• •
More Blacks suffer glaucoma, blindness
Glaucoma appears to be much
more common in Black Americans
(han in whites - and it more often
results in blindness, the most
dreaded com plication o f this
disease.
This means that the racial d if
ferences and its implications should
be thoroughly studied, according to
participants in the first N ational
Conference on Glaucoma Detection
and Ireatinent, a symposium spon
sored by the N ational Society to
Prevent Blindness.
Dr. P atricia E. Bath o f M a rtin
Luther King Jr. General H ospital,
Los Angeles, has studied the “ blind
ness registers” in 16 states and
found that Blacks outnum bered
whites tw o to one, on a per capita
basis. What is more, glaucoma was
listed as the cause o f blindness in
Blacks eight times more often than
in whites.
“ Nobody knows w hy,” she said.
“ What is clear is that Blacks may be
at increased ris k ."
Glaucoma may be insidious,
silent, ‘ th ie f o f sight' in Am erican
whites, but that's often not the case
in Black patients,” said Dr. Alfonse
C 'inotti o f New Jersey Medical
School, Newark, N.J. “ Rather, the
surgery to relieve the pressures
disease developes at an earlier age,
building up w ithin the eye.
progresses much more rapidly than
“ There also appear to be d if-
it does in whites, and more often \ ferent and more serious surgical
results in blindness," he said.
com plications in Black p a tie nts,”
He to ld o f a 27-year-old Black
said D r. Robert E. Dawson o f
hospital w orker whose glaucoma
Durham , N .C ., president o f the
could not be controlled with drugs -
N ational M edical Association.
something almost unheard o f in
"T h e re may also be social and
young w hite women. S im ila rly , a
economic c o m p lic a tio n s ,” he ad
young Black medical student caine
ded. " F o r example, some patients
to the doctor because o f a persistent
may not fo llo w a prescribed drug
headache. This turned out to be an
regiment, or they may have trouble
early sympton o f glaucoma, a stage
getting to and from the treatm ent
which should have been easy to
center.”
treat. Instead, he had to undergo
Some o f those attending the
meeting were m ild ly skeptical,
because most o f the in fo rm a tio n
gathered up to now has been on in
d iv id u a l cases. The problem may
merely reflect less satisfactory
treatment, for instance.
“ Sound data must be collected
before any real progress can be
made,” Dr. Bath agreed. “ In fact,
there are few really sound statistics
on any aspect o f glaucom a,” she
said.
It is o nly w ith a firm epi
demiological base that research can
proceed on to studying underlying
reasons fo r any racial differences
that do exist. It may also be
necessary to study d iffe re n t ap
proaches to treating glaucoma in
whites and Blacks; treatments that
work with one group may not be ef
fective in another, so alternatives
may have to be found.
Gathering such statistics may be
d iffic u lt because Am erican Blacks
are not one homogenous racial
g ro u p ,” said D r. Axel Hansen o f
M eharry M edical College, Nash
ville, Tennessee. “ The m ixture is so
diverse that the data may just have
to be lumped together as 'w hite' and
'n o n -w h ite '.”
N A T lU S iA i
PORTLAND OBSERVER
ni
ws»Af>r n
o a * *
Volume 10 N u m b s rl
January 3 1 , 1900
10C per copy
USPS 959 680
School Board presents desegregation plans
The School Board has voted to
submit to the public fo r discussion
two desegregation plans and a series
o f suggestions fo r m u lti-c u ltu ra l
curriculum , teacher training and a
magnet m id d le school program
developed by the d is tric t a d
ministration.
Unable to agree on the concepts
or the specifics o f desegregation, the
Board has accepted fo r p u b lic
discussion two plans moving toward
a 50-50 racial mix.
Herb Cawthorne, who boycotted
the Monday meeting, returned to his
seat on the B oard Tuesday.
C aw th orn e had declined to p a r
ticipate further u ntil allegations o f
Black children in “ racially isolated”
schools caused by School Board ac
tion w ould be in non-com pliance
with federal regulations and could
lead to a court suit. This was the
m ain argueinent in resistance to
allowing Black children to return to
neighborhood schools, which would
increase Black percentages.
In response to Board questioning,
M cC lanahan said reg ardin g the
legality o f allow ing Black percen
tages to rise to earlier levels, “ The
answer, I guess, is, perhaps
theoretically you could return. And
anything; that is a mere return and
can clearly be seen as that, I think, is
p ro b a b ly a ll rig h t, fro m a legal
resegregation by Frank McNamara
and Superintendent Robert Blan
chard were su bstantiated or
dismissed.
