Portland Observer, June 10, 1982 Paa e-5
Washington Hot Line
by Congressman Non Wyden
brought to you
every week
by
Q. In IV 80. Congress enacted
changes in the Sm all Business A d ­
ministration's (S B A ’s) 8(a) minority
pro g ram that w ould allegedly in ­
crease participation in the program.
H o w is that program working?
A . Il isn't—and, as a result, mi­
nority contractors are losing m il­
lions of dollars of business.
The reason it hasn’ t worked is
simple—bureaucratic footdragging.
First, the SBA took more than a
year to draft the regulations re­
quired to implement the changes
enacted by Congress. Then, once
those regulations were completed, it
continued to drag its feet on issuing
instructions about eligibility criteria
and application processing proce­
dures.
In fact, as of the writing of (his
column, the SBA still has not issued
the necessary information about eli­
gibility criteria and application pro­
Self-service fare
moves closer
T ri-M e t riders will begin to see
more of the machinery needed to
implement Self-Service Fare Collec­
tion as fifty District buses are
equipped with test Validators and
Dispensers.
Tri-Met employees will be validat­
ing test M u lti-R id e tickets when
boarding these buses on lines No.
26, 34, 70 and 6. They will also be
asking the bus operators for single­
ride tickets from the Dispenser. A f­
ter September 5 cash paying riders
will receive tickets from the dispen­
ser as their Self-Service Fare Collec­
tion Proof of Payment and Trans­
fer.
Forty per cent of the Tri-M et bus
fleet of 625 is wired and ready for
Self-Service Fare Collection equip­
ment to be placed on board. The re­
mainder of the fleet will be wired
during the summer. The Validators
and Dispensers arc designed in such
a way thut they can be quickly in­
stalled and replaced once the wiring
is complete.
Equipment placed on buses be­
fore September 5th is for test pur­
poses only. No passengers are per­
mitted to utilize test tickets in lieu of
payment. To insure the smooth
transition from the current fare pay­
ment system to Self-Service Fare
Collection, August Monthly Passes
will be honored through September
4th.
The test program will enable the
Vulton Corporation to work any of
the problems out of the equipment
coming o ff the production line in
addition to enabling the bus oper­
ators to become comfortable with
equipment operation.
Aszemar Glenn
plays benefit
Aszemar Glenn, noted Oregon
concert pianist and composer, will
present his Second Phase Concert
Engagement in a benefit for The
C .R .I.B ., Sat., June 26, 7:30 p.m.
at the King Neighborhood Facility,
4815 N.E. 7th.
A native Oregonian, Aszemar is a
graduate of Pacific University. The
1973 winner of the State Music
Award in composition, Aszemar is
associate director of the Oregon
Boys' C hoir, choir director for
Hughes Memorial United Methodist
Church, and special music instruc­
tor for the YM CA.
The C .R .I.B . is an all-volunteer
social service agency located at the
King facility. Begun three years ago
by Linda Johnson, its executive
director. The C .R .I.B . operates a
summer academy for elcnientary-
age children and an after-school tu­
torial program. In addition, The
C .R .I.B . (which means Total Home
Environment, Creative Recreational
and Instructional Building, Inc.),
operates a food distribution pro­
gram in Columbia Villa and inner
Northeast, a parents advocacy
workshop, adult literacy programs
and advocates community-owned
housing programs.
Aszemar is being sponsored by
T .H .E . C .R .I.B ., the Metropolitan
Arts Commission and the National
Endowment of the Arts, l or tickets
contact T .H .E . C .R .I.B . at 249-
8501.
cedures— inform ation which its
field offices need before they can
proceed.
The result is lost business oppor­
tunities for minority contractors—a
loss they can ill-afford, particularly
in these hard economic times. Ac­
cording to inform ation my office
has received, some 35 minority busi­
nesses in Portland alone have been
adversely affected by the SBA’s fail­
ure to proceed swiftly on this mat­
ter. One of these businessmen told
my staff he lost the opportunity to
bid on a project that would have
grossed $5.6 million because he was
not certified under the 8(a) pro­
gram.
This kind of bureaucratic bung­
ling is inexcusable—and 1 told SBA
Adm inistrator James Sanders as
much in a recent letter. In that let­
ter, I asked Sanders to see that the
remaining procedural steps needed
to get this program moving are com
pleted as swiftly as possible.
As 1 wrote M r. Sanders, minority
businesses are suffering enough in
these grim times. The last thing they
need is to be victimized by further
unnecessary delays and red tape.
Q. Has any progress been made
on effo rts to persuade H ea lth and
H um an Services Secretary R ichard
Schweiker to reconsider his decision
to elim inate annual inspections o f
nursing homes?
A. Not that I know of, but today
I attempted to enlist the aid o f an
unlikely group— the nursing home
industry itself— in defeating that
proposal and other proposals that
threaten the quality of patient care.
In a speech to the American
Health Care Association, I urged
nursing home owners and adminis­
trators to oppose elimination of the
annual inspection requirement on
the grounds that such a move would
be bad for everyone concerned.
During that speech, I told the in­
dustry representatives that quality
care for the elderly must be our pri­
mary concern— and Schweiker's
proposal clearly threatens the
quality of care.
But I also told them that the pro­
posal doesn’t do the industry— or
the government—any favors either.
The government loses out because it
is unable to ensure that its health
care dollar is being put to good use.
And the only part of the industry
that benefits are the bad homes, be­
cause the good homes don’t need
this rule change.
I can only hope my suggestions
did not fall on deaf ears. By sup­
porting Schweiker’s proposal for
weaker inspection rules, the nursing
home industry only hurts itself. And
worst of all, it hurts one of the most
vulnerable groups in our society—
the nursing home patient.
