Page 4, Portland Observer, April 17, 1966
S oon AS THE artificial H eart is in
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EDITORIAL/OPINION
THE MÉDtA TRE VJOCVÇ -
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ANGLES
Jackson spoilers missed boat
raro would not have been the nation’s first fe
male vice-presidential candidate. W h ile M o n
dale and G ary H art were squabbling during the
Democratic candidate debates, Jackson stuck to
issues and interjected early on that he would
There is an insidious move by the Democratic
Party and the m ass/white media to rewrite the
involvement, influence and actions o f the 1984
presidential candidacy o f Jesse Jackson.
It started two weeks ago w ith Democratic
loser W alter M on d ale’s public resentment o f
Jackson. “ I tried to treat the first Black candi
date for the president o f the U nited States w ith
dignity and accept the seriousness o f that candi
dacy,” M ondale stated in an interview with the
Washington Post. “ I d o n ’t believe Jesse treated
choose a female running mate.
H ad it not been for Jackson, the Democratic
party would not have had the progressive foresight
to squarely oppose apartheid. Had it not been for
Jackson, Rep. M argaret Carter would not be
down in Salem leading the fight to divest state
funds out o f South A frica . H ad it no, been for
Jackson, M a y o r Bud C lark would not be in C ity
H a ll, because the electoral glow from the R ain
bow C oalition gave him those percentage points
needed to defeat the incumbent in the prim ary.
T he m ass/white media negatively portrayed
Jackson in every newscast. The media over
reacted to M inister Louis Farrakhan due to their
ignorance o f Black culture. Farrakhan preached
me in an equivalent w a y .”
M on d ale’s sour grapes has tainted his percep
tion o f Jackson’s participation in the presidential
campaign, and his remarks are an insult to the
only voting bloc w ho stayed w ith his candidacy
— the Rainbow C oalitio n .
It was M on d ale who ignored the jobs, peace
and justice issues o f the Rainbow C o alitio n .
W hile M on d ale was boring audiences to tears,
Black nationalism — a concept older than
A m erica’s white male interpretation o f democ
racy. Jackson once joked that if he were to walk
on water the media would say he could not swim.
As members o f the Rainbow Coalition, it’s our
responsibility to interpret Jackson’s influence
jumped across continents, nations and states. M on
dale remains what he was throughout the campaign
Jackson elevated the passive presidential cam
paign into an active mode as he secured the re
lease o f L t. Robert G oodm an from Syria. Also,
on a mission o f peace to C u ba, Jackson gained
the release o f 14 Americans.
, f M on d ale wants to blame anyone for his
defeat, he needs to blame himself and his staff.
Even A ndrew Young, who was booed at the
Dem ocratic N ational Convention for urging
support for the racist duel prim ary system in
the south which locks out Blacks, observed
M o n d a le ’s staff by calling them , ” A bunch o f
— a loser.
Jackson was the first major candidate o f color
who carried the concerns o f the progressive, low-
income populace as his campaign platform. For
that he has earned his place in history as a champion
o f the people, while Mondale has earned the nght to
s m art-a-ed white boys. You can’t tell them any
thin g.” This is why M ondle lost.
H ad it not been for Jackson, Geraldine Fer
be remembered as a spoilsport.
Black, A frican studies in transition at PSU
by Nathaniel Scott
" In a world that is indeed one
global village, strong international ties
are critically important. . .for individ
uals who are trained in international
economics and politics, and the lan
guages and cultures o f those regions,”
states a brochure from Portland State
University’ s (PSU’ s) International
Studies Program, despite the fact that
Africa is excluded from the program.
The International Studies Program
has been heavily criticized for not in
cluding A frica in its "global village"
concept. And one PSU professor, D r.
W illiam " B ill” Little, associate pro
fessor in the Black Studies Depart
ment. labeled the affair "a n overt
act o f institutionalized racial discrimi
nation."
