CODA reconsiders Albina drug treatment proqram
Donald Fuller
Donald Fuller
James Robbins, director o f Com
prehensive Options for Drug Abuse,
Inc. (CO DA), a non-profit agency
seeking the approval o f King Neigh
borhood Association o f a special
project to decentralize treatment of
drug addicts in Portland, will meet
with Ms. Anna Madden today.
The
The hastily
hastily arranged
arranged meeting
meeting was
was
the result o f the outrage expressed by
the largely Black residents o f King at
the manner in which the community
was presented w ith the special
project. Robbins indicated that the
heated exchanges resulting in a
motion to disapprove the location o f
the drug treatment effort in the heart
o f the Black com m unity put the
project opening date in doubt and he
would
would not
not commit
commit the the agency
agency to to a a
date.
“ The timing was all wrong for an
arrogant approach by some down
town white boys,” said one resident
after the meeting. “ How could they
think that something like that would
glide by after the boycott thing?”
The purpose o f the meeting will
be to
r
be to discuss a letter from Ms. Mad
den as chairperson o f the King
Neighborhood Association in fo rm
ing Robbins o f the vote and o f
possible changes in the program that
may make the program acceptable.
This meeting w ill be open to
association members, said Ms.
Madden. " I frown on closed door
meetings . . .’ ’ so no deals will be
made.
*
. .
’
A great deal appears to be at stake
fo r the hard-pressed agency.
M in o rity clients have dropped to
“ twelve to fifte e n per cent par
ticipation . . ” according to Robbins
and that means the loss o f more
National Institute on Drug Abuse
funds and matching state funds un
der the Oregon M ental Health
Division.
The project is not a residential care
PORTLAND OBSERVER
. ...
facility, but the community objected
to the lack o f prior consultation, the
dispensing o f methadone (free) and
the lack o f sensitivity to the cultural
and political climate developing new
pride in Black residents. The stalling
o f the project and control over the
project once approved were serious
concerns not addressed in the presen
ta tio n at the September 17th
(Please turn to page 5 col. I)
Volume 9 No. 37
Thursday. September 20. 1979 10C
USPS 959 680
Civil Rights erasing backlog
Dewey Taylor: Happy to be alive
Dewey Taylor will open at the Jazz Quary on October
5th with Sky Trio.
‘ I’ m not doing much but playing a little music, doing
^some fishing and trying to cling to life ," Taylor said
Three trips a week to the kidney dialysis machine take
much o f his time but Tayor still finds time for his f riends.
A series o f heart attacks, kidney trouble, strokes and
other ailments have not kept Dewey Taylor down but
they have slowed him a bit. A man o f many trades, he was
the first advertising manager for the Observer, sold for
Coast Janitorial and worked for the Portland Public-
Schools.
Taylor began playing the harmonica ai ihe age o f eleven
and his music has led him all over the world. He played
with the Red Skelton Show, Count Basie, Duke Ellington,
Andy Krk, Dick Stabile, and others. He travelled the world
playing for USO camp shows.
Although he found the rest of the world exciting, Por
tland is his home
Portland has been good to me. I
raised a lovely family and enjoy my lit here."
n tv v investigation Tals© alarm
Mrs.
G a ie v brought
h r« ..o h t some
Mrs. Oslv
Osly Gates
confusion to the Title V II advisory
committee as she announced that a
team from the Region X and Wash
ington office o f the U.S. Depart
ment o f H ealth, Education and
W elfare had visited the Portland
District in response to her inquiry. In
August she had advised HEW that
newly passed School Board policies
might effect the District’s Title V II
proposal.
Mrs. Gates received a letter from
Allen T. Apodaca, Regional Com
missioner o f Education, stating the
teams would be in Portland during
the week o f September 10th “ to
assess and verify the status o f recent
board actions and the e ffe ct on
desegregation and q u a lity o f
education for children attending the
Portland Public Schools.”
