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Portland Observer, December 10, 1981 Page 3
Michelle Gerald: Reporting the news
Michelle Gerald, news reporter for KXL Radio, interviews Port
land's new superintendent. Dr. Matthew Prophet.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
G rassroot News, N . IF. — “ I ’ m
M ichelle G erald, in the K X L News
C enter,” says one o f the few A fro -
American women in Portland who’s
involved in the delivery o f the who,
what, when, where and why.
“ As a news reporter my duties are
either to stay in the studio making
phone calls to gather news, or I ’ll go
out in to the field to cover new s.*’
Ms. Gerald indicated that her pref
erence is street reporting because it’s
more personable.
She relies upon the assignment
editor o f radio station K X L for pin
pointing stories, but keeps her ear to
the ground, enabling her to cover
stories that she assigns herself. “ Re
cently I ’ ve reported on rape. I was
taking a self-defense class and be
came enlightened. 1 wanted to share
what I learned.”
Reporters must report the news in
an objective manner, she explained.
“ I present both sides; I w on’t say
this is what happened— George says
the C ity never called him but now
they are taking his land, but the City
says they did. When I go home I can
talk to my friends and say what I
personally feel, but on the air it is
just both sides.”
Has her objectivity ever wavered?
" In some respects, yes. You some
times c an ’ t help but put some o f
your own personality into a story.”
Keeping up with current events is
the lifeblood o f a news reporter. ” 1
see stories about hard times coming
over the wire all the time. The saw
mill industry has over 50 per cent o f
the people unemployed. T he other
percentage is underemployed and I
wonder what this is doing to their
fam ilies. T oday, I covered a story
about the governor w anting addi
tio n a l cuts. T he Board o f H ig h er
E ducation replied that they can ’ t
make any more cuts. In a two-week
span I ’ve talked with people who are
no longer working. So, as a reporter
I see firs t hand how harsh the
economy is.”
The stories she enjoys covering
the most are ones that the general
public is unaware o f and events and
issues that have not been unearthed
in a while. "W hen I did the story on
the Black E d u c atio n al C en ter I
knew that there were people out
there who knew very little about the
center. When I cover stories o f this
kind it turns out to be a learning ex
perience for me and our listeners.”
The jo b o f news reporting does
not have a high percentage o f Black
women as role models. " N o , there
are not e n o u g h ,’ ’ M s. G erald re
plies. " I can see when I call some
one up and later when I meet them
to do an interview sometimes they
are surprised. A lso, i f I happen to
cover a story and the person I ’m in
terviewing is o f the same race, i t ’s
nice because that interview is not
race related. I t ’ s lik e , H i, how are
you doing.
“ W h a t has bothered me is not
com ing back in to the com m u nity
with the skills that you’ ve learned.
Now that I ’m in one o f those posi
tions I can see that it ’s not all that
easy. It takes a lot o f time and en
ergy. You have to really want to do
i t . ” M s. G erald stated th a t she
w ould lik e to come back in to the
community. " I feel at heart that I ’m
a teacher. I receive great pleasure in
watching someone find out some
thing new.”
She believes that one day her cov
erage o f various stories may lead her
outside o f Portland. Her long-term
goals are to work in some capacity
w ith Public R elations. She can be
heard every hour on the h alf-h o u r
re p o rtin g local news at 750 K X L
AM.
Study Kwanza
The Black com m unity is invited
to learn how to celebrate K w anza,
an A frik a n holiday, at a workshop
to held on Saturday, December 12th
from 4 -6 pm at the Black E d u c a
tional C e n te r’ s A c tiv ity Room lo
cated at 1640 N E A lb erta . A dm is
sion is free. For further information
please call 282-9465 or 284-9552.
Brutus time change
Due schedule changes, Dennis
Brutus, S. African poet and activist,
w ill speak on F rid a y , December
11th, at Portland State University’s
Cram er H a ll, Room 71, at 6:00 pm
instead o f at 7:00 pm as reported in
last week’s Observer.
Officials oppose service cuts
C ity and County representatives
expressed their concerns about up
coming cuts in the State budget to
meet an anticipated $50 billion defi
cit.
,
Thomas Higgins, director o f the
Multnomah County Department o f
Human Services, explained that “ it
would be impossible for human ser
vices and health programs to absorb
the planned cuts without destroying
that which it has taken 50 years to
b u ild ....”
"P erhaps most telling, the need
will no, go away. Those who are de
nied help w ill fill our streets, our
neighborhoods and our jails. And
whatever system they fall into, it is
certain to be more costly, less e ffi
cient and more inhumane.”
The Slate Legislature will meet in
Special Session January 1 Ith to re
duce (he state budget. G o v ern o r
Atiyeh has requested that all agen
cies reduce their budgets by 20 per
cent.
