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"Portlandia”
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IFCC Play
PORTLAND OBSERVER
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HUD program
improves inner
city lives
Tubman Principal Paul Coakley (center) and Linda Wake
field, administrative assistant over Curriculum, review
Ihe Department ot Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) has
hunched a program to improve ihe
inner citv living conditions ol low
income families Ihe tenant manage
ment program, being developed by
HUD and the National ( enter tot
Neighbor tuxxl I nterprise, is also ex
peeled to signiticanilv reduce the
tedeial government's costs lor public
housing
Olticials at III D believe tenant
management gix-s beyond govern
ment wellaie progiams and represents
a [X’sitive image ot ix-ople helping
themselves "Resident |tenant| man
agement groups have, to a degree,
overcome a sense ol defeatism in then
public housing project and have
helped to generate a sense ot respond
bilttv and com m unityaccording to
Robeit llundlev. office ot public
housing
In addition to helping people help
themselves and revitalizing public
housing complexes, the program
will save the government millions ot
(t.lSIars. I he I 3 million public hous
ing units m the United Stales cost
die government mote than $4 billion a
veai, according to Hl I) ( rime and
vandalism run rampant in these de
velopments, and many ate in the
countiv's woist slums I lie National
( enter lor Neighborhixxl I nterprise
is woiking with III D to tianstoim
some ot the most tioublesome public
housing communities into healthier
ueighhorhtxkls iluough a pilot pro
giam which turns building manage
ment over to the tenants
Rotx'H WTxxlson, president ot the
National ( entei lot Neighboihixxl
INleipiise and chairman ot the
( ouncil lot a Black I conoinic Agen
da, says the progiam represents "a
positive image ot [x-ople helping
themselves." "Sell help entrepreneur
ail strategies and resources already
in the Black community are more et
festive than government wrought
solutions," savs Wcxxlson.
The results already culled Irom U)
test-city projects have been stagger
mg. ( rime rates are down as much as
75 percent; teenage pregnancies have
declined nearly '<> percent, also, the
number ol female headed households
liave decreased, administrative costs
are down, vacancies and evictions
arc down, resident einplovinent has
increased, and rent collections are
up Several ol the developments even
instituted |ob, health and dav care
programs in addition to sound rest
dent management practices
A bill has been iiitnxluced bv Hep
Richard Armey (R lexas) which
would expand ihe demonstration
project into a nationwide progiam
teaching plan of John Wilhelimi
(Photo Richard J Brow n)
Tubman — Our future is bright
ftv Robert Lolhian
At 32, Paul Coakley is one ol the
youngest administrators in the Port­
land schixil system Coakley, principal
of the long-awaited new Tubman
Middle School, exudes a brightness
and energy consistent with the theme
of the new Tubman.
"Our future is Bright" is [sainted in
big letters near a hand holding the
torch of learning in the bright new
gym " lust to see the faces of the peo­
ple in attendance at the open house in
September made me feel that the fu­
ture is bright," Coakley said "This
particular school was born out of the
community. It was a feeling that this
school is ours and that's the feeling I
want to proiect."
W ith tise principals in five years,
plagued last seat bs arsonists, and oc­
casional bad press, I ubtnan’s difficul
ties of transition can now be pul be­
hind, ( oakley feels.
I he new building sets the stage for
the future, he said A brightly-lit multi
service area with a cathedral ceiling
and skylights is the frxus ol the build
mg which is an amalgam of the old
I hot Sctnx>l and a new addition The
afternoon sun shines through the sky
lights onto red brick walls, for a warm
mg effect.
Tammy Huynh, a 7th grader, a t­
tended the old I liot School "I think
it’s really gixxl because it's really much
bigger and room ier," she said about
the new building.
Coupled with the new building is
I ubman’s progressive curriculum, said
l oakles W ith Spanish, french, Ger­
man, photography, computers, ethnic
tixxls, Black history, shop classes and
language arts, "I leel that we have one
of the strongest curriculums of any
middle school in the country You
name it, we offer it."
On a recent Wednesday after
noon, Tubman 8th graders Jeremy
Swilt, Sharif Trot man, I or res Nelson,
and 7th grader Kurils Gamble were
setting up video equipment in the tele
vision production area I hey were
working on a script about tiandicapped
people.
I oakley was proud ol an innovation
at I ubman called the "reg room ,"
where students touch base with teach­
ers and administrators whoemphasize
the positive
learning to be success­
ful, getting along with others, and
"feeling gixxl about yourself.”
"Kids need to learn that they can
make it. I’m very big on th a t,"
( oaklev said He also stressed multi
cultural education. "It's not something
that comes in )ust on a certain day or
week of the y ear" at Tubman, he
said, but a daily product of contribu­
tions from the entire community.
( oakley also feels that the school
has built up the staff that can make
I ubman work: James Brannon, ad ­
ministrative assistant in charge of
discipline, I inda Wakefield, ill charge
of curriculum; (,'urtis Jones, student
management specialist; Annie Hugill
ney, guidance counselor; flame ( ¡ran
ms, integration specialist; Laura ford,
community agent; and many others,
not to mention the teachers.