That visit did not occur, but Pete
Suazo, the D istrict’s liaison in Wash
ington D.C. did make a routine visit
on September 13th. Suazo met with
district officials regarding changes in
finding procedures for next year’s
proposal. A cco rding to C lin t
Thomas, Director o f Desegregation
Program, he also offered assistance
....................... .u ___________
. . . . . .
in the district needs to change the
current proposal.
Apodaca told the Observer that
when he wrote to Mrs. Gales he had
thought a team would be visiting the
Portland District both to assess the
results o f policy changes and to offer
technical assistance. However, the
decision was made not to make the
anticipated review at this tim e
because it was too early to determine
the results o f the changes and
because it was financially inappro
priate to spend the money to bring
people from Washington at the end
o f the budget year.
He decided to give the District
time to determine the response to
policy changes and to assess result
ing problem s. H EW w ill o ffe r
assistance in amending the 1979-1980
Title V II proposal if necessary.
Apodaca expressed concern that
since the Title V II proposal calls for
programs at specific schools, with
drawal o f Black students could mean
that those schools should not receive
Title V II funds. He said he would be
“ very concerned" if he learned that
schools with insufficient numbers o f
Black students received T itle V II
The Civil Rights Division o f the
Oregon Labor Bureau has had a tar
nished image for many years as the
result o f its inability to investigate
and dispose o f civil rights complaints
within a reasonable length o f time.
In the eight months since l abor
Commissioner Mary Roberts took
office, 1,207 cases have been closed,
the backlog substantially cleared.
The number o f cases in process has
been reduced more than 32 per cent.
New Director o f the C ivil Rights
Division, Gary Gomez reports that
the departm ent is using a two
pronged approach, providing im
mediate investigation o f new com
plaints as well as clearing up old
cases. Gomez has instituted a "Fact
F in d in g " procedure whereby the
complainants and respondent are asked
to attend a (act finding conference
with a compliance officer. At this meet
ing an agreement can be reached and,
it appropriate, a predetermination set
tlement made. Gomez explained that
some cases that arc really a result o f
poor communication can be settled
at this stage. In others, where discri
mination docs exist and the employee
is aware that there is substantial
evidence, the employer has an op
portunity to settle prior to a lengthy
investigation.
hen a complaint is filed, action
begins within a few days. The fact
finding conference usually occurs
within about two weeks and if that
fails the case is assigned immediately
for investigation.
Gomez expects to speed the
process even more by building a
stronger intake process. By assign
ing the best staff to intake he hopes
not only to elim inate cases over
which the Division has no jurisdic
tion but to refine the complaints to
make investigation more efficient.
Ninety-nine new complaints were
filed in August, bringing the year’ s
total to 678. Complaints have in
creased during the past three months
which Gomez credits to word getting
out the complaints are being investi
gated in a timely manner. Many per
sons were previously discouraged
from filing complaints by the fact
that it might be two years before an
investigation began. Timetables will
be set to insure that every complaint
moves through the investigation and
cancellation process.
O f the 99 com plaints filed in
August, 96 were in employment and
three in housing. Complaints on sex
discrimination in employment were
38, complaints on race and color 23.
Thirteen o f the employment com
plaints were on workers’ compen
sation.
One o f the housing complaints was
on racial discrimination; two were on
discrimination against persons with
mental handicap.
Employment complaints also lead
the complaints filed during the final
eight months o f the year, with 643
complaints. O f those 221 were based
on sex and 136 on race. There were
21 housing complaints, 15 on race.
T hirteen com plaints were filed
charging discrimination in public ac
commodation, ten o f these based on
race. One com p la int o f racial
d is c rim in a tio n was file d against
vocational schools.
O f those cases filed before 1977,
14 remain in investigation and 16 are
either in co ncilia tion or pending
referral fo r hearings. A Manage
ment Review Group is going over all
pre-1977 cases to determine which can
be completed. By the end o f August,
he expects only ten o f these cases to
remain in the Department.