McNamara told the Board M on
day night that he was surprised at
being accused o f d ire c tin g " i n
vidious rem arks" at Cawthorne, but
that after reviewing the facts had
determined that Plan I (the volun
tary plan) is quite viable and his
original concerns about resegrega
tion under this plan were not fu lly
born out.
McNamara’ s concern is based on
previous opinions o f the B o ard ’ s
legal counsel, M ark M cClanahan,
that any increase in percentages o f
s ta n d p o in t. But w hat is re a lly a
return is d iffic u lt to say.”
Buel: “ A return to what?”
McClanahan: “ Well, pre-1964, I
guess.”
Plan I
B oundary changes: The A rea I I I
p o rtio n o f K ing (U n io n to 10th,
Fremont to Prescott) would go to
Sabin, w ith 6th th ro u g h 8th to
Beaumont.
The portion o f Sabin that is south
o f Failing and west o f 14th, and the
portion south o f Fremont between
14th and the Sabin east boundary,
w ill be transferred to Alameda.
The portion o f Alameda north o f
(Please turn to page 2 col. 1)
White House Conference sets proposals
BOYCOTT PREVIEW. Herb Cawthorne was absent from Monday's
School Board meeting protesting unfair charges of radical resegrega
tion against voluntary desegregation option.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Board's direction dangerous
hy Ronnie Herndon
The
recent
school
board
discussion about desegregation have
produced some o f the most insulting
racist, confused rhetoric that this
community has witnessed in many
years. Instead o f talking about what
is needed to develop quality schools
in our com m unity, we have been
treated to 100 miles o f verbage
about boundary changes, clustering,
and how to keep the Black student
p o p u la tio n below 50*^o in any
school.
Statements gush forth about not
a llo w in g more than 50% Black
students in this school, not allowing
more than 40% in another school. It
sounds as if some board members
and a d m in is tra to rs are ta lk in g
about contagious beings who cannot
be allowed to gather in large per
centages fo r fear they might con
taminate the populace. Portland has
schools that are nearly 100% white,
neither the board or administration
look upon this as unusual, unatural
or dangerous. The assumption is
that Black children cannot learn if
they make up the m a jo rity o f a
s ch o o l’ s p o p u la tio n . This racist
m anure is th ro w n around w ith
alarm ing ease and frequency. A r
th u r Jensen w ould feel q uite at
home in these discussions.
The shame and pity o f this is the
fact that 26 years after the “ Brown”
decision, no one can produce any
conclusive evidence that the so-
called school integration has im
proved the academic achievement o f
Black children. There is growing
evidence that when Black children
are sent out o f th e ir com m un ity
(that's the way integration usually
works) they are placed under a great
deal o f stress and they develop lower
self esteem, plus lower educational
and vocational aspirations!! In view
o f this why would sane people con
tinue talking about sending Black
children out o f their community, or
lim itin g their percentages at thier
neighborhood school. Academically
and psychologically these remedies
have been abysmal failures.
We are to ld that the B o a rd ’ s
current gyrations are being perform
ed in the name o f desegregation.
How preposterous. Desegregation
means that you eliminate a system
that denies the privileges o f citizen
ship to Black people. Desegregation
enables Black people to excercise the
same range o f choices as any other
c itize n . In the case o f schools,
desegregation does not mean that
you force Black children to leave
th e ir co m m u n ity to supposedly
receive a better education. As a mat
ter o f fact all this does is introduce a
new fo rm o f segregation because
you have once again lim ite d the
choices o f Black people.
White children are not forced to
leave their community to receive a
decent education, i f they leave their
com m unity it is by choice, Black
children should not be treated any
d iffe re n tly .
D esegregation o f
schools means that Black parents
must be able to send their children
to a good neighborhood school if
they choose. W ithout a good local
school they have no choice - either
send their children to a poor local
school or send them out to a white
school that has not been able to
educate Black children.
Next we are told that the percen
tage o f Black children in schools
must be limited because o f federal
and state law, regardless if this prac
tice is racist and proven to be
academ ically and psychologically
unsuccessful fo r Black ch ild re n.
Black people’ s 400 years o f being
denied human rights in this country,
makes us all too fam iliar with laws
th a t do us h arm ; o u r h is to ric
decision has been to challenge un
ju s t laws in every way possible.
Strange isn’ t it, the schools were
closed fo r Dr. King’s birthday but
(Please turn to page 2 col. 4)
Eugene Jackson, Executive Direc
tor o f the Northwest M in o rity Con
tractors Association, recently retur
ned from the W hite House C on
ference on Sm all Business, held
January 13-17, 1980 in Washington,
D C. M r. Jackson was one o f nearly
2,000 delegates attending the con
ference. He had been elected to
represent the state o f Oregon at one
o f 57 state and regional meetings
held all over the country during the
past 18 months.
