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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1981)
Portland Observer, November 25, 1981 Page 5 □ □ □ □ DICK BOGLE Area Seven o f (he L o i Angeles school district is a unique area be cause there are large representations of minority students chiefly from the Black, Asian, Hispanic and Na tive American communities. Spokesmen say more than 80 lan guages are spoken by students at tending schools in Area Seven. Now, this unique area has a unique program in addition to the usual three Rs. I t ’s called "Hands Across the Campus" and is aimed at breaking down racial and cultural barriers in the ethnically diverse dis trict. Hands is unique in another way also in that a good deal o f leader ship responsibility has been placed in the hands of students. And, it’s not conservative when it comes to choosing some targets for exposure. This new program will deal head on with groups like the Ku Klux Kian and the American Nazi Party. Area Seven superintendent, Dr. Sidney Brickiqan, says those groups have tried to recruit students into membership on the five high school campuses in the area. The funding for Hands amounts to $77,000 and comes from On Guard, a women’s affiliate of the American Jewish Committee. The initiator o f the program, Dr. Neil Sandberg, western regional di rector of the AJC was looking for a way to attack the recent nationwide increase in anti-Semitic and Nazi ac tivities. He says his organization's research indicates that the highest proportion of acts of vandalism, in cluding incidents such as swastika paintings, have been committed by teenagers. Each of the five high schools will get up to $13 thousand. The money will be used for instructional mater ials as well as campus projects like international fairs or tutorial pro grams for those who speak English as a second language. Other ideas being kicked around are bi-lingual cheer-leading, a buddy system for new students, in tercampus exchanges and a cultural landscaping project. Naturally, the Hands project has caught the attention of other school districts in southern California and its coordinators are hoping the pro gram will be so successful that the city’s school board will want to pick it up on a district-wide basis next year. One o f the things the new ad- ministration of the Portland Police Department has in the planning stage right now is a greatly expand ed human relations training pro gram. ALL NEW FUEL EFFICIENT CARS LOW DAILY RATES - FROM ♦19t* WEEKEND RATES - M500 M AJOR CREDIT CARDS OR CASH Rentals (Call for Cash Qualifications) 223-4531 A fter a series o f shuffles, the training division has a new com manding officer and he tells me the bureau is not going to end its H .R . training at the recruit level. 600 SW Pine Between 6th & Broadway I t ’s been traditional to provide rookie officers with a few hours training in minority relations but it comes at a time when the rookies have so much else to learn it’s debat able how much of it is absorbed and remembered for years to come. Now they are looking at periodic in-ser vice classes in minority relations. This would be intended to reach all uniformed personnel with the rank of Sergeant or below. From the Capitol by Rep. Ron Wyden Q The House today fin a lly ap proved a bill authorizing S992 m il lion fo r the Older A met icons Act, a program which provides assistance to the elderly in the areas o f nutri tion, transportation, housing and employment. H o w do you fe e l about the bill? A, I have to admit I have mixed feelings. I'm certainly happy that we authorized more money than the President had asked for ($889 mil lion), but I'm afraid we still have shortchanged the many elderly peo ple that desperately need this help just to make ends meet. I find it sad and ironic that (he House is willing to pay out far more to finance two BI bombers than it is to feed and house the millions of needy senior citizens in this country. Q. Although the Legal Services Corporation appears to have es caped complete annihilation fo r the lime being, there are now reports that President Reagan is going to try to control operation o f the corpora tion by stacking its board o f direct ors with ultra-conservative people. Any comments? A . There are indeed rumors to that effect, and frankly, I find them frightening. All 11 positions on the board are up. And although by law two of them must be filled with poor people, that still leaves the Adminis tration a lot of latitude. For example, if Ronald Zum- brun, President of the Pacific Legal Foundation and the rumored top choice to become chairman o f the Corporation, actually does become chairman, the whole future of the Corporation