O f the old cases, 175 are at the A t
torney G eneral’ s o ffic e to be
prepared for hearings and 23 were
com plaints against the state that
have been referred to private attor
neys.
Gomez, who has held his current
position for four months, came to
the Civil Rights Division from the
State Welfare Division, where he was
manager o f the o ffic e serving
Clackamas and Washington Coun
ties. He at one tim e headed the
Aluma office o f the Welfare Depart
ment and prior to that worked in
private industry.
' Black Studies celebrates ten j years
funding, it disproportionate num
bers o f white students received assis
tance from ihe program, in that there
was d iscrim in atio n against Black
students.
“ The purpose o f the program is to
insure quality education for Black
students. One concern is for quality.
I would be personally very concerned
if Black students do not receive a
high proportion o f the benefits." He
explained that w hite students at
receiving schools may be eligible for
services if they are educationally
disadvantaged
The purpose o f Title V II, he said,
is to insure that Black students sent
to m ajority white schools for deseg
regation purposes receive q ua lity
education and that the education o f
fered in receiving schools does not
decline because o f the addition o f
Black students.
The Title V II program in Portland
provides compensatory education
for students in 36 receiving schools,
with a ratio o f three white resident
students to one Black transfer
student receiving aid. The project
also includes parent involvement and
c u rric u lu m developm ent/teacher
training components
m m
The
n id i» n
,» » « » » ..
The Black
Black S Studies
Department
at
Portland State U niversity w ill be
celebrating its tenth anniversary next
week. The department plans to hold
a banquet on Friday, September
28th, at 7:00 p.m ., at the West
minister Presbyterian Church, 1624
N.E. Hancock Street. The keynote
speaker will be Dr. Lee P. Brown,
form er Com m issioner o f Public
Safety fo r the c ity o f A tla n ta ,
Georgia.
Black Studies Department Head,
Bill Little says the department was
first implemented as an experimental
program in 1969 at Portland State.
Since that time, Little says five major
areas o f emphasis are offered in the
department. Some o f the areas in
clude Black Urban A ffa irs , Black
Civilization and Culture, and Black
Social Development. Presently the
department staff is composed o f five
full time professors and 12 part time
faculty members.
Little says, “ Most o f our faculty
members have Ph.D’s. For the most
part we are all overworked and under
payed. We do more than we ought to
be doing because we are committed. We
are black and feel we have a respon
sibility to meet. 1 feel you have to put
in m more
don’
t want
¡n
O r e if ¡ f y you
oud
o n *tw
an. . to
O be
second rate. Our department is not
second rate.” Little says the anniver
sary banquet is being held to
celebrate the achievement o f the
department, university and Black
community.
"T h is banquet is something the
black community should be proud o f
and I feel it is a sign o f achievement.
The department has reached a high
level o f excellence nationally as well
as internationally. Our sense o f pride
and growth is a significant example
o f w hat’ s happening in the com
munity. This event is not something
we plan to hold on an annual basis.
I t ’s something special.
“ Our department and faculty have
made m ajor c o n trib u tio n s . The
department is known as one o f the
major catalysts in helping to create
other black studies programs around
the country. Both students, faculty
members and administrators have
worked hard to develop the program
o f study. We are the only section in
the northwestern part o f the country
that is recognized as a department.
The rest o f the existing black studies
sections at regional schools and
universities are only programs,” said
Little.
Right now it takes 51 hours to
DR. BILL LITTLE
receive a degree from the depart
ment. But Professor Little says some
requirements will be changed in the
future to what is more desirable and
needed to relate with Black studies
courses. A proposal is being submit-
(Please turn to page 9 column 3)
Should the United Nations look into America’s prisons?
by Nat H e n to ff
(PN S)—There is cu rren tly no
more unfashionable preoccupation
than the rights o f prisoners. Insofar
as the citizenry thinks o f prisons at
a ll, they want more o f them—the
more punitive the better.