AMERICAN STATE BANK
The oldest man ever to be president of a major na­
tion was Eamon De Valera, who was president of Ire­
land at the age of 91.
•
Strangely, Death Valley, California, contains not
only the lowest spot in North America-2 8 2 feet be­
low sea le v e l-b u t also a mountain that's over 11,000
feet high.
•
~ The largest lake in the world is, oddly enough, the
Caspian S e a -w h ic h is mis-named. It's technically a
lake, and not a sea.
m
W 8 donotdo business with South Africa
'4mer*can State
B
a n k
L±U
J | V
■ J
AN INDEPENDENT BANK
Head Office
2 7 3 7 N. E. Union
Portland, Oregon 97212
PEOPLE WHO DON’T ATTEND
DOS SCHOOL HAY HAVE A HARD
TIME GETTING ANYWHERE
A good education, it is said, will
help a person go far in life.
How very true. Particularly
when that person chooses to go by
bus in Portland, after Septem- j
her 5th.
Because as of that
*• z"
date, the way to ride
Tri-Met will change
considerably. For the
better.
But it will take
a little re-learning by
our riders.
SELF-SERVICE
MEANS
QUICKER SERVICE.
s
The most important
single improvement coming • \x
September 5th is called Self-
Service. Basically, it means riders
no longer deal with the driver when
boarding the bus. Unless paying cash.
VVe’ll explain more in a moment,
but first consider all the advantages:
Quicker boarding and exiting of the bus,
passholders no longer have to dig their
pass out to show the driver, ticket btxik
holders no longer have to tear off a ticket
for the farebox and, in many cases,
people will be able to board at the rear
doors! Now for some details.
EVERY BUS WILL HAVE TWO NEW
PIECES OF SPEED EQUIPMENT.
I'he secret is two orange electric
boxes you’ll see on each bus.
The first box is a ticket dispenser
for cash fare riders. After you've depos­
ited the exact change into the farebox and
the driver pushes a button, the dispenser
prints out a ticket.
The other new box is called a val­
idator. It's for use with our new Ten-Ride
Tickets that will replace the cumbersome
ticket booklet, htssengers board the bus,
insert their Ten-Ride Ticket into the val­
idator and zap. bam, it gets punched and
imprinted with date, time, and zone.
There will be a validator inside all
dtxirs on the articulated buses so those
with Ten-Ride Tickets (or passes) can
board any door.
How does the driver know if
everyone has paid the correct fare? He
doesn't. That's where our new Fare In­
spectors come in: at random, on every
bus. For those who are trying to get away
without paying, it could be rather embar­
rassing. (And expensive, because sur­
charge fares art* $20.)
THE FASTEST BOARDING
BUSES IN AMERICA.
Self-service has been saving people
time and money for decades. In depart-
ATTEND THE TEN-MINUTE BUS SCHOOL NEAREST WLJ.
TUESDAY, APRIL 27 MAY I
1. Ered Meyer
Beaverton
2. Lloyd Center
TUESDAY, MAY ( MAY K
1. Ered Meyer Tigard
2. Jantzrn Beach Mall
TUESDAY. MAY 11 MAY 15
1, Ered Meyer Gresham
2. Clackamas Town Center
TUESDAY. MAY IH MAY 22
I Nall. Trans Week Swan Island
*2. Pioneer Square
TUESDAY, MAY 25 MAY 29
I Ered Meyer Stadium
2. Oregon City Shopping Ctr.
TUESDAY, JUNE 1 JUNES
1 Eied Meyer
Hiillywiind
2. Tanaslronrne Mall
TUESDAY. JUNE H JUNE 12
1. Ered Meyer Tualatin
2. Rose Festival
TUESDAY, JUNE 15-JUNE 19
1. Ered Meyer Glisan
2 Washington Square
TUESDAY, JUNE 22 JUNE 26
1 Err-d Meyer
Raleigh Hills
2. I.kiyd Center
TUESDAY, JUNE 29 JULY 3
1 E Meyer 39th A Hawthorne
2. Clackamas Town Center
TUESDAY, JULY 6-JULY It)
1 Ered Meyer Oak Grove
2. Jantzen Beach Mall
TUESDAY, JULY 13 JULY 17
I Ered Meyer
Interstate
2. Tanashourne Mall
TUESDAY, JULY 20 JULY 2<
1 Err'd Meyer Gresham
2 Washington Square
TUESDAY, JULY 27 JULY 31
1 Ered Meyer
Glisan
2. Beaverton Mall
*Ptnm-«*t H q ua rr *« h ed ulrd 11 am h .M» pm
ItH's s.tt A ll o tfw f lot Alton* 12 m«»n
7 .M lpm TU e* S ai
ment stores, gas stations, laundromats.
And throughout Europe, it’s proven itself
on transit systems for nearly 15 years.
But this will be the first time self-
service has ever been used on buses in
North America. Another first for Oregon.
More importantly, another im­
provement for you. And, since self-service
should help us operate more efficiently
and save money, it should also help us
keep future fare increases to a minimum.
YOU'RE GONNA LIKE
WHAT YOU LEARN.
There’s a lot more to Self-Service
than there is room to explain here. Not to
mention the new zones, handy tickets,
direct Eastside routes, etc.
Which is why we've created Bus
School. Three special yellow Tri-Met
buses that are parked throughout the
Portland area and can give you a complete
education on the many improvements
coming Septem ber 5th.
Check the schedule and plan on
attending. All it will cost you is about ten
minutes. A small price to pay for a gtxxi
education these days.
I©
TRI-MET
ON SEPTEHDER 5TH TRI-MET GOES A WHOLE NEW ROUTE.
SPEEDY SELF SERVICE • HANDY NEW TICKETS • MORE EAIR FARES ■ DIRECT EASTSIDE ROUTES
i