Portland Observar Thursday. August 2 . 1979 Paga 3
Blacks view careers in optometry
Less than one per cent o f U.S. op
tometrists are Black, a recent govern
ment study reveals.
Nor is the situation expected to
improve much in the near future,
with Blacks representing less than
two per cent o f today’s students of
optometry, according to a survey of
optometric students by the American
Optometric Association’s Council on
Optometric Education.
The results o f the government
study, conducted by the U.S.
Department o f Health, Education
and Welfare’ s Bureau o f Health Re
sources Development, came as some
what o f a shock to the American Op
tom etric Association, which has
devoted much effort in recent years
to recruitin g Blacks and other
minorities into the profession.
One reason more young Blacks do
not enter the profession o f op
tometry may be that they do not
know about the many career choices
and opportunities in this segment o f
the health care field.
Doctors o f optometry are health
care professionals who specialize in
the examination, diagnosis and treat
ment o f conditions or impairments
o f the vision system. They compro
mise one o f the nation’ s primary
health care professions. It is a
THE NEW MOVEMENT —Some 4.000 demonstra
tors joined SCLC in protesting the shooting death of
20-year-old Bonita Carter by a Birmingham
policeman last week. SCLC president Dr. Joseph E.
relatively young, growing profes
sion in need o f science minded men
and women, o f all racial and ethnic
backgrounds, who are seeking
socially satisfying and financially re
warding careers.
Too often, young Blacks think of
the optometrist as a person who sells
eyeglasses because this is the image
often projected in urban and inner
city area. First impressions are d iffi
cult to change and many young
Blacks on their way up probably
never consider optometry as a career
choice.
Those who do will find that opto
metry offers careers in research,
teaching and administrative work, as
well as in the delivery o f vision care.
Optometrists who choose optometric
practice—as most o f them do— have
a further choice o f entering general
practice or o f specializing in other
areas as pediatric vision, low vision,
contact lenses, and others. In ad
dition, there are optometric careers
in the military and the U.S Public
Health Service.
Whatever career they choose
within the profession, doctors o f op
tometry are dedicated to helping
people preserve and protect their
vision from cradie to grave. At the
same time, they gain a professional
status in their community and earn a
good liv in g . A ccording to an
American Optometric Association
survey, the middle 50 per cent o f op
tometrists can be expected to earn
between $12,000 and $24,000 in their
first full year o f practice. The middle
50 per cent o f all doctors o f op
tometry earn between $30,000 and
$55,000 a year.
O ptom etrists develop special
vision aids for the partially sighted;
work with psychologists, educators
and other professionals to help
children with learning disabilities; re
search the development o f new op
tical aids (contact lenses came out o f
such research); serve as consultants
to industry; aid in the reduction o f
automobile accidents through study
o f how vision relates to driving,
highw ay design and autom obile
design; and make other con
tributions to the visual welfare o f
others.
A minimum o f six or seven years
o f college-level education,,four o f
which must be in a professional
college, are required for the doctor
o f optometry degree. Pre-optometry
education is available at any ac
credited university, college or junior
college that offers a pre-professional
laboratory science curriculum.
Lowery said the large turnout signifies a mood on the
part of Black people to sustain a new movement
against violence and injustice (SCLC photo: Elaine
Tomlin)
SCLC threatens to boycott businesses
“ The decision is yours B ir
mingham. You can choose Vann,
Sands, or the Kian. But, if you do
you’ ve got hell on your hands,”
preached the SCLC leader.
Lowery brought the crowd to a
frenzy by waving through the air a
key to the city, which was given to
him last summer by Mayor Vann
when B irm ingham hosted the
SCLC’ s national convention. Speak
ing over shouts o f "throw it away,”
Lowery said he wanted the key to
open up the doors o f justice,
economic process, love and recon
ciliation.
He further stated that the souls o f
the people o f Birmingham were lost
as long as they allowed police to kill
innocent Black people and then
reward them by taking them o ff the
streets and putting them behind a
desk, which is what Mayor Vann did
after ruling that Sands shot Miss
C arter as a result o f his police
training. The mayor refused to fire
Sands despite the ruling o f a citizen
review committee that the June 22nd
k illin g o f Miss C arter was not
justified.
Since then the Kingston neigh
borhood, where miss Carter lived
and died, has been the scene o f racial
turm oil, punctuated by gunfire from
night-riding Ku Klux Klansmen. The
night before the march two white
men were arrested for shooting into
the homes o f Black Kingston resi
dents.
The shooting caught Vann in an
election year. Blacks are critical to his
political future because he only got
20 per cent o f the white vote in the
1975 election. But the Fraternal O r
B IR M IN G H A M , A L A — Ignoring
a steady rain some 4,000 Blacks
joined the Southern Christian Lead
ership Conference in a march
through downtown last Friday to
protest Mayor David Vann’ s refusal
to fire a white policeman who killed
an unarmed Black woman by shoot
ing her three times in the back.