may be in danger. Zumbrun has been called one of the chief architects o f Reagan's anti poor budgetary policies, and it is feared that he would carry over the same attitudes into his Legal Ser vices’ position. If the poor people of Oregon and (he rest o f America are to get the kind of equal justice this Corpora tion was created to ensure, the Corporation’s board clearly must be made up of people who are commit ted to that end I question whether Zum brun and some o f the other rumored nominees are so commit ted. Q. This week, President Reagan proposed that the Soviets cut back on some o f their nuclear armaments in exchange fo r similar cutbacks by the United Slates. The initial reac tion by the Soviets was less than positive. What did you think o f the proposal? A. I thought it was a good first step towards halting the w o rld ’ s march to nuclear destruction— and I hope the Soviet Union will ultimate ly accept something on the order of what the President suggested. The need for this kind of move is particularly clear when you consider that we now have more explosive material on this planet than food. To simply sit back and do nothing to curtail the spread o f nuclear arms, is to invite disaster. I firm ly believe that we must move now to ensure the safety o f America— and the rest of the world. • • • • Foreign & Domestic Small Cars and Full Line of Cadillacs. We offer dependable transportation for all budgets. Easy Financing Tailored M onthly Payments fcAO Som a House Contracts f - f Sales & Service Com e by or call Bill Lucy for your transportation needs. 3435 N .E . U n io n A v e . 284-0901 or 288-5836 M onday-Saturday 10:00 am-8:00 pm An Open Letter by Police Chief Ron Still One of my recent open letters ad dressed the Portland Police Bu reau’s efforts in training Officers. The letter indicated that 20 Officers attended Cultural Awareness Semi nars conducted by D r. Charles King. I received a letter from Ms. Laurie Foster asking if I had person ally attended one of Dr. King’s sem inars. No, I have not yet attended, how ever, I will in the near future. I sec the importance o f this type o f awareness training and will continue to stress cultural awareness. s l.want to thank Ms. Foster for her letter and want to assure her that we place a high priority on training... even for administrators. Such training is, or covers, but one method of improving a Police Officer's knowledge o f the neigh borhood challenges and d iffe r ences in culture within racial and ethnic groups. Another method is to take the O f ficers out of the cars, establishing walking beats in the neighborhoods. This affords the Officer a better op portunity to know and understand the people who work and live in his or her patrol district, and vice-versa. One of the dichotomies of police work is that the public demands both a quick response and Officers who have an excellent understand ing and knowledge of their neigh borhood. To meet the demand for quick re sponse, Officers arc put in cars. These "metal cocoons" tend to iso late Police from the people they serve. To meet the demand for more knowledge o f an area, some O f f i cers have been, and more will be, taken out o f cars and placed on walking beats. Preventative enforce ment and interaction with people will provide better service to the public. We believe that the ideal situation is to have both the auto patrol and walking beat. In reality, our current patrol deployment is a compromise. As many walking beats as possible will be fielded without significantly increasing the time it takes to get a Police Officer there when you call for assistance. I do intend to utilize walking beats as much as possible. The result will benefit both the Officers and the public, through understanding, awareness and just plain knowing each other. If you have comments or ques tions regarding the Portland Police Bureau, either send them to the Edi tor o f the Observer, or the P o rt land Police Bureau’s Public In fo r mation Officer, 222 SW Pine, Port land. OR 97204. In recent years, the public and private sectors have been criticized for inequality in hiring. Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1981, the Portland Police Bureau received an award for pro gress in affirmative action for City agencies in Portland. Jhrough the use of an aggressive recruiting campaign, the Portland Police Bureau has been able to hire 63 well-qualified police officers since January, 1981. Out of those 63 officers, 22 per cent were minorities U.S. threatens war mtinued from page I column 6) it lie. . . . ” Charging that the news article was inted by the U.S. government, the iban government challenged the S. to produce evidence. The State partment said it is not its policy "confirm or deny this type of in itiation.’