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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1980)
Stop work for Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday The Black United Front and the Albina M inisterial Alliance are ad vising Black people to stay home from work on Dr. M a rtin Luther K in g ’ s b irth d a te , Ja nu ary 15th. “ Since national lawmakers and the State o f Oregon cannot or refuse to h o n o r D r. K in g , the A lb in a M in isterial alliance and the Black United Front find it necessary for Black people to recognize our s leaders ourselves w itho ut the ap proval o f elected o fficials.” A ll who p ro va l o f elected o ffic a ls , spokesmen from the organizations said. A ll who are able are asked to take a va catio n day or make other arrangements to honor Dr. King by recognizing his b irth d a te as a holiday from employment. In ad dition, the total community is asked to jo in in a celebration o f and reflec tion on Dr. King's life, on Tuesday, January 15th, at M ount Olivet Bap tist Church, 116 N .E. Schuyler, at 7:30 p.tn. We believe there have been few Black Americans who have captured the m inds and hearts o f people w o rld w id e as D r. M a rtin L uth er King, Jr. For many o f us, Dr. King epitomized greatness which should wom an is fu lly recognized th ro u g h to u t the A m e rican ijom - m unity, and the Albina M inisterial Alliance and the Black United Front maintain that Dr. King stands alone when it comes to who is truly out standing or deserving o f recogni tion. “ Lately, at the national level, Dr. King has created a Congressional debate concluding w ith an excuse be understood and accepted by all o f us in the U n ite d States. P eriodically, tributes are paid to outstanding American citizens in the fo rm o f n a tio n a l, state or local holidays by s y m b o lic a lly saying, ‘ thank you’ , ‘ we remember you’ , ‘ we respect what you stood fo r ’ , ‘ your c o n trib u tio n is not fo rg o t ten’ .” “ H ow ever, no Black man or about cost effectiveness. That is, to honor Dr. King, the cost would be too high for another national paid holiday. We belive the arguments against recognizing the birth o f Dr. King are a national disgrace, and an insult to Black people who fu lly un derstand that labor is necessary for mere survival in the United States. An a d d itio n a l holiday w ould not cause us to be less productive." »M E W swam V PORTLAND OBSERVER •.Anoa.a ** , ». «jr Volume 10 Number 1 January 10. 1960 10Çper copy U S PS959 680 Union redevelopment begins M IL E S A P A R T -- M e m b e r s o f th e S c h o o l B o a rd 's D e s e g r e g a tio n /ln te g r a t io n c o m m itte e H erb C a w th o rn e and Frank M c N a m a ra disagree on p h ilo s o p h y and c o n te n t of school d e s e g r e g a tio n p ro p o s a l. W ith no c o m p ro m is e possible, tw o proposals w ill be su b m itte d to the full Board. Board disagrees on deseg plans The Portland School Board w ill receive a lte rn a tiv e desegregation plans fro m its D e se g re g a tio n /ln tegration Committee Tuesday night, one from Herb Cawthorne, two or more from Frank M cNam ara and options from Joe Reike. The com mittee, which had earlier submitted proposals with alternatives and op tio ns fo r p u b lic discussion, had hoped to subm it one plan that whould be acceptable to the three members. Fireworks started Monday evening as Herb Cawthorne refused to sup port plans subm itted by Chairman McNamara that would have trans ferred sixth through eighth grade students from King and Hum boldt to west side schools but would have sent no white children to Albina schools. The committee had agreed that the West Side should be invo lved in desegregation, but Cawthorne objec ted to M cN am ara’ s method o f in volving them . “ D on ’ t send Black kids out; send w hite kids in ,” he said. “ I'm tired o f m oving Black kids around.” McNamara declared that he w ill not su pp ort a plan that “ resegregates’ ’ , that is, one that significantly increases the percentage o f Blacks in schools that are already over or near 50 per cent m inority. “ I f you resegregate, some judge w ill make the decisions,” he told Cawthorne. Cawthorne replied that the Board had earlier agreed not to be too con cerned with percentages. “ The main th in g is not to send Black kids th ro u g h a ll kinds o f g yra tion s because we’ re worried about their percentages.” At the Tuesday afternoon comm it tee m eeting, fire turned to ice as M cN a m a ra ’ s anger continued to surface. Reiterating his stand that “ i f no w h ite students are going to be assigned in, no Black students w ill be sent o u t,” Cawthorne submitted the follow ing plan: M id d le School A middle school to be placed at the Adams High School building, with Adams also remaining a high school. T his m iddle school could serve a small resident population and be a magnet to attract other children, or, C olum bia could be closed and the C o lu m b ia /W h ite a k e r students be d ivid e d between W h ite a ke r and Adams. King sixth through eighth graders would be assigned to these schools. Boise Boise would remain a K-8 school, w ith a pre-school class added. It would be designated an Early C hild hood Education