Paye 2 Portland Observer, January 21, 198/
Letters to the Editor
Time For An Understanding
It is interesting to watch the developing fued
between Portland's Black Leadership Confer
ence and newly elected Governor Neil Gold
Schmidt's office in Salem.
to what triggered the dispute, the differences
between the two factions are trivial; lying on
the surface —waiting for an amicable resolu
tion.
The problem is apparently attributed to
campaign promises allegedly made by the
Governor in order to secure the group's en
dorsement during the recently completed
gubernatorial campaign.
The BLC claims Governor Goldschmidt
agreed to consult with them on certain issues
pertaining to the Black community, citing
appointments in the penal system and econo
mic development as examples.
The group further claims that correspon
dence (including at least two certified letters)
was ignored and numerous telephone calls
were not returned According to press state
ments, the correspondence asked Gold
Schmidt to explain how he planned to live up
to promises he made before the Black Leader
ship Conference last March
Spokespersons from the Governor's Office
attempted to downplay issues by offering the
recent appointment of Freddye J Webb
Petet, as Welfare head in defense of Gold
Schmidt's commitment to Blacks. Ms Petett,
as the so far lone appointee, most certainly is
embarrassed to be used in this manner, and
the comment on her appointment was an af
front to other Blacks
Goldschmidt need not define his record on
Civil Rights It is parallelled in this state only
by that of the late governor Tom McCall, in so
far as equal opportunities for all races are con
cerned. Throughout his political career, the
Governor has earned remarkable grades, both
locally and on the national scene, after serving
his apprenticeship in the Civil Rights arena in
Mississippi in 1962 63
So, perhaps, to be branded insensitive after
less than two weeks on the job may be some
what premature.
The problems confronting Blacks in this
state appear to mandate new direction given
the state of Oregon's economy And, with the
talent that is available in both camps, a meet
mg of the minds seems to be in order
So, gentlemen, which shall make the first
move?
The Oregonian quotes Ron Herndon, co
leader of the B L.C., as accusing the Gold
Schmidt campaign for "lack of coordination
and, ultimately, respect shown the Black com
m unity."
The response from the Governor's office
ranges from being "to o busy to answer letters
or return telephone calls,” to a complete de
nial by the Governor that these promises were
made.
While we may never know the real truth as
jf S
Anonymous
Health watch
by Steven Bailey. N O
A couple o f weens ago, Jerry Garner, o f the Portland
Observer, w ro te an article about recent studies that
show that sortie drugs (qKM P^||y marijuana) may da
mage the human immune System He cited a recently
com pIr-tykM udy done at
University on THC (the
active ingredient in MarijuanaT. as well as mentioning
cigarettes and alcohol as other immune depressing
substances Today, l td like to go a little further into
the immune system and some of its stressors
The immune system is a miraculous and vital part of
the human system It is made up of tw o separate class
es o f cells called the granulocytes and agranulocytes.
w hich represent the cellular and humoral systems re
spectively W hile we used to think that these tw o sys
terns were com pletely diffe re n t from each other, we
recognize that part of the agranulocytes also have a
cellular com ponant to them
Jerry aluded to part of
this, when he w rote about the natural killer cells that
are depressed by THC
The term "c e llu la r" refors to the fact that this group
of cells fig h ts infectious organisms on a one to one
cellular level while the humoral cells release chemicals
into the blood system (old term, the "h u m o rs "), w hich
specifically fight o ff an invading organism The humoral
cells are the ones that are responsible for im m unity to
flus, etc , and are the cells affected in the AIDS infoc
bon
Both systems are needed to assure health and
avoid life threatening infection
W hile many people have considered marijuana a rela
lively harmless drug, we are now realizing that there
are im portant immune and respitory concerns involved
w ith its use
As w ith mari|uana. we are also finding
that there are many other substances that affect the
im m une system
Alm ost all stim ulants that act on the adrenal glands
have the potential to depress immune function Part of
the depression involves the increased depletion of vita
mins C, B 6. and zinc as well as the long term malnu
tritio n found in many users o f stimulant drugs Cocaine
(including crack) and speed are some o f the recreational
drugs that are in the category of stimulants that nega
lively affect the im m une system Other, lesser stimu
lants, that have been linked to immune deoression in
Vv
research, include high intake of coffee and highly con
centrated sugars
Other drugs that have a known depression of the
immune system include those known as anti m itotic
M itosis is the process of cell division and is necessary
for an active immune process At the most severe end
o f the anti m itotic spectrum are the cancer drugs used
to slow tum or grow th In the middle are the cortisone
type of anti m flam atory drugs w hich are prescribed as
well as available in over the i ounter preparations At
the other end of the spectrum are drugs such as aspnn
w hich, while less im pactful than the tw o previous
groups, still is know n to moderately depress certain
immune processes In fact, all of these drugs are simi
lar in their action, and dosage is the more accurate way
of defining the severity of their immune depression
W ith the tragic onset of AIDS outbreak in the w orld,
it is more im portant than ever to nourish your immune
system through drug free life styles
W hile there is
still much that remains unknow n atrout AIDS. I still
firm ly believe, as I w rote in Healthwatch over 2 years
ago, that a depressed immune system is an integral
part of the succeptability to the life threatening actions
of the AIDS virus
As m ore is know n about AIDS,
the belief that some people w ho contact the virus can
successfully fig h t it o ff is becoming accepted in the or
thodox medical com m unity
A healthy immune system involves many aspects
There is certainly the choice to avoid immune depres
sing activities and indulgences, such as use of recrea
tional and pharm aceutical drugs The negative affects
of stress are also found to involve immune depression,
and, likewise, stress management, including exercise
is helpful for a healthy im m une system
Finally, there are the known relationships of nutn
tion and the im m une system These include the intake
o, beta carotene. Vitam in C, Vitamins B , B 2 B 3.
