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Sixers
vs
Lakers
Spring
in the City
Section II Page 7
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Challenge
of the 80s
Page 5
Page 11
PORTLAND OBSERVER
USPS 959 680-855
May 27, 1982
Volume XII, Number 33
25C Per Copy
Two Sections
Council says mediate
llm
L
Board denies Jackson
1 ■ Í
80 ♦
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Mr». Beth Nance, librarian at Boiae Elementary
School, la retiring after twenty aix yeara at Boiae
and thirty w ith the Portland echool dlatrlct. The
laet 20 years were at Boiae. at at her own request
In addition to regular library and teaching duties
she is advisor to the school newspaper, "Boise
Speaks" and the College Bowl black history
project. She founded the Friday Hikers and is
cherished for her beach trips. M rs. Nance co-
authored a multi cultural guide and la considered
to be the district's authority on elementary sohoot
level multi-cultural books.
(Photo: Richard J. Brownl
The P o rtla n d School Board
refused M on d a y n ig h t to a llow
S uperintendent M a tt P rophet to
open lines o f com m unication w ith
the Jackson E ducation C o a litio n .
The board voted last sum m er to
close Jackson H ig h School at the
end o f the 1981 - 1982 school year.
The board had voted to close only
W a s h in g to n /M o n ro e but when
Dean G isvo ld and C h a rlo tte
Beeman jo in e d the board in July,
they p rovided the votes to close
Adam s and Jackson. The Adams
com m unity was forewarned but the
Jackson com m unity was not. Many
believed the Jackson closure to be
a move by the board to avoid a law
suit based on the closure o f two
heavily black schools while all west-
side schools remained open.
The Jackson C oalition has taken
preliminary steps to seceed from the
Portland school district and to form
th e ir own d is tric t. The C o a litio n
presented inform ation to the board
claim ing discrepancies in financial
inform ation provided by the school
district.
S chool board member Herb
Cawthorne urged the board to allow
Prophet to talk w ith the leadership
o f the Jackson coalition to attempt
to reach a m utual understanding.
He emphasized that he was not ask
ing the board to “ reconsider” .
“ In a n o th e r recent m atter,
regarding the T ubm an M id d le
School placem ent, the Board o f
E du ca tio n fo u n d its e lf at logger
heads with a disaffected community.
We could not solve the problems by
ourselves. We needed an aggressive
and sensitive Superintendent and the
help o f federal m ediators. 1 am
pleased th a t the Board had the
wisdom to know it needed such help.
Now we are at logger heads w ith the
Jackson c o m m u n ity , and now as
well, we need help.” Cawthorne urged
the board to accept the help o f the
C ity Council but not fail to exert its
own sense o f leadership.
Cawthorne said that an unsuccess
fu l vote to secede w ould divide the
Jackson community for many years,
and a sucessful vote w ill force the
school board in to a position that it
w ill have to negotiate “ fo r it would
be, indeed irresponsible to allow any
p a rt o f our d is tric t to be broken
away.”
Steve Buel said it is not fisca lly
responsible to a llo w Jackson to
secede, which would be giving away
$20 m illio n w o rth o f school
property. " H o w can we gamble in
such a manner...$40 to $100 m illion
in revenue cut o u t o f the school
budget because we refuse simply to
victory
Leek captures District
by C. Eddie Edmondson
Ed Leak, Democratic Party nominee for House District 18, enjoys
success on his front porch with son, Morgan.
(Photo: C. Eddie Edmondson)
Ed Leek extended his slim 9-vote
lead over his nearest D em ocratic
challenger Friday, picking up 73 ab
sentee ballots to 22 for H arold W il
liams, his closest rival. M ultnom ah
C o u n ty E lections o ffic ia ls , who
counted the more than $,000 absen
tee b a llo ts m ailed in fo r the M ay
18th prim ary, reported that Leek’ s
unofficial total was now 1,155. W il
liams* total was 1,095.
W illiams, who appeared prepared
to produce a strong fin is h that
w ould have given the 18th D istrict
an opportunity to elect a black state
representative fro m a solid Demo
cratic black constituency, picked up
only 22 votes in F rid a y ’ s absentee
ballot count.
“ Absentee ballots can be a make
or break s itu a tio n in close cam
paigns lik e t h is , " Leek had said
early Wednesday m orning when he
was leading by about 100 votes. “ I
worked it , ” he added, “ and I expect
to do better there.” He did.
Election officials reported 178 ab
sentee ballots wer$ counted fo r the
18th D istrict House seat. Leek said
208 absentee ballots were requested
by voters in the newly created dis
tr ic t. E lections o ffic ia ls say they
can’t confirm that number for some
time.
“ State Representative Ed Leek,”
said M indy Leek Friday afternoon
when she answered the c o u p le ’ s
home telephone. Bruce Broussard,
erstw h ile p o litic a l candidate and
form er neighbor to Leek, also tele
phoned co n g ra tu la tio n s F rid a y.
Leek sat or stood on the porch o f his
inner Northeast Portland home, re
sponding to telephone calls and
minding the couple’ s 13-month-old
son, Morgan.
A fter he takes time out for house
hold and yard chores and a few days
down on the coast, Leek said, “ I ’ m
going to start ta lk in g to people
about what they expect o f me;
w hat’ s im portant.” Two groups he
definitely intends to speak w ith are
the religious community (the Albina
Ministerial Alliance), and “ the 4500
people who d id n ’ t vote fo r me (in
the 18th D istrict),” he said.
“ I want to understand their con
cerns, what is most im p o rta n t to
people and what they think a state
representative’s jo b is.”
