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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1982)
Portland Observer, March 1 8 ,0 8 2 Page 3 UNIONI ^ square 7 -1 PANTRY P12ZA Dance artists visit Jefferson High Recent visitors to Jefferson H igh School were Brenda B u fa lin o and H oni Coles. Coles is considered to be one o f the finest exponents o f jazz and tap dance today, he was creator o f the centipede steps, steps that continue w ith o u t ever repeat ing. Coles was manager o f the A pollo U n iv e rs ity o f New Y o rk at New Paltz. She has perform ed concerts throughout the east and is currently creating w ith Ed Summerlin an o r chestral piece for tap dance solo. Theatre fro m 1960 through 1976. His first performance on Broadway was in “ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and he was featured in “ B u b b lin ’ Brown Sugar.” Brenda B u fa lin o is considered a pioneer in the resurgence o f jazz and tap dance. She is on the faculty o f the Theater Department o f the State Coles and M s. B u fa lin o were guest a rtists w ith the Jefferson Dance Program. Shopping mall plans revealed Plans for development o f “ Union Square,” an approxim ate ly h a lf- m illion-dollar mini-shopping mall in the form er K ienow ’ s b u ild in g at U n io n Avenue and N .E . M o rris , were revealed today by the U nion Square Development Group. “ The center is designed to create opportunities for small businesses to operate in a prime location, to pro vide much-needed employment op p o rtu n itie s and generally to con trib u te to the econom ic develop ment o f the inner northeast area,” according to Howard Glazer, princi pal o f The Architects Forum, which is planning the development. P relim inary plans provide space fo r six to eight sm all businesses within the 12,000-square foot build ing. The proposed center is easily ac cessible from Union Avenue, along which more than 20,000 vehicles tra vel da ily. A d d itio n a l advantages which are related to the geographic location include easy freeway access and proxim ity to Emanuel Hospital and the Emanuel development area. Prime leasing targets include a convenience grocery, fast-food ven dors and service industries, all need ed to serve area residents. Glazer, who has previously in spired neighborhood renovation and rehabilitation programs by in i tia tin g renovation o f single b u ild ings, anticiptaes sim ilar im pact on lower U nion Avenue as a result o f the development. The Union Square group is working with local business and city and neighborhood organiz ations which are spearheading the economic redevelopment program in the northeast Portland area. Plans call fo r an attractive land scaped shopping arcade w ith a broad covered walkway and parking for 40 cars. Additional parking area is available for development. Leasing inquiries are currently be ing directed to The Architects F or um. We went to the streets w ith, “ Do you think M ayor Frank Ivancie has been good fo r P ortland and P o rt landers?” Raymon H. Edwards, Bus D river — “ H e ’ s a ll rig h t. He is doing as w ell as any o f the rest o f them . I think the M ayor is O .K .” Charities slight poor minorities A new ly released study o f the funding patterns o f Oregon c h a ri table fo u n d a tio n s shows that the m ajority o f their grants go to a rela tively few institutions and that little money goes to program s serving m inorities, the poor, the elderly or the handicapped citizens o f Oregon. Federal and state support for so cial programs, education, the envir onm ent, and com m unity develop ment are ra p id ly decreasing. This reality brings the role o f charitable c o n trib u tio n s o f p riv a te fo u n d a tions added significance. C haritable in stitu tio n s make up an enorm ous in d u s try . Last year Americans gave more than $47 b il lio n to private n o n -p ro fit in s titu tions. Although foundations supply only about 5 per cent o f the funds given to charity, they are o f particu lar importance because o f their as so cia tio n w ith other p rivate and public funding sources and the deci sions they make to fund or not to fund have great influence on the dis tr ib u tio n o f other p h ila n th ro p ic funds. Oregon has more than 130 foun dations, with $190 m illion in assets, that gave $16 m illio n in grants in 1980. The basis o f any foundation is a pool o f donated funds and inter est from investments. The P o rtla n d C om m ittee fo r Responsive Philanthropy examined the 1978 and 1979 grants o f 35 o f the state’ s largest foundations and the policies o f twenty o f those. Among their findings are that: •O ver h a lf o f the funds go to 30 institutions. •Barely one per cent o f Oregon’ s fo u n d a tio n funds go to program s run by or for racial minorities (8 per cent o f the state’ s po p u la tio n are minorities). •Barely one per cent goes to hous ing and community development. Funding allocations were: Educa tion, 34 per cent; art and culture, 16 per cent; social services, 13 per cent; health and handicapped, 12 per cent; recreation, 7 per cent; religion, 5.5. per cent; science, 2.5 per cent. Foundation grants, when exam ined according to the populations they served, included: youth, 17 per cent; handicapped, 4 per cent; the p oor, 2 per cent; the e ld e rly, 1.8 per cent; w om en, 1.4 per cent; Blacks, 0.5 per cent; Hispanics, 0.03 per cent; Asian-Am ericans, 0.2 per cent; N ative A m ericans, 0.2 per cent; veterans, 0.03 per cent; gays, 0.01 per cent; consumers, 0.1 per cent. Recipients o f the largest grants were: Willamette University, United W’asy, Oregon Museum o f Science and In d u s try (O M S I), A rts and C ra fts Society o f O regon, and YM C A (statewide). O f the 25 in s titu tio n s receiving the largest amounts o f money, most are large, impersonal in stitutions. Eleven are colleges and universities, 3 are hospitals, 3 are art institutions. Sm aller, more personal organiza tions are le ft o u t. Revealing are com parisons: R ecreation (B oy Scouts, $134,150; Boys’ C lubs, $1 10,725; Y M C A