With the combined energies of stu
dents, parents, commumtv and stall,
[tie new I ubman is oil to a blight stall
and tilings can onlv get better, said
f oaklev
" W e'le going Io do eveivthing we
can to see that our students excel aca
denucallv I leel that high expecta
lions are something vou don't let down
at any lime."
Ihe gregarious principal obviously
likes children, and tie often roams the
hall talking to students ami teachers
He said tie tries to walk a line line be
tween being turn and tan, but most
ot all consistent A little girl who had
to stay alter school once told him,
"You're mean, but it's a nice kind ol
mean."
( oaklev was with Ihe old I ubman
through the difficult vears from its
beginning in 1980, as a teacher ot Ian
guage arts, social studies, Black his
lory, head of career education and
administrative assistant
He came to I iikmail Iron, a "last
chance” high school in Murfreesboro,
Iennessee, where "We liked to leel we
made a difference." His first visit to
Portland was ill 1 9~8 Io study a special
reading program. ( oakley made such
a gixxl impicssion that he was asked it
he wanted to work ill the Portland
system When I ubman was described
to him, " I said, Wow, that sounds
real good
I want to be part of
that."
(O akley’s wife (a r lu s teaches
kindergarten at Vernon School
"Were into the education business,"
he said. I hey have two boys, Paul Jr.,
and Brian
U.S. Senate discriminatory
STUART PRINGLF
Anti-apartheid
protest set
by Jerry Garner
I he United Stales Senate has a bad
record when it comes to hiring Blacks.
A recent survey done by Cox News­
paper, reveals that the m ajority of
Black Senate staffers are in low paying
nonprofessional jobs and only a small
number are in jobs paying a salary of
$30,000 a year In 1983, more than
870 Senate staffers earned this
am ount, only 26 or 3 percent were
Black
Overall, the survey shows Blacks
are discriminated against in employ­
ment opportunities throughout the
U S Senate. Not only are Blacks dis­
criminated against in job opportune
ties. Blacks are not hired to work for
many senators fo r example, out of
3,000 people working for U .S . Sena
tors, only 259 or 8.6 percent are Black
Blacks make up only 6 percent of
the 744 full time employees who are on
the Senate Committees where the
nation’s laws arc fashioned Only a
small number of that 6 percent figure
hold professional posts.
Similar patterns of job discrimina­
tion against Blacks can be found in
the U.S. House of Representatives
I awmakers give many reasons why
there are so few Blacks employed
by the Senate and the House. I he
most common one heard is the state
has a small Black population. Another
reason given is many Black profes­
sionals prefer to work in private in­
dustry where the pay is better.
W hethcr Blacks are systematically
discriminated against by the House or
Senate is academic. This is because
>s
G r-
BOBBY SFALF
neither lawmaking bodies have strong
affirmative action programs.
The U.S. Senate has exempted it­
self from anti discrimination laws If
a Black congressional staffer feels he
or she has been discriminated against,
they have little recourse when it comes
to filing complaints against a C on­
gressman I lie Senate f t hies Commit
tee is supposed to handle such coin
plaints, bu, has no formal prixedures
for doing so.
In 1978 Senator John Glenn, D-
Ohio, tried to get a floor vote on a
resolution that would have established
a formal prixedure for handling dis­
crimination complaints. The resolution
was killed in a closed-door meeting by
the Senate Democratic Policy Com
mittee
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Apartheid debate
On Saturday, Oct 12th, Portland
will join cities across the country in a
day of anti apartheid protest People
will gather at lerrv Schrunk Pla/a at
noun for a march through downtown
Portland and return to Schrunk Plaza
for a rally.
Speakers will be an African Na
tiorial Congress representative, as
well as local clergy, labor and public
officials. Some of the endorsers ot the
event include: Albina Ministerial Al
liancc, (ecumenical Ministries ol Ore
gon, the Black I Tilted front, Oregon
federation of Teachers, National
I awyers Guild, National Organiza
tion for Women and the Urban
I eague.
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I he Assixialed Students ol the I niveisily ot Portland will spousoi a
debate between Bobby Seale and Stuail Pringle on I uesday, (let I*
topic tor the debate will be "A partheid Black and While, Green and
( mid Should America pull out its investments in South Africa'.’"
Seale, who is a former chairman ol the Black Panther Parts and a
community organizer, is presently director creator ot Advocates Scene
Inc . a non profit national community organizing netwoik centralized in
Washington, I) ( I or many years he has been deeply involved in the
struggle lor Black liberation and against institutionalized racism
Pringle, a dixumcntary film prixlucer, is a white Soutli African residing
in t)ie United States He supports apartheid, and is the founder ol
SOSSOS, a society dedicated Io recruiting teachers tor I turd World
countries Pringle maintains that the fundamental concept ol apartheid
is "extremely sound," and that, without apartheid. Blacks would sutler
from untan competition
I tie debate begins at 7:30 p in in the Buckley ( enter auditorium on
die I ol P campus I, is free and open to the public
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