Portlanderwins gold medal
N a ’ im H asan, a P ortlan d resi
d ent, competed in the 4th Pan
American Taekwon Do Champion
ships this past weekend in S u ri
name, South America.
Eighteen countries were sched
uled to attend the c o m p etitio n ,
hut for unknown reasons several did
not appear. T ue U .S . m en’ s and
women's teams were well represent
ed in their respective divisions. The
m en’s team secured six G o ld , one
Silver and two Bronze medals, while
the six-member USA women’s team
Ura Francea Schoen-Newspaper Roca
U n iv e r sity o f Oregwi Library
tubane, Oregon 97403
captured six Gold medals.
N a ’ im Hasan represented the
USA National Taekwon Do team in
the heavyweight division. He com
bined his technical skills and mental
prowess to defeat the Surinamese
and Jamaican heavyweights to cap
ture the Gold medal, becoming the
4th Pan A m erican T aekw on Do
champion.
N a ’ im was sponsored by busi
nesses in the com m unity and the
Portland Observer Congratulations
for a job well done, N a’im!
Ethics of
Baby Fae
Campaign *
Vandals
,
Page 7
Page 2
Volume XV, Number 4
November 21, 1984
25c Copy
Two Sections
I
tM
P u H i'h in g
C a .
/« M
Black students face
frequent suspension
by Lonita Duke
Thia year's recipients of the Jefferson High
School Howard Cherry A w ard for outstanding
young athletes are (l-r) Freeman Tong, men's soc-
cer, Melissa Hendricks, women's soccer. Tanna
Goff, women's volleyball and Donald Newcomb,
football.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Emotions ruled 1984 voters
bv Lanita Duke
G R A S S R O O T N E W S , N .W . —
Ronnie Herndon, a man with a rep
utation for telling it like it is, told
it like it was — Election '84 — to an
attentive audience o f students, sup
porters and the curious at Portland
State University, November 15.
Unshaken by another four years
o f the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n ,
H erndon said a look at the total
election picture dispelled the notion
of a conservative landslide engulfing
the nation. “ Reagan received only
31 percent o f the vote. That is not
a mandate!”
RON HERNDON
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
He pointed to the passage o f the
C itizen U tility Board and the nu
clear waste limitation as examples of
progressive issues surviving in 1984.
“ The defeat o f M o n dale was
inevitable given the rules in the
Democratic P a rty ," Herndon said,
explaining that the 20 percent
threshold — where candidates have
to reach it or no delegates — sets a
foundation where only party leaders
can pick the candidate.
“ G ary H a rt and Jesse Jackson
won 70 percent o f the votes in the
primary states.”
Herndon also asked rhetorically.
“ In his own party Mondale did not
win the popular vo le, so how did
they expect him to win the popular
vote during the general election?”
He questioned M o n d a le ’ s S ou
thern strategy as being “ historical
ly incorrect, since white voters in the
South always went Republican since
1952. The theory, with Bert Lance,
blew up in their faces.”
Herndon said Mondale failed to
take Reagan on with tough issues
such as equality, re-distribution of
incomes, unbalanced tax policies
and full employment.
"T h e white youth vote went with
Reagan because M ondale failed to
offer a vision. Talking about ’Star
W ars' is not going to get i t , ” he
added.
Herndon said the press acted as
if they “ discovered w a te r” when
they reported that Blacks were vot
ing Democratic and whites were at
tracted to the Republican Party.
“ W hat shakes them up is that
Blacks are behind a progressive
movement led by Jesse Jackson, no
first use o f nuclear weapons, jobs
and defense cuts. People are now
waking up and voting with issues.”
On the local level, Herndon called
a sales lax "regressive — the poor
pay more.” He added, "Something
is wrong with an income tax struc
ture when those m aking over
$13,000 a year pay the same as those
making two m illion.”
Herndon said in Election 84 peo
ple voted w ith em otion and mis
inform ation. “ The passage of the
death penalty is a way people feel
they can strike back. How ever,
states where it's already on the
books experience an increase in the
homicide rate.”