Erm a H ep b u rn , director o f the
City o f Portland’s Human Resource
Bureau, pointed out that the legisla
tors should be inform ed that addi
tional cuts in education, w elfare,
health and mental health, children’s
services, elderly services and other
human services cannot and should
not be supported.
Ms. Hepburn gave an example o f
the proposed cuts: The State Senior
Services Division is recommending
cuts totalling $14 m illion, which in
cludes cuttin g $6.7 m illio n fro m
nursing home care and $5.4 million
from community based care. But al
so included is a 50 per cent reduc
tion in O regon P ro ject In d ep en
dence, a program that provides
homemaker and other services d e -,
signed to keep elderly persons ou, o f
nursing homes.
Oregon Project Independence, a
program that provides homemaker
and other services designed to keep
elderly persons out o f nursing
homes.
"W e cannot allow these programs
to become a scapegoat and used as
an easy solution for complex prob
lems. A ddition al cuts would mean
total elimination o f some programs
and substantial reduction in others.
Also, it would be impossible to op
erate and provide services at an ade
quate level. It appears that we have
forgotten why these programs were
created."
She suggested that the Legislature
explore other alternatives such as in
creasing revenue through taxes.
" I admonish you. where w ill it
end? Have we become a society so
insensitive and oblivious to the
needs o f the poor, socially and eco
nomically disadvantaged, that there
is a lack o f concern about the im
pact o f cuts on human services.. . ?”
Jean Babson, volunteer C h ild
Welfare advocate, told how the pro
posed cuts will affect services to
children: the 20 per cent reduction
will badly cripple services to ch il
dren in need o f foster care, counsel
ling, protective services, at a time of
increasing unemployment and fam
ily disruption. Reduction in funding
child care will result in loss o f ser
vices and com m unity resources.
Preventive services such as hom e
makers w ill be reduced. The p ro
gram for high risk teenage parents
will be elim inated as will day care
for migrant workers.
Cuts in the H ealth Division will
result in more unwantd pregnancies.
Medical care for mothers and chil
dren will be reduced at a time when
more services are needed. M ental
Health cuts will bring abandonment
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o f com m unity care for m entally ill
adults and children, eliminate out
patient care for 12,400 children and
adults as well as com m unity p ro
grams for m entally retarded c h il
dren. Adolescents w ill no longer
have separate wards at the State
Hospitals.
Donald J. Ballinger, executive d i
rector o f the T ri-C o u n ty C o m m u
nity Council, said that if the choice
is to elim in ate human services,
"then we mus, be prepared to deal
with these problems im m ediately
and welcome persons— who current
ly are not always visible because
they arc being cared for in our jails,
nursing homes, and mental institu
tions— back into the com m unity
prem aturely and w ith o u t the
assistance that is required to assure
appropriate behavior and continued
independence in their transition.”
In related action, Presiding O f fi
cer o f the Board o f County Commis
sioners Gladys McCoy has called for
a conference o f the mayors o f Pdh-
land, Gresham , F airview , T ro u t
dale, and W ood V illage, the M u lt
nomah C ounty Executive, and the
M ultn o m ah C ounty legislators to
discuss th : potential budget cuts.
The meeting will be held on Decem
ber 15, 1981, at 7:30 pm at the M u lt
nomah County Courthouse.
Watch crime
C a p ta in Vern M c C a b e , com
mander o f the Portland Police Bu
reau’ s N o rth P recinct, reports an
alarming increase in purse snatches
and strong arm robberies near shop
ping centers. These crimes usually
increase during the holiday season.
The most frequent victims are el
derly citizens, w alking alone. The
perpetrators are usually men, rang
ing in age from teenagers to approx
imately thirty.
M cC abe suggests the follow ing
safeguards:
•W o m e n : D o n ’ t carry a pursel
I f you insist on carrying a purse, use
a small “ clutch” bag without straps
to entangle you or the suspect to
grab on to.
•T a k e only necessary I.D . cards
and money. Pu, these items in pock
ets on the inside o f your clothing.
•W h e n possible, do your shop
ping or banking during the morning
hours. These crimes occur more o f
ten in the a fte rn o o n than in the
morning.
• Take a companion with you when
going out. Remember, there’s safety
in numbers!
•W a lk w ith confidence and stay
alert to your surroundings. Don’, be
caught o ff guard!
Those who are victim s or w it
nesses to a crim e can assist the
police:
•S tay calm; ge, a description o f
the suspect(s).
•N o te the direction they take or
the vehicle they get into.
•N o tify the police immediately by
dialing 9-1-1.
Persons having in fo rm atio n re
garding these types o f crimes should
call Officer Dennis Schmeling, Crime
Analysis at N o rth P recin ct, 248-
5720. For further inform ation con
tact North Precinct’s Crime Preven
tion Uni, at 248-5709.
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