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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1981)
Mr» France» Schoin-î.'ewspaper Roos» U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon L ib ra ry L L .; ;n e , (jr„ Holiday Food Section .n ‘j 7 ',J 3 'Fenwick Plan' offered Farewell Ali Page 12 Page 3 PORT14ND CTRAFRXIFR « » I IfcllNLz VzPQCIx Nuix n;:r: ä s Reagan cuts to boost health costs Middle East: The next world war? by Catherine Siegner As par, o f the Observer’s continu ing coverage o f p o litic al and economic struggles in the M id d le East, this week we talk to two YASSER ARAFAT students in Portland—one Palestin ian, one Iranian, and both Moslem, to ge, their views on recent events in that explosive region. M ajcd Darweesh has been in the U .S. three years and is Palestinian. He and his fam ily now live in Jordan, where he plans to return after finishing studies at Portland State University. He is a member o f the General U nion o f Palestinian Students. M iry am Ram ezina is from Iran and has lived in the U.S. four years. She plans to return to her homeland after Finishing a graduate degree in urban planning. The daughter o f a Moslem fath er and a Polish Christian mother, she supports the revolutionary government headed by Ayatollah Khomeini. Darweesh believes Egyptian presi dent A n w ar Sadat’ s assassination was a “ continuation o f a process; it doesn't mean that C am p D avid is o v e r.” He expects S a d at’ s successor, H osni M u b a re k , to fo llo w S a d at’ s footsteps in the Middle East peace process and does not see M ub arek's leadership as a significant change for Egypt. Ramezina says the A rab world's hatred fo r Sadat stemmed from his no, meeting their demands and sitting down to talk peace with Israel, an “ imperialist and Zionist” government. The tw o place M id d le Eastern countries into two camps: those of “ m o d erate” (in W estern media language) stripe, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan (all more pro-Western than their neighbors), and those countries o f “ progress ive” policies and m ore or less revolutionary— Iran, Libya, Algeria and Syria. Darweesh sees Egyptian leader M ub arek as establishing a close relationship with the "m o d e ra te ” governments and trying to “ work it out as a group," a policy supported by the U.S. government. He believes the U .S . is calling the shots w ith regard to the peace talks process and is directing both the “ m o d erate" Arab countries and Israel. W hat about Israel’ s bombing o f the Iraqi nuclear plant and its recent annexation o f the G olan Heights? Darweesh says U .S. irritation at Is raeli actions is feigned. “ Israeli policy is parallel to U .S. policy," he states. "T h e appearance o f conflicts between them is just sand in the eyes. You can tell because o f the re cent strategic agreement between the U.S. and Israel." As a Palestinian, Darweesh wants recognition o f the P LO (Palestinian Liberation O rg an izatio n ) and full participation o f Palestinians in the Israeli government. “ I want to get rid o f the Z io n is t regim e ( o f Menachim Begin); after that, we can sit and talk. I want Palestinians to take part in the talks and set up a dem ocratic governm ent o f all the people." H e says this position is a more m iddle-of-the-road one than some members o f the P L O would advocate, and that P L O leader Yasser A rafat represents the "m o d erate faction o f the PLO . A ll o f the P LO believes in armed struggle, the difference is in the process. Some factions d o n ’ t believe in peace talks.” This in te rp re ta tio n is in direct c o n flic t w ith the n o tion many A m ericans have that A ra fa t is a " t e r r o r is t ,” Darweesh adm its. “ The government o f Israel consi ders the P L O a terro rist g ro u p .” P art o f the problem is due to racism, he claims. “ Palestinians and Jews were livin g together fo r hundreds o f (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) by M ary Ellen Leary President Reagan, meet W illie Ramirez, o f Hayward, C alif. W illie is 11 years o ld . H e is a q u ad rip leg ic, paralyzed from the neck dow n. He knows first hand about years o f hospitalization while yearning to be home with his par ents. This compelling human emo tion was recognized by President Reagan in his Novem ber 10 press conference, a fte r which he cut through the Medicaid red tape to let 3-year-old Katie Beckett o f Cedar Rapids, Iowa, leave the hospital and go home, with tax provisions for her respirator and needed nursing care to keep her alive. The Katie Beckett case illustrated, the president said, the wastefulness o f bureaucratic rules which had kept the little girl hospitalized while her parents begged to care fo r her at A cm e— at a m o n th ly cost o f only * ' 44CO com pared to the hospital m onthly cost o r $12,000. W aiving strict M edicaid regulations in her behalf, the adm inistration made it clear this was one, lone exception to the rule. But that one case lifted the lid just enough to expose a critical problem in A m erica’s health care program: its needless regulatory com plexity n a o ittu i vApviiic. r w t oniy Ol V facilities and trained personnel be low the hospital level trag ic ally short in supply, but the funding sys tem in Medicaid and Medicare is de signed to encourage a m axim um amount o f hospital care, rather than less costly alternatives. O n ly by breaking through the rules, as President Reagan