B 6. and zinc and magnesium These substances can
be found in m any w hole foods as well as in over the
counter vitam in supplem ents Consult a knowledgable
person for appropriate dosage if you plan to take these
in supplemental form
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Say you saw it in the
Racist Vigilantism and Against Blacks Police Attacks
Lynching a Black person - along w ith baseball, hot
dogs, and Fourth o f July picnics - is an American tradi
tion. Scapegoat politics, or blame the victim vigilan
tism. always surfaces whenever the political establish
ment turns its back on civil rights for m inorities
The most recent publicized example of racially mob
vated random violence occurred in a middle class, w hite
neighborhood in Queens. New York, last m onth Three
Black men were forced to walk through the w hite area
when their car broke dow n
S topping briefly to p u r
chase a pizza, they were harrassed by a gang o f w hite
youths, w ho shouted
"Niggers, you do n 't belong
h e re l" The Black men were chased and beaten w ith
fists, tree limbs and a baseball fiat One victim managed
to escape, and another brutally beaten man survived
only by pretending to be unconscious
But the third
Black man, 23 year old Michael G riffith, was beaten
and forced to flee across a highway Struck by an a u to
mobile, G riffith 's body smashed the windshield, was
throw n against the centerline divider, and he was killed
A lthough several w hite suspects were quickly arres
ted, the crimes provoked an uproar as well as some
hypocritical posturing by local w hite politicians Mayor
Ed Koch quickly termed the incident "a racial lyn ch in g "
and "th e most horrendous in cid e n t" of his nine years in
office But Koch, a vicious political opponent of most
Black and progressive causes, had directly contributed
to the anti Black political culture in the city
Black leaders in New York understood the real issues
behind G riffith 's death Civil rights attorney C Vernon
Mason noted that it had become "m o re acceptable for
whites to take the law into their ow n hands" w hen they
encounter Black people New York Urban League Di
rector Harriet Michel observed. "T h e attackers felt that
they had a right to punish Michael G riffith, and punish
him because he was Black
. Since this is not an isola
ted incident, finding the culprits is not e n o u g h ."
We should expand M ichel's critique to the entire
country, because in the 1980s. racist violence and police
intim idation have become almost com m onplace.
In
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, A New Orleans suburb,
Sheriff Harry Lee announced a "n e w strategy for com
bating crim e " last m onth
" If there are some young
Blacks driving a car late at night in a predom inantly
w hite area. " Lee stated, they w ill t>e stopped " After
harsh criticism from civil rights groups. Lee was forced
An Investment in Oregon's Recovery
by W illiam E Davis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(W illiam t
D avit
it
chancellor ot the Oteyon Stale S y ttem ot Higher
Education, t
W hen you hire winners, you can count on a payoff as
surely as when you buy a winning lottery ticket
Recently. I saw an analysis that illustrates how hiring
and keeping the best college and university faculty can
pay o ff even better than that
In a nationwide survey of university chem istry depart
ments. the 23 member University of Oregon depart
ment ranked ,1th in outside research dollars generated
per faculty member
This may surprise you
The UO chem istry depart
ment w on an average of $185,OCX) per faculty member
in outside research support, more than prestigious
schools such as Yale. UCLA. Northwester, Purdue and
UC Berkeley
That and other money is being added to the Oregon
economy because we hired outstanding faculty w ith
excellent reputations
But Oregon, long at the back o, the salary pack, is
struggling |ust to stay even
The need to hire and retain excellent faculty is the
reason the Oregon Slate Board of Higher Education
established faculty salaries as its No 1 general fund
priority in the ,987 Oregon Legislature
Nearly everyone understands that to attract the best
people, we must be com petitive A fter years of neglect.
