
cook and sell stood the mother in
good stead when her husband
became ill and died when James was
five years old.
Quickly, now the picture changed
for young James. The home in Bir
mingham was left behind for a home
in Vallejo, C alifornia and M other
W a lk e r and her sister opened a
restaurant to take care o f their com
bined families.
The Vallejo situation eventually
yielded to change when M o th e r
W alker remarried and moved to Kla
math Falls, Oregon. James was in
high school by then.
High school in Klamath Falls was
no picnic for non-white children in
those days and James soon learned
to use his fists to defend himself. He
often found allies among the K la
math Falls Indians who also were
(Please turn to page 7 column 1)
Jimmy “ Bang Bang” Walker