Leek intends to continue as a can
didate through the November elec
tio n , not becaues he expects much
opposition from his Republican op
ponent in this generally Democratic
d is tric t, but as a way o f m eeting
with and interacting with his consti
tuency. He said he intends to ask
those who campaigned against him
in the prim ary to w ork w ith him up
to and through the general election.
“ I ’ ll call on them later in the sum
mer and find out if they want to stay
involved," he said.
A fte r the election is over, Leek
said he intends to establish a series
o f c o m m u n ity meetings "s o m e
where th a t’ s clearly accessible” so
that people can come and discuss
w ith him or his representative any
thing they wish.
have our S uperintendent ta lk to
responsible
people
in
the
co m m u n ity. We take th is gam ble
because we simply w ill not sit down
and talk to somebody.”
Buel also com plained o f wide
discrepancies
in
in fo rm a tio n
provided by the d is tric t over a
period o f time.
C h a rlo tte
Beeman opposed
Cawthorne’ s proposal because she is
concerned that many people voted
fo r the school tax base because they
believe the operation o f the schools
w ill be “ cost effective” . “ It is not a
m a tte r o f c o m m u n ic a tio n ." She
refused to answer questions on her
position from Cawthorne and Buel.
Dean Gisvold apposed the motion
because he believed it assumed that
discrepancies do exist between in
fo rm a tio n supplied by the d is tric t
and the Jackson C o a litio n . “ I see
no reason to send the Superinten
dent out on a fact finding mission.”
F rank M cN am ara opposed the
m otion and Joe Rieke and B ill Scott
were not in attendence.
The Portland C ity Council, which
heard day-long testim ony on the
issue fa t week, recommended (hat
the school board seek mediation “ to
reach a common understanding and
resolution o f the closure issue. ”
African
Liberation
celebrated
African Liberation Day w ill be
celebrated in P o rtla n d w ith a
m arch
fro m
the
King
Neighborhood Facility to Irving
P ark.
The
Jazm in
C o m m u n ity
M a rch in g Band w ill make its
community debut as participants
in the march.
The March w ill begin at 11:00
a.m. on Saturday, May 29th.
A rally w ill follow .
This is the 10th anniversary o f
A fric a n L ib e ra tio n D ay, a day
reserved to honor black freedom
fighters th ro u g h o u t the w orld.
The United N ations Com m ittee
A gainst A p a rth e id has also
declared 1982 as the “ In te r
national Year o f M obilization for
Sanctions
A gainst
South
A frica .”
Western Saharah
US involvement in African war grows
by Carole Collins
Pacific News Service
W A S H IN G T O N , D C . - T h e
lo w -p ro file visit to Washington by
Moroccan King Hassan May 18-20
belies its serious purpose— to draw
the United States deeper into M o r
occo’s losing war in the mineral-rich
Western Sahara.
The grow ing U.S. involvem ent,
evident in the use o f American F-5
jets in the combat zone, increasing
U.S. aerial m onitoring o f the zone,
and the presence o f U.S. m ilita ry
advisors in Morocco, is seen by c rit
ics as a threat to the stability o f the
entire region, including Morocco. It
may also further undermine waning
U .S. in flu e n ce in the A ra b w orld
and black A frica, because most na
tions on the continent support West-
ern Sahara’s independence.
Despite mounting losses in its war
against Saharan guerillas seeking in
dependence M orocco has ignored
appeals fo r its w ith d ra w a l by the
UN, the International Court o f Jus
tice and, most recently, the O r
ga n iza tio n o f A fric a n U n ity
(OAU).
Hassan's declaration o f victory a
year ago is universally viewed with
incredulity. M ost independent ob
servers agree that M orocco controls
only a tin y p o rtio n o f the Western
Sahara—a phosph ate-rich desert
land the size o f C o lo ra d o located
southwest o f Morocco on the A tlan
tic coast.
Forty-six countries now recognize
the Saharan A rab D em ocratic Re
public (SADR), proclaimed in 1976
by the independence fighters o f the
Polisario F ront. The SADR admis
sion to O AU membership in Febru
ary led Hassun to call fo r a boycott
o f the forthcom ing summit meeting
in Libya in A ugust, risking a fatal
split in this a ll-A fric a n forum . The
Reagan A d m inistration is reported
to be backing Hassan’ s e ffort out of
h o stility to Libya and the groups it
supports, including the Polisario.
Hassan’s visit is being made at the
request o f President Reagan, who
wants Congress to trip le U.S. m ili
tary aid to the 300-year-old m on
archy.
Congressional action on the eve
o f Hassan's visit revealed the grow
ing gap between the Adm inistration
and Congress on the Saharan war.
The House Foreign A ffa irs C om
mittee recommended that M orocco
receive only $50 m illio n in m ilita ry
aid, up from $30 m illion in 1982 but
only half what Reagan sought. The
A fric a subcommittee pressed fo r a
ban on U.S. training for the Sahar
an w ar. U nder State D epartm ent
pressure, the fu ll committee adopted
softer language to allow for “ defen
sive counter-insurgency tra in in g .”
Senate a ctio n rem ains a question
mark.
Hassan's visit comes at a time o f
increasing p o litic a l and social ten
sions w ith in M orocco. Food price
hikes last summer resulted in a gen
eral strike and riots which left 6fX)
dead The price hikes reflect M oroc
co's dire economic problems. There
has been massive m igration into al
ready overcrowded cities caused by
the worst drought in 40 years. U n
em ploym ent is estimated at 60 per
(Please turn Io Seel. I I p. H)
Troopa of the PO LISAR IO Front, fig h t for independence of the
Sahara Arab Dem ocratic Republic from M orrocco (Photo I he
Grunrna)
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