The program’s areas o f concentra
tion: East Asia, Central and East
Europe, la tin America and the M id
dle East, was made public the latter
par, o f 1984. But according to the
program’ s director. Dr. Earl Rees,
"T h e program was put together over
a period o f several years." He added
that, in his opinion, A frica was ex
cluded because "when dealing with
programs you must keep in mind that
money is attached.” The implication
was that (a) the Black Studies De
partment could not put together an
A frica Studies specification without
hiring new faculty, and (b) that the
main emphasis o f the program is
"East Asia.’ ’
W illiam Paudler, dean o f the col
lege o f liberal arts and sciences, in a
letter to the Observer on Jan. 4,
wrote: "T h is system o f budgeting for
Higher Education is designed to pre
clude offering low enrollment courses
and to encourage cost efficiency.’ ’ the
letter outlined and compared the
Black Studies Department’ s "student
credit hours per faculty member”
(courses and number o f students
taught) to "th e average faculty mem
ber in the college o f liberal arts and
sciences." White, Paudler said, ex
ceeds the Black Studies Department
by a ratio o f three to one.
Darrell M illner, head o f the Black
Studies Department, said, “ We (the
Black Studies Department) have never
said that African studies should be ex
clusively Black Studies."
Aside from that fact, the compon
ents necessary to implement a concen
tration on A frica are at PSU: A nthro
pology, Urban Studies, one or two
courses in the English department,
and other areas at PSU that teach
African or African related courses.
No hiring, no additional money; just
implementation.
But to quote one who wishes Ic
remain anonymous: “ One has to
wonder about the purpose and the in
tent o f the institution (PSU).”
Dr. Candice Goucher, Black Stu
dies' only female faculty member,
teaches in her African History class,
that “ A frica is the birthplace o f hu
manity.” She maintains that the ear
liest evidence o f human origin comes
from Africa and that makes A frica
the continent with the longest evi
dence o f human history.
Moreover, she teaches that "Lucy,”
the skeletal remains o f a teenage girl,
dates to 3.5 m illion yeas ago. And
anthropology, in its teaching, says
man crawled onto the shores o f A fri
ca when he emerged from the sea.
Yet! " in a world that is indeed one
global village,” the cradle o f man's
civilization is excluded.
Calvin Henry, president o f Ore
gon’s assembly for Black A ffairs,
said, “ (The exclusion o f Africa) shows
where the heads o f the people are;
some steps should be taken to include
African studies into the program ."
He added that public education is
paramount to a free society.
According to Dr. Joseph Blumel.
president o f PSU, a committee is
being developed to determine whether
or not A frica should be included in
the International Studies Program
The purpose o f the committee, he
said, "Is to look at what resources we
have (and if there aren't enough re
sources available) to look at how
much it would take to get it (the A fri
can segment o f the program) going.”
Blumel said the committee will be
gin working this spring quarter. He
added that he hasn’ t appointed any
one to the committee because he is
still waiting for recommendations.
So, as the saying goes: the ball is in
their court: "W e are going to be com
mitteed to death."
But, Calvin Henry maintains “ ac
countability” is the key thing He
emphasized that we (Blacks) are not
consistently out there pushing our
needs; and that most definitely we
need to sell our needs to the rest o f the
country.
Henry believes that strong com
mitment is needed He maintains that
the legislature meets in Salem and
that's where lobbying should take
place. (Someone else suggested in the
March 27th edition o f the Observer
that Blacks need to “ mainstream .” )
"A fric a is very important to the
well-being o f the United Stales,”
Henry insisted. And without a doubt,
A frica and Black Studies are impor-
tant to PSU.
Portland Observer
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33
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College education: For the rich only?
A long I he C o lo r Line by Dr. M anning Marable
Perhaps the best index o f social
inequality is the accessibility o f higher
education to people o f color in the
United Stales. After his reelection.