The notion that one o f the pur
poses o f these fastnesses is rehabili
tation is no longer held even by most
liberals. E. Donald Shapiro, dean o f
the New York Law School, recently
spoke for a clear consensus o f the
*■ populace when he proposed, for the
1980s, not only an increase in prisons
but a desire that they should not be
“ any better than the slum housing in
which society places the poor, the
u nfo rtu n a te elderly or dependent
children.”
In this ambience, it is rather d if
ficu lt lt to to focus
focus public
public attention
attention on
on
ficu
what it is actually like to be in most
prisons. Yet two recent cases o f not
all that e xtra ord in ary abuse o f
prisoners’ most fundamental rights
may help concentrate the mind on
the most invisible o f this nation’ s
discards.
Seven women in New York State
was awarded $45,000 in damages on
July 12, 1979, in a settlement that the
AC LU 's National Prison Project has
described as “ the First o f its kind in
the co un try.” Three years before,
the women had been involuntarily
tran sfe rred — w ith o u t a ju d ic ia l
commitment hearing—from the Bed
ford Hills prison to Matteawan, an
institution for the criminally insane.
The reason was that they were " d if
ficu lt” to control, incessantly assert
ing that they knew their rights and
otherwise
an.
otherwise actina
acting in in an
an undn<-il<>
undocile m man
ner.
A t Matteawan, the women were
fo rcib ly dosed with such powerful
neuroleptic drugs as Thorazine and
Prolixin, along with a literally stun
ning array o f sedatives, hypnotics,
and anti-depressants. They were
never told the types o f drugs they
were being given; and no physical,
neurological
or
psychiatric
examinations were conducted by the
s ta ff psychiatrists to determine
whether the drugs were producing
allergic reactions or other side effects
—even though the women frequently
complained o f highly disorienting
side effects. (Such drugging is not
uncommon in “ co ntrol units” o f
American prisons dealing with “ un
cooperative” inmates who have also
never been determined to be mentally
tit ill.)
x
In a dd itio n to the continuous
drugging, the seven women were
compelled to participate in a
behavior modification program, one
o f the more trendy control devices in
many prisons around the country.
This one was called STEADY (Steps
Toward Eventual Acceptance o f a
Disciplined You). The women were
forced into STEADY, one o f their
lawyers later said, because “ Prison
o ffic ia ls wanted to go beyond
sedating these women. They wanted
to break them ."
Ostensibly, the program would
enable the women to "e a rn ” their
way out o f segregation (they were in
their cells 23 hours a day) and back
into the general population at Bed
ford Hills. They were to receive plus
marks fo r "cooperative” behavior
and minus grades fo r conduct un
becoming an inmate.
The problem was that there were
never any clear, comprehensive
guidelines as to how they were expected
to behave, and so, as court papers
point out, "they did not know from
one day to the next what conduct
would result in earning a reward or
punishment.”
Furthermore, whenever it looked
as i f STEADY was not working, the
women were adm inistered even
larger quantities o f drugs. Finally,
they were rescued from Matteawan
by a federal judge who ruled that
their Fourteenth Amendment rights
to due process and equal protection
under the laws had been violated by
their transfer to a mental institution
without a judicial hearing.
The women then sued for damages
for their time o f unabated horror at
Matteawan, and the state o f New
York, rather than go to trial, agreed
to a settlement. Not that anyone—
from the State Com m issioner o f
Correctional Services on down to the
staff psychiatrists on the ward—has
admitted any wrongdoing. Even in
those few suits that prisoners win,
the defendants almost inva ria bly
take the Nuremberg defense ( “ It
wasn’ t my responsibility.” )
Meanwhile, in Virginia, another
prisoner, Henry Tucker, after “ act
ing out” in acute disappointment at
the denial o f his parole in 1976, was
injected with Prolixin, a formidable
anti-psychotic drug. A t the Virginia
State Penitentiary in Richmond,
one gave Tucker any neurological,
psychiatric or physical examination
(Please turn to page 8 column I)