* —On October 30th State Depart- :nt spokesman Alan Romberg id actions to be taken against iba include establishment of a ra- 3 station to broadcast to Cuba d a strengthening of the 20-ycar- j economic blockade. He men- >ned that this year the U.S. gov- îmcnt has cut off association with corporations accused of having mmercial ties with Cuba. On October 30th, massive U.S.- mduran naval maneuvers were nched off the coast of Cuba. On October 31 Cuba declared a Hilary alert, calling reserves into action, sending troops to their sta tions and manning anti-aircraft bat teries on the roofs of Havana. Cas tro declared that the island nation is in greater danger now than at any lime since the triumph of the revolu tion in 1939. On November 2nd Raul Roa, Cuban Ambassador to the U .N ., de livered a note to the U .N . Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, charging that the U.S. is "preparing a crim inal provocation against the people of Central America and Cuba,” and challenging the U .S . to provide proof o f its allegations against Cuba. — On November 5th the New York Times said the State Depart ment, the Pentagon and the C IA are currently analyzing possible military actions that could include a naval blockade or invasion o f Cuba, bombing key Cuban sites, a block ade of Nicaragua and open military intervention in El Salvador. Later that day ABC television re peated that the State Department re vised its figure on Cuban troops in Nicaragua from 500 to 3,000 and charged that Vietnam had sent 1,000 airplanes and helicopters to Nicara gua. and 17 per cent were women. At the present time, the Portland Police Bureau has 685 sworn officers o f which 5.7 per cent are minorities. The Police Bureau has been able to do as well as it has in the area of mi nority recruitment due to the help of local community organizations. Those organizations such as the U r ban League and the Albina M inis terial Alliance deserve a vote o f thanks. As a point o f interest, all candi dates must meet the same qualifica tions and complete each step of the hiring procedure. It is a difficult and time-consuming process which re quires determination on the candi date’s part. The public can take pride in those officers who passed our testing process. We take pride in the people we hire. If you have any comments or questions regarding the Portland Police Bureau, either send them to the Editor o f the Observer or the Portland Police Bureau’ s Public Information Office, 222 SW Pine Portland, OR 97204. Save money on your insurance. Auto • Life • Fire ICommercial .Truck! Monthly Payments — On November 5th Haig con firmed (hat the Times report on in vasion plans was true. —On November 16th Haig said the "hours are growing short," before the U .S. may take action to turn back what he called a "drift toward totalitarianism " by Nicaragua. In recent weeks, he said, he has kept open the option that the U.S. take military action against Nicaragua. Rita H. J.nkins Sol«« R»pr»»«»nlativ» 3714 N. Williams Portland Otayon 97227 18031 M t Pacific Power (.iim ris New Wiwld Lite kisuuireC o M u c h Island WA o f the Week K* J Portland attorney Kurt Engelstad, 44, was recently named Ex ecutive Director of the Urban Indian Council, Inc. The multi-ser vice agency provides assistance to indigent Native Americans and others in the Portland metropolitan area through health, leg al, employment & training and community services programs. He is also chairman of the board of Multnomah County Legal Aid, and a member of the board of directors of Oregon Legal Services. He has been director of the UIC legal program since establishing it in 1975. A native Oregonian, he attended Portland's Kennedy grade school and Central Catholic High School. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1960 and from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in 1972. He is a part-time fac ulty memberr of the law school and teaches Federal Indian Law. Active in Native American affairs for many years, he is an en- rollled Alaskan Native, and a recipient of the Chief Frank White Buffaloman award for outstanding service to the Portland Indian Community. As a Major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve he has as sisted the City of Portland’s Office of Emergency Management in disaster preparedness planning. He is the father of Jeffrey, 21, and Mark, 17. Interests include cross country skiing, photography and stamp collecting. B R O U G H TTO YOU BY The Cuban government has warned (hat it will resist any aggres sion and that a U.S. blockade or in vasion could lead to a nuclear war. Citizen Pacific Power