fitness center, $138,200) as compared to battered women’ s programs (Bradley-Angle House, $17,460, Raphael House, $12,000). H igher education ( W il lamette U niversity $697,765; OSU $316,450) compared w ith those fo r m in o ritie s (M a rtin L u th e r K ing Scholarship, $18,350; Colegio Cesar Chavez, $12,290; Indochinese Ser vice Center $26,640; O rganization for Forgotten Americans, $11,600). The study suggests that the deci sion to continue funding large, es tablished organizations is the result o f the make-up o f the foundations’ boards. Decision-makers o f the founda tions are predominantly male, w ith 76 per cent. Women make up 24 per cent o f the trustees. Only 4 per cent o f the trustees are m in o ritie s and only 10 per cent o f the foundations have trustees who are minorities. Trustees o f the foundations come David Douglas School D istrict in East M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty w ill ask voters to pass a $18.7 m illio n tax base in the May prim ary, according to Jeanne M agm er, com m unica tions and inform atio/services coor dinator for the district. Mrs. Magmer said the voters last approved a tax base ($3.5 m illion) in 1964. Since 1968, she said, each year the d is tric t has asked the voter to approve a special levy. The school’ s budget fo r 1982-83, > she said, is $21 m illio n , o f which, • basic school support from the state ? is a projected $6.9 m illio n w ith ' another $2 m illio n to be derived fro m M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty Educa- • tion Service D istrict, (ESD), tuition > and the interest from investments. ; In 1980, she said, the voters • turned down a tax base and i f the • one presented in the May primary is ' successful, " i t can support 60 per cent o f our budget each year for the next three years.” On the other hand, she said, “ I f the tax base is defeated, the district [District 40) w ill be required to hold a [another) special levy election for a p p ro x im a te ly $3 m ilio n , the amount over the 6 per cent lim ita tion the district needs to balance the budget for 1982-83.” D avid D ouglas School D is tric t as school districts through-out Ore gon and the nation is faced with the very real possibility o f cutting " p ro grams and s ta ff.’ ’ M rs. M agm er said, “ i f you have to reduce the budget you w ill reduce the quality o f education the kids w ill get.” E ig h ty -fiv e per cent o f the d is t r ic t ’ s budget are people-related costs, she said. The 1982-83 budget projects a reduction o f three admin istrative positions, five and one-half teachers and tw o classified p o si tions. The d is tric t operated one high m ainly fro m wealthy fam ilies, are corporate executives, bankers or prominent attorneys. Only six foun dations have c rite ria fo r choosing board members— most come from the fam ily or corporation involved. None o f those interviewed had plans to d iv e rs ify the m ake-up o f th e ir boards. It has been suggested that one o f the im portant roles o f foundations is to support in n o va tive , untested program s since they are not ham pered by government restrictions. Oregon foundations have been un w illin g to take risks. One reason m ight be that most fo u n d a tio n s have not reached out to community groups. Most founda tions do not evaluate the results o f grants they have made. A lso , fo u n d a tio n s have given little help to community-based self- help program s. In P o rtla n d alone there are 300 self-help groups. Recommendations include: •F o u n d a tio n s should give sub stantial support fo r self-help p ro jects, especially those operated fo r and by m inorities, the elderly, the poor, the handicapped, and women. Foundations should give substan tial help to innovative programs. •Foundations should have written affirm ative action programs to cov er the boards, staffs and advisory boards. •F o u n d a tio n s should in volve large segments o f the community in their operations. •Each foundation should actively involve the community. •Each foundation should publish its purpose, criteria, guidelines, etc. •Each foundation should have an annual open meeting fo r potential grantees and the public. •Foundations should adopt goals, objectives and priorities fo r grants. Grants should be directed at solving specific problems or accomplishing specific aims. They should make long term commitments to new pro grams and projects. M yrtle Goods— “ Yes, he did a lot o f things to improve the city. From what I ’ ve heard I think he’ s good.” D uane Phipps, salesman— “ In some respects I appreciate him. But he doesn’ t seem to listen to the people. He has alienated the C ity Council. In our community he said he made a commitment economical ly to both Black and white. 1 don’ t see th a t com m itm ent happening. I ’ m not impressed.” K athrin Bruns, housewife— “ Be fore Reagan came in Ivancie was not good fo r Portland. Now, the federal governm ent has put pressure on him. The quality o f life w ill decrease a lot in this city. The way he handled the police/opposum situation just showed his ignorance. What he did to Charles Jordan was very poor.” M rs. Y.C. — “ N o, I d o n ’ t think he’ s the best man. There have been other mayors who have done more for the Blacks.” Roy K noll, retired— “ He should do more fo r handicapped people, but a ll in a ll I th in k he’ s doing a wonderful jo b .” by Lenita Duke and Richard Brown LINOLEUM CITY ß e a u tff y your home > w . o ffe r (he newest ideas, best selection a n d essiona WALLCOVERINGS, BATH ACCESSORIES, DECORATOR SHADES, F U lifR PAINTS Service in If we can decorate a shadow box to look this good, think of how beautiful your home can look with coordinated bath & wall accessories & professional service from the . . . Decor Center Linoleum City JEANNE M A G M ER school, two middle schools and nine elementary schools. Mrs. Magmer said the district has been in a declining enrollment situa tion since 1968 and this does affect hirin g and the number o f teachers the district can employ. 605 N E Grand Ave E5h 23-4/2/1