Herndon challenged the students
to create a new value system that,
"insures no child or adult goes to
bed hungry. Create a society with
decent health care, education and
jobs. You should learn from your
mistakes and gather strength from
your victories.”
He pointed to victories in the
local election o f grassroot candi
dates such as H erb C aw thorne,
M argaret C arter and Bud C la rk .
H erndon added that he believed
Gladys McCoy lost because she lost
touch with the community, failed to
establish a base and did not address
problems.
He also called the exclusion o f
A fric a in P ortlan d State's In te r
national Studies program “ short
sighted and colonial in thinking.”
“ The world is shrinking. We need
to teach students to respect and
value other people’s cultures."
G R A S S R O O T N E W S , N .W . —
Black children in the Portland Pub
lic Schools are more than twice as
likely to be suspended than their
white counterparts.
This statement is based on the
Management Inform ation Services’
suspension report fo r 1983-84.
White student enrollment is 36,199
and their suspension rate is 3.04
percent. Black student enrollment is
7,283 and their suspension rate is
7.22 percent.
Black students' suspension rate is
down slightly from the 1982-83 year
(7 .8 2 ) and the P ortlan d Public
Schools' suspension rate is lower
than the national average (9.8 per
cent). However, in Portland, a dis
proportion exists and Carolyn Shel
don. coordinator o f student serv
ices, called this disproportion
“ distressing.”
__She added that the circulation of
a students' handbook on rights, re
sponsibilities and discipline. " W ill
ensure we have inform ation out as
to what our expectations are. By
providing a clear guideline, stu
dents w ill know what is lik e ly to
happen if they com m it an in fra c
tion.”
The handbook reviews various
levels o f disciplinary action from
taking a student out o f the class
room to expulsion fo r the entire
semester.
However, Dr. Junious Williams,
the district's discipline consultant,
made this observation in A p r il,
1984: “ The new student handbook
will not take care of the suspension
and expulsion. . . We can expect an
increase as adm inistrators and
teachers figure out how to use it.”
Karen Powell, Educational P ro
gram Director for American Friends
Service Committee, represents par
ents and students in discipline hear
ings. She said Black children are
judged more harshly by teachers
and administrators.
“ Some teachers cannot handle
language differences. The kids will
say something forcibly and teachers
become afraid,” she added.
Ronnie Herndon, co-chair o f the
Black United Front, led the fight to
alleviate the disproportion facing
Black students in special education,
lower achievement levels and disci
pline. He complemented P ow ell’s
reasoning. “ Black students are
judged with a d iffe re n t yardstick.
You have individuals making deci
sions about discipline who are un
aware or not trained in how to work
with Black children.”
Herndon said the chief desegre
gation consultant, Asa H illiard, be
lieves that the majority of discipline
problems are the result of poor in
struction. “ When teacher expecta
tion rises, discipline problems de
crease.”
According to the district's analy
sis o f students suspended by cause
and ethnic group, the greatest cause
of suspension among white students
was “ unacceptable individual be
h a v io r,” follow ed by "b e h a v io r
with other students.” Among Black
students, the greatest cause o f sus
pensions was “ behavior with other
students" followed by “ behavior
with staff."
The Early Childhood Educational
Centers leading Black student sus
pension are Vernon with 33, Irving
ton with 11 and Boise with 7.
D r. Betsy Geddes, principal at
Vernon, called herself a “ discipli
narian.” “ Each child has a right to
learn. Those who choose to break
the rules must suffer the conse
quences. The emphasis is on a posi
tive approach — removal, re-entry
with a contract signed by the stu
dent."
The suspension rate for M idd le
School Whitaker with 47, Tubman
with 39 and Ocklcy Green with 27.
Herman Washington, principal of
Tubman, said the suspension rates
recorded were not reflective o f the
situation because o f in-house sus
pensions — where students are de
tained in "time-out rooms" — data
was not collected.
W ashington said he has never
agreed with in-house suspension.
"Staying at school and not working
does not make sense to me.”
Black students' suspension rate
for high schools are 81 for Jeffer
son. 43 for M adison arid 28 for
Grant.