The protestors threaten to stage an
economic boycott o f local businesses
unless the mayor fires officer George
M. Sands and makes the policeman
stand trial for the murder o f 20-year
old Bonita Carter.
“ We’ ll stop the cash registers from
ringing and pretty soon you’ll hear
the Chamber o f Commerce singing
the Kian and Sands have got to go,”
said SCLC President Dr. Joseph E.
Lowery.
Lowery agreed with other Black
leaders, including Representative
Thomas Reed, State President
N A A C P ; Reverend C .T . V ivian,
SCLC Executive Director; Reverend
John Nettles, State SCLC President;
and Reverend R.B. Cottonreader,
Field Secretary, that the shooting
hurt Alabama’s proclaimed pioneer
role in establishing g oodw ill be
tween the Black and white races in
the “ New South.” He said, “ Ala
bama is in the forefront” o f an in
crease o f violence towards Blacks
and the resurgence o f the Ku KIux
Kian throughout the South. But, he
said the people o f Birm ingham
should make a choice as to which
image they would prefer to have, add
ing Blacks would non-violently fight
a return to the racist ways o f days
gone by.
der o f Police, which represents the
whites that compose 90 per cent o f
the force, threaten to strike if Sands
is fired.
It is Vann’ s fear o f the FOP,
which many SCLC officials feel is
another name o f the Kian, that may
cause him to lose his re-election.
Reverend Abraham Woods, Presi
dent, o f the local SCLC Chapter,
said “ that Black people o f Birming
ham are disappointed in M ayor
Vann’ s decision. He has turned his
back on the Black and poor.”
Dr. Lowery said the huge turnout
for the demonstration should prove
to Vann, Sands and the Kian that
Black people are tire d o f the
disregard for the lives o f minorities
and the poor. “ The m arch," Lowery
said, “ sent a message to Birmingham
and the nation that Black people will
not tolerate the k illin g o f th eir
women, their children, nor their men
nor their sons. We must have an end
to this reign o f terror against Black
people by the Kian, and by the police
department.”
The SCLC president believes that
the Birmingham protest, which was
the largest in the city since the 1963
dem onstration led by Dr. M artin
Luther King, Jr., and the interna
tionally observed Decatur, Alabama
march signify the beginning o f a new
movement. “ Black people are tired
o f the hostility, tired o f the terror,
tired o f the murder o f Black people.
We don’t intend to tolerate it, but we
intend to engage in a non-violent
movement against it. There is a
mood to have a sustained movement
against this kind o f violence,”
Lowery said.
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Telephone 227-2688
I
DESCONNALL
Professional Corporation
LEGAL CLINIC
CONCENTRATING IN THE FIELDS OF:
CRIMINAL LAW
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF INTOXICANTS
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WILLS - PROBATE
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CONSUMER PROTECTION
World War II vets lose farm, home funds
World War II veterans currently
eligible fo r the Oregon Veterans’
Farm and Home Loan Program will
lose all eligibility to receive funds
under the program on January 31,
1980. according to a recent opinion
issued by A tto rn e y General Jim
Redden. The opinion was issued in
response to questions posed by Elmo
M ills, Director o f Veterans’ Affairs.
The firs t question asked was
whether a W orld War II veteran
could receive an additional loan,
such as an improvement loan, after
the January 31, 1980, cutoff date.
C itin g specific language in the
Oregon Constitution, the Attorney
General ruled the answer was a
definite “ No.”
The second question asked
whether a W o rld War II veteran
could receive a loan after January
31, 1980 if the veteran had applied
for that loan prior to the deadline.
The Attorney General ruled a loan
could be granted “ if eligibility for
the particular loan has been estab
lished and a commitment to loan has
been made no later than January 31,
1980.”
According to M ills, this indicates
a World War II veteran should apply
for the loan at least a few days in ad
vance o f the deadline so the Depart
ment o f Veterans’ A ffa irs can
process the loan to the p oint o f
commitment
The entire issue, o f course, would
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be somewhat solved i f voters ap
prove a measure set for the May,
1980, primary ballot. The measure
w ould extend W o rld W ar II
eligibility for another five years, to
January 31, 1985, and make other
changes in the loan program eligi
bility standards. A vote is required
because eligibility for the program is
outlined in the Oregon Constitution.
Mills cautioned, however, that if
the measure is defeated at the polls,
the January 31, 1980, deadline will
be final. He said if a World War II
veteran wants to be absolutely cer
tain o f using his veterans’ loan
rights, he should apply before
January 31, 1980.
The measure on the ballot will also
make other significant changes in the
e lig ib ility standards, including
changing requirements, requiring at
least 210 days active duty in the arm
ed forces, and revising e lig ib ility
deadlines for Korean and Vietnam
Era veterans.
Veterans' loan offices located
throughout the State can provide ad
ditional information on the proposed
changes, M ills said.
"Let there be spaces in your
togetherness." Kahlil Gibran
" I t it d if f ic u lt n o t to be
unjust to what one loves."
Oscar Wilde
"Ridicule is the test of truth."
William Hazlitt
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