Center, with an up per grade center. Care w o u ld be given to insure th a t the upper graders, even i f few in num ber, w o u ld receive good academ ic program s. The building w ould be renovated. C aw thorne w ould not object to Boise becoming a middle school, in a Boise, Chapman, Ainsworth cluster if Chapman and Ainsworth students were assigned to Boise. H u m b o ld t F o u rth and f if t h grade classes would be added, with a section o f the district transferred to Beech through a boundary change. A t least tw o room s w o u ld be added. Sixth through eighth gtaders would go to Ockley Green Middle School. B oundary Changes B oundaries between K in g, Alameda, Sabin, Boise and Irvington would relieve overcrowding at King. Five rooms would be added to King. T ran sfer Policy by Ulysses Tucker Jr. Union Avenue has been the focus o f several planning and redevelop ment endeavors over the last six years, in v o lv in g p u b lic agencies, neighborhood groups, businessmen, and private organizations. The U nion Avenue Redevelop ment Program was established in December o f 1973, to revitalize and redevelop the corridor as part o f this larger e ffo r t. S ubsequently, in December o f 1976, the Portland De velopm ent C om m ission (P D C ) opened its Union Avenue Improve ment Program O ffice at 4008 N.E. Union Avenue. “ We’ re trying very hard to help m inorities get a piece o f the pie,” said Thomas Kennedy, the articu late manager o f PDC. “ I say piece o f the pie because we w ill never get an equal share." The major goals o f the program are: to benefit the com m unity in econom ic terms and in terms o f social welfare; to enhance the visual characteristics o f the Avenue; to enlist the commitment and support o f the private sector in the commer cial redevelopment o f the corridor; to p ro m o te o rd e rly land-use ac tivity; to improve the Avenue as a m ajor city tra ffic and transit street and mass tra n s it fa c ility . These goals are supported by area resi dents, some local governm ental agencies, and businessmen. “ C urrently, we have the largest number o f m inority contractors par tic ip a tin g ever in the h is to ry o f O reg on ’ s highw ay d e p a rtm e n t,” said Kennedy. “ We are expecting to have over 17 per cent o f the excava tion o f the streets and landscaping done by m inority firm s ,” he said. “ This office has worked very hard to get where we are, and C o m missioner Charles Jordan and his staff have played a great role.” The Union Avenue C orrid or, as addressed by the Union Avenue Im provement Program, extends 3.35 miles along N .E . U nio n Avenue fro m the B ro a d w a y /W e id le r couplet on the south to Columbia Blvd. on the north, with east/west boundaries being a block-and-a-half on either side o f the avenue. Union Avenue is a m ajor n o rth / south a rte ria l in N .E . P o rtla n d , w ith th irte en m ajor intersections and an 80-foot right-of-way. Union Avenue carries tw e nty thousand vehicles per day, and the volume is expected to increase in the next few years to its peak. T ra ffic improvements w ill effect greater access between the corridor and Swan Is la n d , C o lu m b ia Boulevard, the airport, and South east P o rtla n d , as w ell as other com m ercial d istricts, and w ill in crease Union Avenue's effectiveness as a m ajor arterial. “ The whole purpose o f this 9.6 m illio n d o lla r b e a u tific a tio n program is to make the avenue a more attractive thoroughfare, and to turn it into a more desirable place for shopping. We also want to make it a safer place,” said the native o f New Orleans. When asked about the role that m inority businessmen would play in this redevelopment process, Ken nedy replied, “ F irst, you have to qualify as a successful businessman, then as a m in o rity.” “ But we do have a program to help existing businesses to expand their ope ra tion ,” Kennedy added. The help fo r the businessmen w ill come in the form o f an “ Investive Rehabilitation Loan” which allows a business to borrow up to $50,000 at three per cent interest. “ There have been fo ur o f these loans given to businesses,” said Kennedy. “ Out o f these four loans only one has gone to a m in o rity.” Kennedy c o n tin u e d , “ I t ’ s im portant to note that because o f the characteristics o f the com m unity, wc encourage m inority participation from all the business people who come to the area. For example, look at Church’ s Chicken, and Popeye's, they’ re all private people who came into the area. I f you noticed, they’ ve hired Blacks from the com m unity which is a great help. Then there’ s Fred Myer's, who just had a major re n o v a tio n jo b p e rfo rm e d — now there are more Blacks w orking there than ever before. They use my office to conduct the job interviews,” said a delighted Kennedy. W orking in cooperation with the Union Avenue Redevelopment staff is the Northeast Business Boosters A sso ciatio n, an active n e ig h b o r hood group o f one hundred and f i f ty business people and interested in d iv id u a ls w ho recognize the (Please turn to page 8 col. 4) Black students could v o lu n ta rily attend schools outside their atten- dence area fo r desegregation p u r poses, but also could attend their own school. Those