The Desegregation M o n ito rin g
Advisory Committee recommended
(hat the district's discipline policy be
consistent in terminology, proced
ure and action. “ The development
o f a building's discipline plan
should continue. The plan should be
m andatory and require a specific
plan to address a high priority disci
pline problem.”
Pow ell said there is a two-step
process to lower the discipline dis
proportion. "Teachers and admin
istrators should apply rules fairly
and parents, along w ith the com
m unity, need to be more visible in
school."
H erndon agrees. “ I f you get a
notice saying your child has been
suspended, it’s too late."
Army holds Central America
style exercises in Oregon
by Robert Lothian
Three hundred and fifty troops
from the U .S . A rm y ’ s 2nd b a tta l
ion, 9th in fa n try , stationed at
Fort O rd , C a lifo rn ia , practiced
mountaineering at Oregon's Saddle
M ountain Stale Park near Seaside
from November 10- 18.
A t least one P ortland television
station, K O IN , in its news broadcast
o f Novem ber 14. said the troops
were there because steep volcanic
terrain at Saddle M ountain resem
bles sim ilar terrain in C entral
America. The maneuvers came at a
time of stepped-up U.S. military ac
tiv ity after the scare over the So
viet M IG s allegedly being unloaded
at a Nicaraguan port, said the K O IN
reporter.
Lt. Fred Burmester, acting logis
tics o ffic e r for the b attalio n , said
the training included mountain
clim bing and rapelling. “ It has
nothing to do with C entral A m er
ica,” he said.
Training also included "m ilita ry
operations in urban te rra in " at
Camp Rilea on the Oregon coast,
said Burmester. This involved prac
ticing entry techniques, setting up
defenses and knocking down walls
in a simulated village at the camp;
live blanks and smoke bombs were
used, he said.
The park remained open to the
public during the maneuvers.
FOCUS O N EN ER G Y: Free energy audits for homeowners
The Oil Heat Institute of Oregon,
in conjunction with the Oregon De
partm ent o f Energy, offers free
energy audits to homeowners and
renters who heat with oil, propane,
butane and kerosene. Homeowners
who heat with wood are also eligible
for the program, but must contact
their electric u tility to schedule an
energy a u d it. The audit qualifies
homeowners to apply for a 6 H %
loan or 50% cash rebate for wea
therization items recommended in
the energy audit.
To arrange for a free home energy
audit the homeowner must contact
the O il Heat In stitu te by calling
231-7071 (P o rtla n d ) or 1-800-
452-8660 (Statewide) and request an
energy audit.
A t the time o f the audit the cus
tomer will receive a lenders list des
ignating the banks that are offering
the low interest loans. The customer
must then take a copy o f the audit,
along with contractor bids, to the
bank and arrange for the 6 !6 % fi
nancing. There are no income guide
lines fo r the low cost financing.
Customers are responsible for hiring
their own weatherization contrac
tors, or may do the w ork them-
selveds.
For low income households,
homeowners may apply for a
50/50 cash rebate wherein the gov
ernment will pay for half of the cost
of weatherization, up to $1,218 for
a single family dwelling. At the time
o f the audit the customer w ill be
given a State Home Oil Weatheriza
tion (S H O W ) a p p lic a tio n , to be
completed and returned to the Ore
gon Departm ent o f Energy. Once
the D OE approves the application
the homeowner may have the wea
therization work completed and re
ceive the 50% cash rebate.
Please note: A ll customers must
have the free energy audit complet
ed before any of the weatherization
.- »• a • ’ • ■
Ip
work is done. O nly those items
showing cost effective on the energy
audit will be considered for financ
ing a n d /o r the 50% cash rebate.
The financing and rebate are not
retroactive.
A lax credit o f 15% o f the first
$2,000 spent on weatherization is
available to customers who do not
use the low interest financing an d /
or the 50% rebate. For more infor
mation on tax credits, contact the
Internal Revenue Service.
For fu rth e r in fo rm a tio n please
contact the O il Heat In stitu te o f
Oregon by calling 231-7071 or
I 800-452-8660 (toll-free).