President Reagan proposed the elim
ination o f student loans from families
earning above S32.5OO per year, and
an annual ceiling o f
for federal
loans to all eligible students. This ef
fort is yet another indication o f how
far we have declined from the popular
consensus o f two decades ago con
cerning the necessity o f providing
access io higher education to all.
Desegregation campaigns o f the
I96fh forced white public and p ri
vate academic institutions to permit
the enrollment o f Black students for
the first time. The numbers o f Black
faculty, administrators and students
also increased dramatically at white
schools in the North and West. Such
gains were not simply the product o f
the demise o f Jim Crows, but occurred
due to expanded federal financial
loans to low and moderate income
students.
Philanthropic
agencies,
pressured by the Civil Rights and Black
Power movements, belatedly provid
ed millions o f dollars in grants and
scholarships to Black students. Since
the late 1970s, with the national re
treat from the "Second Reconstruc
tio n ," the pressure to accelerate Black
educational opportunities was re
tarded. and during Reagan's tenure
the tide has been reversed The per
centage o f Black high school seniors
going directly into four year colleges
has fallen sharply.
The latest trend on campuses, the
shocking increases in tuition fees,
will also have a direct impact on m i
nority education. At a time when
inflation has cixiled o ff for several
years, college costs continue to climb
The Ivy I eague schools lead the way.
Princeton University’s overall costs
fo r tuition, room and board w ill be
$14,940 next fall;Yale University,
$15,020; Brown University, $14,765;
Dartmouth College, $14.860 Other
elite, private institutions are charging
roughly the same fees, if not more.
This year’ s tuition and fees at the
Massachusetts Institute o f Technolo
gy cost a staggering $16,130. Wes
leyan University in Connecticut plans
to increase student charges next year
by 8.5 percent, to $14,440; Stanford
University is hiking fees 7.5 percent,
t o $14,893; St. Lawrence students will
face costs o f $15,376, an increase o f 7
percent. Higher tuition costs arc less
severe for state supported institutions,
but nevertheless remain quite sleep.
The University o f Connecticut at
Storrs, for example, plans to increase
in-slate charges to $4,226, and out-
of-state fees w ill go up to $6,776 The
costs o f attending a public college in
the U.S. now average $5,000, and
private college average costs slightly
exceed $9,000. Since 1980, college
costs have been higher than the over
all rate o f inflation by 21 percent at
public schools and 29 percent at pri
vate scflools.
Not surprisingly, a debate has en
sued over the high costs o f higher edu
cation. The median while fam ily in
come at about $28,000 annually can't
provide the $60,000 needed to get
one studenty through Stanford. Yale
or Princeton. And given that the
Black median family income is below
$15,000, most Black households can't
even come up with the tuition, room
and board lees at most state colleges.
Only the upper classes can a fford to
finance for their children the best
education money can buy.
Conservatives who retain a barely
concealed contempt for "liberal arts"
and the principle o f educational op
portunity for all are now advocating
the application o f "Reaganomics” to
resolve the college crisis. Instead o f
increasing federal student aid pro
grams, conservatives urge colleges to
tighten their collective belts and to
lower costs. Journalist Tim othy
Noah, writing recently in the New
York Times, suggested that profes
sors’ salaries should be frozen " fo r a
year or tw o to bring college costs in
line” ; that the number o f classroom
teaching hours per professor should
be doubled; and that the administrat-
tive costs be slashed " t o a more rea
sonable level by firing the more super
fluous assistant deans.” College ad
ministrators counter that faculty
salaries actually fell 19 percent be
tween 1970 and 1980, and to call fo r a
pay freeze would drive many re
searchers and teachers out o f the pro
fession, especially in the natural sci
ences. Many universities are spending
millions o f dollars to improve their
computer programs and libraries;
others have been forced to compen
sate fo r reductions in federal funds.
Top college administrators’ salaries
are also usually well below those o f
chief executive officers o f firms which
have comparable budgets. So the
solution is not massive cost-cutting.