did, or bending them, as W illie R am irez’ s ingenious friends at Stanford U n i versity H o sp ital d id , can severely disabled patients eligible for federal support inside a hospital stretch reg ulatory language to perm it care in less expensive places, even th e ir homes. Every state in the U n ited States shares the absurdity in medical cost structure illustrated in C a lifo rn ia , where state officials say that, on any day o f the year, at leas, 1,500 Medi caid patients occupy hospital beds unnecessarily, for lack o f alternative places to move them and inflexibil ity in paying for them . I f moved, most patients rail o u , o f existing public support plans and have no care. Said one experienced health care provider, Robert Lucas o f H ealth Conservation Inc. in San Francisco: " T h e waste in public health pro- b iiu (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) RONALD REAGAN 'Fenwick plan' draws challenges D r. James Fenwick, Interim Su perintendent o f the Portland Public Schools, told the School Board Monday night that serious discrep ancies exist between the comprehen sive desegregation plan and pre-ex isting racial balance policies. He thanked those members o f the board who pointed out the discrep ancy— H erb Caw thorne and Steve Buel— and advised tha, the Board deal w ith it so the adm in istration can respond. The racial balance policy requires that the administration analyze each year every school that approaches 50 per cent m inority enrollment to determine whether the minority en ro llm en t rem ains stable, and for schools exceeding 50 per cent minor ity enrollment recommend steps to reverse the trend and “ prevent ra cial isolation." The racial balance p olicy deals with numbers and the only way to respond is in ratios and boundaries, he explained. He advised the board to sort through their apparent d if ferences and come up with a policy that meshes and gives clear signals to the administratio. This would al low the staff to address issues o f ed ucation and achievement. “ You desperately need to bring into balance the differences that ex ist within the Board so the staff can respond.” Fenwick submitted his annual re port on racial balance, which con tains several far-re ac h in g recom m endations— a ll designed to de crease percentages o f m inority stu dents: Patricia Rian, principal o f H u m boldt School, explained that the main issue at that school is lack o f space. By next year class size wil reach 40 and classes will be taught ii hallways. Portables a block away tha, were to be for temporary use are still being used. Parents wan classrooms added or portables oi site. “ W hile you consider racial bal ance, consider exerting your energ; concerning providing a quality edu cation no matter where the childrer a re ----- ” She advised the Board tc work with the State to change racia balance guidelines or to o b ta in a w a iv e r." She estim ated that the school now has 50 too many stu dents and w ith o u t the portables would have 150 too many. There are 240 transfers from other areas, a large percentage o f which are in pre school and Kindergarten. Ronnie Herndon, co-chairman o f (Please turn to page 3 col. I) Blacks favor 'New Information Order' A sweeping m a jo rity o f high ranking Blacks feel the Am erican news media is biased, and they sup port the con ten tio n in the T h ird W orld that the Western press is un fair, according to a national survey by the Black Opinion Poll (BOP). Some 340 questionnaires resulted in responses from 77 per cent o f those contacted. “ W hich best de scribes the general press coverage of stories important to the Black com m unity?” was one probe. The an swers: 86.4 per cent said biased and banta Claus visited children at annual Jack ai Jill family Christmas social. Making thair wish known are Karl Enga, K. C. Scott, Lanat Ambers, Mark White. Temporary Santa is Jim Walken. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) narrow coverage; 6.8 per cent said unbiased but narrow coverage; 3.4 per cent said biased but wide cover age; and 3.4 per cent had no opin ion. Relatedly, 89.2 per cent said they « support the U N E S C O d rive for a “ New W orld In fo rm atio n O rd e r” due to Third W orld dissatisfaction with news coverage by the Western press. In a d d itio n , 8 5 .9 per cent agreed with some Black journalists who contend the general (white con trolled) press is “ too crisis oriented in its Ih ir d W o rld news coverage, and positive accomplishments in the Third World go unnoticed.” The ranking Blacks were also asked: “ W hat about news-worthy information you generate? Are you successful in getting the G eneral Press to print it?" Some 37 per cent said. " N o I was unsuccessful in getting them to print i t ; " 29 per cent said “ Yes they printed it but only after much resist ance;" 12 per cent said “ Yes quite successful. They printed it with ease;” while 22 per cent had no re sponse. The BOP survey was conducted for the Black Press Institute, a na tio n al news gathering and media m o n ito rin g o rg an iza tio n . Those polled were readers o f the Black Press R eview , a b i-m o n th ly news and commentary report highlighting key events and trends in the Black community and published by the In stitute. Those readers include Blacks in Congress. presidents o f Black col leges. and a host o f educators, ad m inistrators, publishers, lawyers and other “ Black influentials." (Please turn to page 2 col. 3)
