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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1984)
Page 4 Portland Obaerver, July 11. 1964 EDITORIAL/OPINION Let's be bold, ud... As M ayor of Portland, Bud Clark will be one of the most highly visible decision-makers in the state. Among the many decisions he faces is that of who to appoint to the City's numerous com missions, committees and advisory boards. These choices could be the most important he will make as mayor: which ethnic, geographic, economic and cultural groups are to be represen ted in the inner circles o f the C ity ’s non-elected decision makers? I f C la rk is to tru ly bring fresh air to city government, he will include previously under represented groups on such bodies as the Plan ning Commission and the Portland Develop ment Commission. It was through actions o f these groups that Frank Ivancie went about creating a city the voters flatly rejected in M ay. They rejected more massive public subsidies for cold, impersonal, "big city" downtown office buildings, and for a few m ultinational, high-technology firms em ploying mostly college-educated people from out o f state. Even as unemployment among Portlanders remains disastrously high, and small business failu re rates soar, these public bodies favo r uneven development patterns taxing the many for the benefit o f the few. By making bold changes in the composition of appointed commissions, Clark can respond to the voters' rejection o f Ivancie and the down town business interests with which he was so clearly associated. Iv a n c ie ’s own billboards showed him beam ing and urging voters to "K e e p the m ayor who w ill keep P ortland g ro w in g ," w hile dow ntow n o ffic e towers loomed in the background. Growth in Portland can, and should, directly benefit the entire city, not just the privileged few downtown. The only way to insure such well- planned, positive growth is to look beyond the sole criterio n o f "professional expertise" in m ayoral appointments and make sure people with varied perspectives are chosen for the C ity’s non-elected policy-making community. Don't lock out the rainbow T h e R ainbow C o a litio n is knocking at powers* d o o r as they try to in co rp o rate the American dream into their everyday reality. W ith o u t pulling any punches, its M in o rity Report states that the lack o f participation by racial m inorities and the poor in the political process was not because they were apathetic. T h e ir n o n -in vo lvem en t was lin ked to the political system being closed to them. For too long, the Democrats have claimed the votes o f the poor and people o f color without paying interest or displaying any degree of ac countability when they got in office. Thanks to the efforts o f Jesse Jackson, the united disciplines of the dispossessed of society are launching a keen challenge to the rules o f old. And the grassroot communities will watch closely to see whether the out-dated political or der w ill make room fo r this new progressive clement by establishing one-person-one-vote as a Street Beat by Lanita D uke and Richard Brown rule instead of the exception. W ill they adopt the reality o f Jackson's M in o rity R eport or continue the policy o f nuclear nightmare diplomacy? Will they continue to ignore the residual effects o f 200 years o f racism and sexism as conser vative forces counter the fairness o f affirmative action? The M in o rity Report concludes by saying, "Thus, we prepare for the Democratic National Convention, firm in our commitment to fairness and justice. The Democratic party can choose to move forw ard, united with great potential for victory in November or the Democratic party can risk loss and four more years o f Ronald Reagan because there was a decision by the party leadership to remain closed, insensitive and ex clusionary.” For the sake o f our children, we hope not. As the Democratic National Con vention approaches, the Street Beat team asked, " D o you think Jesse Jackson has been treated fairly by the press?" ■ 'fou'KÉ Q&VIOUSW SUTOWO U. S. doctors can learn from Cuba by Dr. M anning M arable "From The Grassroots ” The greatest achievement o f the C u b an R e v o lu tio n is unques tio n a b ly in the fie ld o f public health. D u rin g the Batista regime, there was one physician per 1,000 people, and only one dentist per 3,000 people. T he w ealthy classes could a ffo rd private medical treat ment; the poor usually went without it. T he m a jo rity o f farm e rs and laborers never saw a d o c to r, and consequently fell victim to malaria, tu berculosis and ty p h o id . In fa n t mortality rates in Cuba only twenty- fiv e years ago were 62 per 1,000. T h e average life expectancy o f a C uban between 1945-1960 was 57 years. Conservatively, one-third o f the total population suffered from m a ln u tritio n : one fa m ily out o f tw enty-five ate meat regularly, and only one fa m ily in fif t y had eggs. W ith Castro's victory, about half of the n a tio n ’ s d octors, nurses and health administrators fled the coun try , creatin g a m a jo r crisis in the medical field. frie n d ly L a tin A m e ric a n and socialist states, hundreds o f param edics were q u ick ly tra in ed . Nurses were given greater respon sibilities to assist the expansion and a d m in is tra tio n o f the n a tio n a l medical system. By 1965, about 500 new doctors were being produced annually. Today, over 2,000 doctors are train ed each year, and w ith in tw o years, 3 ,0 0 0 doctors w ill be produced annually. Before the year 2000, Cuba will have 65,000 doctors n a tio n w id e , or one physician per 200 people. T o d ay , Black Am erica has roughly one Black d octor per 2,000 Blacks. A n y doubts I could have had ab o ut C u b a's h ealth system were q u ickly e lim in a ted a fte r a to u r o f the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, a massive 25-story building located in central H a va n a . C om pletely air co n dition ed , the hospital has 300 rooms which can accommodate up to fo u r