Oregon is beginning to do that
In 1985 the Oregon Legislature voted $40 million for
higher education salaries This money was used no,
only for across the board raises, but also to recognize
top professors and to pay more in highly com petitive
disciplines such as business and the sciences
As a result, faculty salaries at Oregon's three major
public universities are expected to rise to 76,h ou, of
108 comparable institutions
This is good news for
Oregonians w ho w an, their public colleges and univer
sities to deliver the best no, only in education, research
and public service, bu, also economic recovery.
As recently as las, year, faculty salaries a, Oregon’s
research universities were an embarrassing disgrace,
ranking a, or near the bottom among comparable
schools
The State Board has asked for 6 5 percent faculty
Portland Observer!
to rescind the order
But most local w hites. Republi
cans and Democrats alike, rallied behind the sheriff
Lee is now the overw helm ing favorite for reelection as
sheriff this year. As both George W allace and Ronald
Reagan have sh> wn prev
sly. race baiting is still a
popular technique to w in whites support
In Tampa. Florida several weeks ago. New York Mets
pitching star D w ight Gooden and his friends were pulled
over for careless driving The w hite police officers claim
that Gooden leaped from the driver's seat, swore and
began to attack them
Gooden was forcibly subdued
and charged later w ith resisting arrest and assaulting
police officers
But eyewitnesses tell a very different
story Joseph Riley, a Black construction worker who
saw the arrest, states that Gooden hit no one and that
the police "grabbed him w hen he was reaching for his
wallet
Gooden was smashed in the face w ith a flash
light, and w ent dow n Jerry Halstead, a w hite execu
live w ho also witnessed the incident, states that Good
en was lying on the ground, when the police "w ere
h itting him w ith nightsticks or flashlights
Even some
policem en's accounts o f the case are at variance w ith
the details provided by other arresting officers
The
Gooden case shows that neither money nor social sta
tus can protect innocent Blacks from becoming victim s
o f racist brutality.
There are literally hundreds of similar cases each year,
most o f w hich are never publicized
Last summer in
Brooklyn, for instance, a w hite gang attacked a Black
bus driver w ith o u t any provocation Beating him sense
less w ith baseball bats and garbage can covers, a crow d
of neighborhood whites applauded and cheered the
vigilantes No arrests were made in the case
These and other incidents are directly attributable to
the Reagan adm inistration's contem pt for civil rights
and civil liberties. The president has fostered the gene
ral attitude that Blacks have "been given too m u c h "
and that affirm ative action is "reverse discrim ination".
As New York Black activist Charles Baron relates, poll
tical leaders and the legal system "are sending a clear
message to police and vigilantes
This racist climate
has created less respect for Black life ." As long as the
Black Freedom Movem ent remains on the defensive in
its struggle against both Reaganism and racism inside
the political arena and criminal justice system, these
vicious attacks w ill continue unchecked
salary increases to keep up w ith raises the colleges and
universities across the nation, plus 1 85 percent to move
Oregon forward
The State Board's goal is to pay salaries comparable
to those in states of similar size and resources such as
Colorado. Kansas. Arizona, Nevada, Iowa and W yo
ming
Reaching this goal w ill help our public, four year
colleges and universities do even more to stimulate the
Oregon economy
Oregon State University figures probably 50 faculty
members on the Corvalli6 campus bring in $100.000 or
more annually in grants and contracts.
For example, a biochem istry professor brought in an
average o f $377,000 a year over a five year period while
a geophysics professor averaged $375 000 annually for
five years.
A , the U of 0 , four recently hired science faculty
together have attracted more than $4 m illion in grants
U nfortunately, we also have dozens of examples of
good people w ho have left Oregon and w ho have re
fused job offers from Oregon schools for better sala
ties elsewhere A , the U of 0 . for example, tw o assi
stan, professors of marketing left to earn $5,000 and
$6,500 more a, the U niversity o f Tennessee and Univer
sity o f Alabama A , Oregon Institute of Technology in
Klamath Falls, a com puter systems instructor let, a
$25.600 job to earn $45 000 (w ith a reduced teaching
load) at the University o f Iowa
Top flight professors no, only attract research dollars
to their states, w hich economists tell us turn over seve
ral times more in every sector of the economy; bu, these
people also attract companies that w an, to be near the
brainpower, and the research, o f scholars and research
ers w ho can help them develop and sell successful pro
ducts These companies, in turn, generate m illions of
dollars in investments and thousands of jobs.
M oreover, hrs, rate professors deliver excellence in
the classroom, w hich helps to guarantee the career and
personal success of our sons and daughters.
No doubt about i, A ttracting the best college and
university teachers and researchers into our state col
leges and universities is a sure bet for Oregon.
Portland Observer
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