who do transfer would be free to return. McNamara presented two plans. K ing and H u m b o ld t w o u ld be clustered with Chapman and Ains w o rth , possibly w ith Sylvan and West Sylvan. Chapman would be the m iddle school. Sixth through eighth graders could go to Chapman or Sylvan. Boise w ould become a magnet middle school, open to any student from the cluster, but with no white students assigned. Or Boise could be a middle school for Boise and op tional for Buckman students. An a lte rn a tiv e w o u ld be to establish a M onroe middle school for Buckinan/Boise students, while leaving Boise Pre-K to 8. Joe Reike added the option o f a magnet middle school at Monroe. The Board also plans to receive proposals fo r cu rricu lu m develop m ent, m u lti- c u ltu ra l edu catio n, and teacher training at the Tuesday meeting. The Board meeting w ill be held at the administration building at 7:30 p.rn. FREE FOR ALL: She She Griggs. Kim Griggs. Debbi Griggs end Pat Miles. (Photo: Richard J. Brown! Miracle drugs might be murdering the elderly by Gregory Bergman * (E d ito r’ s Note: E lderly citizens are the m ajor consumers o f pre scription drugs in the United States to da y. A n d m any o f them take drugs in com binations which are sometimes deadly. Right now, ac co rd in g to PNS correspondent G regory Bergm an, very little is being done about th is p ro ble m , which affects 70 per cent o f the pop ulation over 65.) *4 She seemed like perfect p ro of that modern medicine can w ork w on ders: 73 years o ld , a fflic te d w ith high blood pressure and a heart con d itio n . but kept clear-headed and fu nctio nin g w ith the help o f two miracle drugs prescribed by her doc- tors. But when irre gu la rity prompted the elderly woman to use a heavily a d v e r tis e d , o v e r - t h e - c o u n te r laxative, the miracle almost killed her. The laxative transformed the digi talis prescribed for her heart into a toxic substance, and increased the loss o f potassium associated w ith the th ia zid e d iu re tic w hich con trolled her blood pressure. The re sult was cardiac arrhythm ia—an ir regular heart beat. It put her into a hospital emergency room, close to death. Because o f inadequacies in U.S. medical practice, a quantum leap in p ha rm ace utica l p ro d u c tio n , and p u b lic ignorance o f its hazards, older Americans regularly consume too many medications in doses and combinations that are often deadly. D r. M ich ae l R eiter, a s ta ff specialist in phainacology fo r the el derly at the San Francisco Mental Health Department, said many o f the drugs prescribed through Medi care can cause side-effects in the elderly, including hazy vision, loss o f c o o rd in a tio n , c o n fu s io n or depression. “ This creates a danger that adverse reactions c o u ld be w ro n g ly diagnosed as s e n ility or even mental illness,” he warns. A number o f changes take place as the body ages, and they can make phamaceuticals more dangerous, he says. “ Organ systems function less efficiently, causing drugs to be ab sorbed, d istributed, broken down and excreted at slower rates.” A normal adult dose can be too high for an elderly person. "T h e same dose you and I might take successfully could make an 80- year-old quite agitated,” according to Dr. Jack Segal, acting chief o f m edicine at Long Beach General H o s p ita l, and c o -a u th o r o f a Southern C alifornia survey o f nurs ing home patients. “ The elderly brain is exquisitely sensitive to the toxic side effects o f some o f these drugs. Y o u 'v e got th is e ntire population that responds to medica tio n q uite d iffe r e n tly than you w o u ld expect fro m the standard textbook.” These risks are com pounded when several drugs are used simul taneously, says Vera Labat, director o f the Over Sixty Geriatric Clinic in Berkeley, C a lifo rn ia . “ M u ltip le medication is a big problem among older people. Often, medicines pre scribed years earlier are still being used; people have changed towns, changed d o c to rs , run sh ort o f money to buy new prescriptions and co ntin ue ta k in g old ones, or are going to two or more physicians for different ailments.” M o re o v e r, i t ’ s a problem o f enormous proportions. Although they comprise only ten per cent of the U.S. population, elderly citizens (over 65) consume 25 per cent o f all p rescription drugs. A M ichig an study found that one out o f four senior citizens in its survey took four or more prescription drugs at once. H a lf reported using over-the- counter analgesics, laxatives or ant acids which might interact toxicly with prescribed drugs, z^mong the in s titu tio n a lize d , it war not un common for elderly patients to re ceive eight or ten d iffe re n t daily medications. Some 70 per cent o f the elderly now use prescription drugs, most o f which are administered in amounts appropriate for an average, 150- pound middle-aged adult in good health. On all counts, the profile does not fit the ty p ic a l senior citizen. The result, much too often, is too many drugs, in too large doses. And unless something is done about it soon, the problem will only become more enormous. By the year 2000, the over-65 p o rtio n o f th e U .S . (Please turn to page 8 col. 1)