beds each, 25 o p e ratin g rooms, two intensive care center*, a polyclinic which can handle 1,500 o u tp a tie n t cases per d a y , and laboratories equipped with r?.odern scientific equipment for research in nuclear m edicin e, b io ch em is try , m icrobiology, and pathology. The emergency ward has two operating rooms and a staff that can treat up In contrast, today Cuba has one o f the best public healthcare systems in the w o rld . In the 1960’ s, the governm ent channelled scarce resources in to b u ild in g a vast medical system, which would be ab solutely free o f charge fo r all citizen s. W ith the assistance o f Wilma Smith Nurse Practitioner " N o , I don’ t think it's only the press Reagan is treating him unfairly. The press points out what they w an t." " N o , because h e’ s B lack. They are not going to treat any body Black fairly because they d o n ’ t w ant to see us in any type o f political position." Dan Papan Salesman to 800 patients daily. D r . C e n o b io G onzales led the tour o f the hospital, and provided ad d itio n a l background on C u b a ’ s m edical system. The latest innovation is "the Doc tor o f the F a m ily ” p la n , w hich began in some parts o f Cuba in O c to b e r, 1983. As D r . G onzales ex plained, "O n e doctor is assigned to one hundred and tw enty fa m ilie s " in a p a rtic u la r n eigh b orho od or village. " H e lives in the area, and emphasizes preventative medicine. He regularly visits the families when they are sick and w ell. Thus the physician serves a b ro ad er social fu n c tio n ." T h e results o f C u b a ’ s m edical achievem ent are fo un d in U n ited Nations* statistics. Not a single case o f polio has been reported in Cuba since 1961. M a la ria claimed its last victim in Cuba in 1967. The infant m o rta lity rate declined by 1983 to 16.8 per 1,000— com pared to 14.2 per 1,000 for white Americans and 24.2 per 1,000 for Blacks in the U .S. T h e average C u b a n man has an average life expectancy o f 73 years— about ten years longer than A fr o -A m e ric a n m ales. T h e U .S . medical establishment would have a lot to learn if they, also, visited and studied the im pressive— a n d fre e— Cuban medical system. Letters to the Editor Corporate charity the taxes they don’t pay here to (heir own governments over there? O r is this just a little extra to put in their own pockets? T he whole set up smells like the trick le-d o w n tricks o f the H o o ver th irties. W e ll, it d id n ’ t w ork then either!! To the Editor: Latitia Foatar Mother AN ACUTE MU-ITARf Alb DEACltMCY.' ' Seems like we’ve been subsidizing Am erican industries to set up shop a ll over the w o rld fo r lim itless years, loosing lim itless A m erican jo b s. O u t o f o ur h a rd -ea rn ed (ax d o lla rs . Seems like subsidies and charities come out the same: O nly it's called charity when poor people get the handout. But handout it isl S till, tu rn about could be fa ir play. I f foreign companies wish to plant subsidiaries on American soil, theirs is the government which sould come up with the handouts (Spelled tax breaks), like w e've been doing for them. Seems like an even sm arter idea w ould be fo r the A m e ric a n ta x payers to subsidize some o f th eir own industries who are presently having a hard time of it ...and keep (hem in the States. A n o th e r th in g bothers me. A re these fo reig n o u tfits going to pay " Y e s , he has gotten m ore than enough coverage fro m the press." Russ Farrell Albina's pride To the Editor: C o n g ratu la tio n s are in order to the Project Pride planning com m it tee (vo lu n te e rs , fa c u lty , and s tu dents) for a jo b well done, to M r. N a th a n Jones, a man w ith vision and foresight, one who saw a need and took the challenge to f ill that need: The Pride o f Jefferson High S ch o o l, the p rid e o f P o rtla n d 's Albina community. Paul Wm. Dixon President o f Jefferson High School‘s D a d 'sand M o m ‘s King size support To the Editor: VJt would like to thank you for your contributions or assistance to the M a r tin L u th e r K in g, J r ., Scholarship Fund benefit d in n er. Y o u r support enables us to assist m inority/disadvantaged students in obtaining a college education. Additional fund raising activities w ill be conducted th roughout the year and we w ould like your con tinued support. Again, thank you. Helen Pittman, Chairman M a r tin L u th e r K in g . J r ., A lu m n i Association The Observer welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be short, and must contain the writer's name and address (addresses are not p rin t ed). The Observer reserves the right io edit f o r length. Portland Observer •A» MAI »• 0»». * ' »»* The Portland Observer rllS P S 959 6801 it published every Thursday by Esie Publishing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killings worth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Post Office Bos 3137, Portland Oregon 97208 Second cleat postage perd «1 Portland. Oregon te<«%»aP«8 ü h 0 » The Portland Observer w e t established m 1970 Subscriptions S16 00 per year in the Tri-County area Post m aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer, P 0 Bos 3137, Portland Oregon 97208 member A lfre d L. Henderson. Editor/Publisher A l Williams. Genera! M anager Association - Founded 1885 David Davis Lab Technician " N o , I d id n ’ t like the way President Reagan treated him nor the way the press responded to h im as a c a n d id a te . They could have been m ore sup portive o f a candidate.” r Mary Fenton Unemployed " H e ’ s getting enough— too much. I d o n ’ t like him and I d o n ’ t think he should run fo r PORTWND OBSERVER □ □ 283 2486 National Advertising Repreeentetlve Am algam ated Publishers Inc New York 115 for one year 126 for two Bos 3137 Portland OR 97028 Ron Watch Driver " I n some cases he is not. When he got some o f our boys out, I d id n ’ t like the little bn here and a little bit there." m X 1 Street Apt r 1 L Cl TV _ STATE ______ „ . 2IP _ a < z o . - •<„ «cr’r Se » a s e ,rV A ,
