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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1981)
Portland Observar March B. 1981 Paga 3 T T ï^ jC ô n a tr u c tîo r ^ ô <503, Q anaral C on tracto r Llcanaa a Bond Concreta • Curtia • Sidewalk Rsmodaling Baaamani Dick Bogle .-fl'-W.N <008 N f Br n aiXaav PxxHend Oayort 8 Z J » Classic Studios 3334N.E.41at St. (503)283 5256 Derrick Bell, Dean o f the Univer sity of Oregon Law School, is a man who w on’ t back down from a challenge. For example, when the Black native of Pittsburgh was considering taking the job at the University, it was his understanding that during the current session o f the legislature a special improvem ent program would be desinged to correct some real and very obvious inequities between the funding o f the Oregon Law School and state law schools in California, Washington, Wyoming and Nebraska. The plan sounded good to Bell and he accepted the job. Then the money bottom dropped out as the legislature instead o f increasing funds cut budgets. When questioned about the inequities, Bell says, “ A t most schools, law professors make more money than history professors. Law professors salaries reflect that should they decide to practice in stead o f teaching they can earn more. So, in order to keep them teaching law, they are given salaries which are reflective o f what could be earned in private practice.” Bell says law professors at Oregon earn $25,000 less than those at Har vard, Yale or other m ajor univer sities on both coasts. He says there is a fa r less o f a gap in other teaching fields. I asked Bell if he is sorry he took the jo b a fte r his hopes fo r im provements fe ll through. He replied, “ I ’ m here now and 1 still have hope that something miraculous will be done.” The Oregon Law School has about 500 students with nearly ten percent m inority students. But, o f that ten percent, only eight or ten are Black. Bell views this as another challenge. “ It’s clear we don’ t have very many and we certainly aren’ t attracting some o f the students with really top notch records who go on to schools like Stanford or the U ni versity o f C alifornia,” says Bell. He continued saying, “ I th in k there’ s a chance they would get as good or perhaps a better education here but we certainly arc going to have to do a selling job to get more minorities, especially Blacks.” Bell doesn’ t see much really new in this latest wave o f radical right wing activity with heavy overtones o f racial hatred. He feels historically in this coun try , when economic times get tougher, people become very fearful and look for scapegoats. He says, “ W ith in fla tio n going up, a high unemployment rate the domestic situation is in great unease. The tendency is for whites to say we’ve got to tighten up and to be less tolerant o f people not able to defend themselves in the main. We’ ve seen that cycle now as we’ ve seen it in earlier times. In such times, m inorities seem to hear the brunt o f unease, threat and hostility.” 1 mentioned American Nazi party dem onstrations and the Skokie, Illio n o is case in p a rticu la r which went to court. The Nazis W ANTED to march through Skokie which by the way has a large Jewish population. Bell says very serious free speech issues are involved w ith the distribution o f hate literature and that arguments can be made on both sides. In the Skokie case, the court deemed the methods used to control that type o f situation were too broad and violative o f first amend ment protection. Bell says the actions o f the Nazis are all part o f a general trend prevalent in times o f economic distress. Next week, we’ ll fin d out what Bell thinks about the proposal to make racial harassment a felony in Oregon and his views on the death penalty. n cm oioetoiw Muum«aou«Hi NEW! THE 25 HOUR CONTACT LENS IS HERE After years of waiting the extended wear contact lens is on the market and we have it In stock, ready tot you Work, play sleep Remove the lenses weekly or monthly but remove them when you please The continuous wear contact lens means trouble free carefree vision for you Gate leaves Aging agency 224-5367 Contact Lens Clinic of Portland (Continued from Page I Col 6) m inorities and to develop public policies. Among national legislation he in fluenced are, extension o f work career by allowing employment past age 65; development and m ain tenance o f the nu tritio n program; employment for older people. He now serves on the Public Policy Committee o f NCA. His ac tivities on the national level made him one o f the few P o rtla n d e r’ s w ith direct access to the Carter White House. Although he has received national prominance in his field, Gates has not had much appreciation among the p o liticos at home. He w ill be missed by the elderly - and especially the elderly poor - whom he sought to serve. Gates w ill remain in the P ortland area, probably in the Aging field. Cindy Kules makes use of M ultn o m ah County Library Associations North Portland Branch Library 512 N. Killingsworth. (Photo by: Richard Brown) Medical students win libel case In one o f the most controversial cases in years involving Blacks, the Kansas Supreme C ourt has over turned a libel judgment against four form er U niversity o f Kansas medical students, concluding a seven-year battle to preserve a ffir mative action at a midwestern medical school. The form er Black medical stu dents, w|io are now practicing physicians, had originally been cited for defamaton o f character in con nection with a $l .4 million suit filed by Dr. Dante G. Scarpelli, former chairman o f the medical school’ s department o f pathology and on cology. The high c o u rt’ s unanimous decision was viewed as a ‘ ‘ magnificent victory” by Benjamin I . Hooks, Executive Director o f the National Association for the A d vancement o f Colored People (NAACP), whose organization had assumed the financial burden in handling the case. "T h is landmark a ffirm a tiv e action case serves to demonstrate that Blacks and other m inorities possess that inherent right to challenge actions which they believe to be discrim in a to ry in nature.” In reversing the low er court ruling, the Kansas Supreme Court declared that Dr. Scarpelli failed to comply with previously established conditions for granting judgement in libel cases involving public figures. The court concluded that actual malice, which is knowing falsity o f the allegations or reckless disregard for the truth was not sub stantiated in the in itia l tria l two years ago that resulted in the award ing o f $44,000 in damages to Scar pelli. NAACP General Counsel Thomas I. Atkins also praised the ruling explaining that “ the court’ s re a ffirm a tio n o f the rights o f in dividuals to gain access to in stitutions o f higher learning is not the end-all in this case. Now efforts to gain more sensitivity in these in stitutions o f higher learning will not be stifled by fears o f reprisals from college adm inistrators or others believed involved in restricting minority participation.” The o rig in a l suit grew out o f a c ivil rights com plaint filed by the form er medical students back in 1974 which accused Scarpelli o f discrim inating against Black stu dents fo r the purpose of “ systematically elim inating them from the school.” James Meyerson, Assistant General Counsel fo r the N A A C P and chief counsel on the case, said the court’s ruling also “ proves that good fa ith , non-m alicious efforts can be pursued by m inorities and other individua ls seeking to con tinue to march forward in the fight to eradicate racism in the in stitutions o f our society.” The four former students are Dr. Charles Floyd, a resident in psychiatry at the U niversity o f California-Davis, Dr. Nolan Jones, a leading researcher and practicing physician in female cancer problems at Tufts-New England Medical Cen ter in Boston; Dr. Ernest Turner, Assistant professor o f pediatrics at the University o f Southern C alifor nia Medical School, in the division o f hemotology and oncology; and Dr. Charles K. Lee, a senior resi dent in thoracic surgery at the University o f Kansas Medical Cen ter. packaged into one program for the first time. It was published by HEW and the 1970 W hite House C on ference, and has been copied across the country. Unfortunately, in Nor theast Portland, it no longer exist. Gates served three years as chair man o f the M inority Elderly Com mittee o f the National Council on Aging - draw ing together all m in o rity groups to develop in fo r m ation on conditions unique to P ortland M e d ic a l C enter Dr James M vai« Optometrist Dr Philip Stock »tad Optometn»! 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