Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, December 16, 1987, Image 1

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    K rs Franses Schocn-L’ewspoper Raon
l . 'v . s i t y o f Oregon L ib r a r y
. - ‘ 3=ne, O regon 97403
Michael Spinks Day
in New York
Robert Parker
Speaks to
Oregonians
Page 6
Page 6
Bogle Against Racism
Page 2
Apology From Roseburg
Page 8
25C
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PORTI
US P S 959 600 0556
Copvnobt Ei<e Publistna Co
Inc 1904
Jackson Campaign Calls For Volunteers
by Avel Gordly
Forty-five
enthusiastic
Jesse
Jackson supporters turned out for a
Jackson Campaign volunteer meet­
ing on Tuesday, December 8th, at
the King Neighborhood Facility.
Ron Herndon, Oregon Chair for the
Jackson Campaign, opened the
meeting by reminding the crowd
that Jesse Jackson is the front­
runner in several national polls, and
that he can win if his candidacy
is supported.
Herndon, who was a Jackson
delegate at the 1984 Democratic
Convention, noted that in the 1984
Presidential election, Jackson cap­
tured 11 % of the Oregon vote. This
was highly significant in a state
where Blacks make up only 2% of
the population, and clearly demon­
strated Jackson's broad appeal at
the time, an appeal which has
grown substantially, according to
Herndon. "A ctivity in the state of
Oregon reflects the momentum
building around the country. Peo­
ple support Jackson because he's
clear on the issues that matter to
the average person. He is also the
one candidate who inspires young
people all across this country. What
we have to do now is get out the
vote," said Herndon.___________
Jackson supporters share
common concerns
In another presentation at the
volunteer meeting, Marty Hart-
Landsberg, professor at Lewis and
Clark College and Political Educa­
tion Chair of the Oregon Labor for
Jackson Steering Committee, out­
lined several campaign issues. He
emphasized that Jackson can win
with the support of a powerful
broad base of the American people
who share common and linked con­
cerns. Hart-Landsberg said, "These
are people who are concerned
about getting a decent economy
that will lead to jobs; concerned
about questions of peace and jus­
tice, such as racism and sexism,
which are used to keep people divi­
ded; and they are people concerned
about questions of U.S. foreign po­
licy, a policy which is directed at
U.S. domination of the third
w orld."
Hart-Landsberg argued that the
issues of bringing about a decent
economy, questions of peace and
Jackson supporters at the firs t
on, Oregon Chair o f the
— Jackson Campaign, greets
m eeting held Tuesday, December 8th. at the King N eighborhood . acility.
Photo by Richard J. Brown
justice, and questions of U.S.
foreign policy are all linked, but that
people have a tendency to deal se­
parately with these issues, which
ians. It chose to fund basic health
care. Oregon's Medicaid program
was expanded to provide access to
basic health care for more pregnant
women and children. Eligibility for
the Medically Needy Program was
expanded. Medical coverage under
the UDC-UN program was increas­
ed from 8 to 10 months per year.
These changes will provide access
to basic medical care for approxi­
mately 24,000 people at a cost of
$18.1 million. Coverage for trans­
plants (except kidney and cornea)
was ended July 17, 1987. All re­
quests received prior to that date
have been approved and all approv­
ed transplants will be paid regard­
less of when the surgery occurs.
The following information out­
lines the transplants covered by
Adult and Family Services:
Bone Marrow: 1 child (2 trans­
plants) and 9 adults; approximate
cost per transplant: $75,000; Cur­
rent status: 4 out of 10 are still
living.
Heart: 4 adults; approximate cost
per transplant: $45,000; current sta­
tus: 3 out of 4 are still living.
Liver: 2 children; approximate
cost per transplant: $92,000; current
status: None are still living.
Pancreas: 2 adults; approximate
cost per transplant: $35,000; current
status: 2 out of 2 are still living.
The above information is based
on 19 transplants performed bet
ween July 1985 and the present.
Of the 9 living transplant recipients
since July 1985, 3 were done within
the last six months.
