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
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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
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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."
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