The only realistic strategy would be
first, to expand federal student loan
programs at low or no interest rates to
all prospective students. Federal in
vestments in "hum an capital" yield
long-term dividends, in the form o f
higher taxes and productivity. Sec
ond, new federal programs which
guarantee funds based on need should
be developed for households earning
less than $20,000. Third, political
pressure must be applied to colleges to
maintain tough affirm ative action
goals in the recruitment and reten
tion o f m inority and women student»,
faculty and staff. I f such measures
aren’t taken, the percentage o f Black
and la tin o students who complete
four year programs at universities will
fall sharply before the 1990s. A cuj
lege education should not be for the
rich alone.
Dr. Manning Marable teaches p o
litical sociology at Colgate University,
Hamilton, New York. "'Along the
Color I m e " appears m over HO news
papers internationally.
Letters to the Editor
The Observer welcomes letters to
the e d ito r. Letters sh o u ld be typed
o r neatly printed and signed with the
a u th o r's name and address (a d
dresses are n o t p ublished). We re
serve the right Io edit f o r length. M a il
to : P o rtla n d O bserver, P. O. Box
3137, Portland, OB 9720H
Stop unfair
bank practices
The Portland Observer w at estat». ned m 1970
OH w t CENûVt THAT AS PACT OF
THE OPERATO*/
MJRAT ABOUT THE PATIENT'S
P P J V K -Ÿ ?
To the Editor,
An unfair banking practice exists
in Oregon. It is called the "bank float"
and under it, a bank can put a hold
on a deposited check and not allow
the customer access to those funds for
a certain period o f lime. Sometimes
this hold can be too long and I think
this is not only unfair but it is an in
convenience
for
students,
senKH
citizens, and other fixed income citi
zens.
I am a college student and I had
trouble with my bank at the beginning
o f last term. I deposited a check into
my account and was told there would
be a 14-day hold on it. I waited 14
days before writing any checks on
that money but my checks still bounced
because the hold had been extended
without notifying me. I was spared
from paying late fines for my tuition
only through the generosity o f triends
I can see where other people may have
trouble paying bills, etc., when holds
arc placed. This is particularly un
fair since the banks have use o f the
money one or two days after deposit.
I have heard of a bill that would
solve the problem o f hank customers
being inconvenienced. The bill, being
supported by the Oregon Stale Public
Interest Research Group (OSPIRG),
would set reasonable hold periods for
Oregon banks. Although many bank
ers contend that check-holding and
long float periods are not a problem
in Oregon, I know several people
who have had problems similar to
mine.
I urge anyone who has had prob
lems with a bank, savings and loan,
or credit union holding your checks
for lengthy periods o f lime (i.e., over
a week) IO write lo OSPIRG at 027
SW A rthur St., Portland 97201, so
they can show legislators that there is
indeed a problem.
Is the bank float a problem in Ore
gon? We know best.
JE N N Y P O L A K O V
McKenna: "Thanks'
To the Editor,
I want to express my deep appreci
ation and thanks to The Observer and
Mr. Jernigan fo r the recent awards
bestowed upon me and three o f my
players.
Belive me, it is an honor to be the
recipient o f The Observer's "Coach
o f the Year” award. The Observer is
a paper I read regularly, use in my
classes at Grant and is a paper whose
integrity I respect. It means a lot that
our efforts at Grant are recognized by
a vital part o f the community we try
to serve. I gratefully acknowledge
and accept the award in the name ol
my players and my two fine assistants,
Ms. Brenda Skinner and M r. Jefl
Gamble.
1 also want to acknowledge the
work o f M r. Jernigan. His coverage
o f the P .I.L . and, in particular, ot
women's basketball has been great
and offers encouragement to young
women who often work at and play
sports in anonymity.
T O M M cK E N N A
Women's Basketball Coach
Grant H.S.