The purpose o f the White House
Conference was to establish a series
o f proposals to chart a course o f ac
tion for federal policies impacting
small business during the 1980 and
1990 decades. The delegates worked
through the issues presented and
developed fin a l recom m endations
fo r presentation to the President
and Congress that should signifi-
cantly influence the future o f small
business in America
President Jimmy Carter made the
opening address setting the stage for
a vigorous and challenging week o f
activities. Other o ffic ia ls who ad
dressed the g ro u p were W illia m
M ille r , Secretary o f T reasury;
A lfre d K ahn, A ssistant to the
President on in fla tio n ; L u th e r
Hodges J r., A c tin g Secretary o f
Commerce; Vernon Weaver, A d
m inistrator o f Small Business A d
m inistration; Congressman Parren
M itchell o f Maryland; and Senator
Gaylord Nelson o f Wisconsin.
The tw elve m a jo r to p ic areas
discussed by the delegates were.
• C a p ita l F o rm a tio n and re
tention
• M in o r ity Business D evelop
ment,
• Innovation and Technology,
• Inflation,
• Veterans,
• Federal Procurement,
• energy
• Women in Business
• Governm ent Regulations and
Paperwork,
• Economic Policy and Govern
ment programs,
• In te rn a tio n a l T ra d e, and
Education,
• Training and Assistance.
Over 325 issues in these m ajor
categories emerged from the state
and regional meetings held prior to
the national conference. Through a
group consensus and voting process,
the top five issues were identified
under each m ajor category. This led
to a fin al vote by all delegates to
identify the top 15 overall issues and
recommendations o f the 1980 White
(Please turn to P.2 Col. 4)
EUGENE JACKSON
Counsellor's adviced based on experience
When M arga re t C a rte r o ffe rs
career counseling advice to mature,
divorced or child - bound Portland
C om m unity College students, her
advice comes not o nly fro m her
professional view as a masters in
e du catio na l counseling but also
from first hand experience.
Ms. Carter went to college while
raising nine c h ild re n and going
through a divorce and remarriage.
“ I t ’ s really hard for women to go
to school who don’ t have the total
support o f their whole fa m ily ,” Ms.
Carter said.
When Ms. C arter’s nine children
indicated they were threatened by
her return to college she said she sat
down w ith them fo r a talk about
how they could help in her new role
as student-mother. The result was a
group o f helpful, rather than resent
ful children.
One 42-year old woman who was
taking two classes at PCC lost the
emotional support o f her husband
when she decided to take fo u r
classes, Ms. Carter said.
" I went into the home and let the
husband know she d id n ’ t want to be
free o f him ,” Ms. Carter said. “ She
wanted to be a teacher all o f her life,
ever since she was a little g irl and
that was what she was trying to do -
not run away to school or anything
like th at.”
Ms. Carter said the woman is still
married and now the manager o f a
real estate firm .
Ms. Carter, who was a counselor
at the A lb in a Youth O p p o rtu n ity
School before coming to PCC seven
years ago. has also b ro u g h t 17
women from Pacific Northwest Bell
into PCC programs.
“ Some o f the women in the
phone company group have refused
to accept promotions because they
could not leave home long enough
to take p art in a b rie f tra in in g
session in Renton, W a sh in gton ,”
Ms. Carter said.
She said that confidence is the key
to beginning career decisions fo r
most people who come into her o f
fices at Cascade C enter and at
Sylvania Center.
"M a n y people come to us seeking
careers and they know exactely what
they want to d o,” Ms. Carter said.
“ But they lack the confidence, the
money, the academic skills or the
goal o rie n ta tio n to get th a t ac
complished.”
“ I talk w ith the students about
th e ir w hole life and we w ork
together to find out how they can
accomplish their goals.”
Free placement tests and career
interest tests are offered by the PCC
counseling center fo r students who
are interested in their aptitudes in
various areas, according to Ms. Car
ter.
“ Sometimes just a conversation
about role models — people who
students a dm ire — w ill head a
student in a career direction they’ ve
never thought o f b efore," Ms. Car
ter said.
Ms. Carter is at the Cascade Cen
ter o f PCC at 705 N. Killingsworth,
on Tuesday and Thursday and at the
Sylvania Center at 12000 S.W. 49th
Avenue on M on da y, Wednesday
and Friday.
When Margaret Carter offers career counseling advice to mature,
divorced or child-bound Portland Community College students her
advice is shaped both from professional educational counseling
theory and firsthand experience.
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