The following delineates the
transplant requests denied since po­
licy changes came into effect in July
1987:
Pancreas: 1 request; Heart: 1 re­
quest; Bone marrow: 1 request;
Liver: 2 requests. An additional 3
inquiries have been made without
official requests.
the military buildup is robbing us of
money to fund social programs and
the ability to modernize our infra­
structure," he said. "U.S. domina­
Volunteers needed for
local campaign
As the Oregon Jackson Cam-
Continued on Page 6
Racial Incidents Discussed at
Cleveland High School
Oregon Medicaid Organ
Transplant Services Explained
Beginning in approximately Jan­
uary 1985, Adult and Family Ser­
vices (AFS) began to experience a
significant increase in the number of
organ transplant requests. This was
due to advances in medical techno­
logy as well as the availability of
new antirejection adrugs.
Prior to January 1985, AFS had
only received three requests for
transplants. In the six month period
from January to June 1985, five
requests were received.
Effective Janaury 1, 1987, Sec­
tion 9507 of the Consolidated Omni­
bus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1985 (COBRA) imposes explicit re­
quirements on state Medicaid pro­
grams as a condition for receiving
federal matching funds for organ
transplant services.
In order to
comply with this change in the law,
Oregon submitted standards to the
Health Care Financing Administra­
tion specifically covering heart,
liver, bone marrow, kidney and cor­
nea transplants.
Because of the growing impact of
transplants on its budget, AFS pre­
sented information on the trans­
plant program to the 1987 Ways and
Means Subcommittee on Human
Resources. The data presented
showed that AFS expected to pay
for 19 transplants in the 1985-87
Biennium at a cost of $1.2 million
and was projecting costs of $2.2
million for 34 transplants in the
1987-89 Biennium. Costs were ex­
pected to double again in the 1989
91 Biennium.
AFS's position was that at some
point it must clearly face the ques
tion of continuing transplant cover­
age, or investing in more basic types
of health care which would poten-
tailly benefit a much larger number
of people.
The Legislature weighed the op­
tions of increased payments for
transplants vs increased access to
basic health care for more Oregon­
not only keep them divided but keep
them from winning victories for so­
cial justice.
"Spending on the arms race and
tion of the third world, which is
what U.S. foreign policy is all
about, has created a context for
U.S. Capital to run away from this
country. When the U.S. auto indu­
stry closes plants in Detroit and
opens them in Korea, there is a con­
nection. When U.S. steel closes
down production of steel imports
from South Korea, there is a con­
nection. This means that our jobs
and economic base is going else­
where . . . the companies say they'd
like to stay but need to go where
the wages are lower; thus, the U.S.
labor movement is also under as­
sault. We need to stop the arms
race."
Hart-Landsberg ended by saying
that Jesse Jackson is the only can­
didate who understands the need to
build a movement of people who
want to work for peace and justice,
who want to work for a just eco­
nomy, and who want to work to
eradicate racism and sexism. ___
by Nyewusi Askari
Last week's meeting to address
complaints of racial incidents at
Cleveland High School raised more
questions than it answered.
While school administrators insist
that the complaints do not consti­
tute a problem, Black parents con­
tinue to maintain that racial inci­
dents at the school are on the rise.
Several parents expressed dis­
appointment at the school's inability
to identify racial problems before
they occur. Others said they felt
that school administrators at Cleve­
land did a poor job of effectively
communicating with Black parents
about racial conditions at the
school.
School administrators disagreed.
Cleveland Principal, Robert O’Neil,
said that Cleveland is no different
than any other school when it
comes to racial incidents. His claim
was endorsed by three Cleveland
students who said that the school s
climate was not "potentially explo­
sive" as reported by the news
media. Strangly, no Black students
were present to give their percep­
tions of the situation.
Gregory Gudger, Executive Direc­
tor of the Metropolitan Human Re­
lations Committee, said,
We re
glad that this meeting is taking place
so that the different perceptions of
parents, teacher, in-school admini­
strators, and out-of-school admini­
strators can be heard. I agree with
the parent who said that we would
have been a little more informed if
a cross section of students had
been invited to participate."
"I think its really clear that several
steps need to be taken in order to
ensure proper reporting of racial in-
M illie Glover (2nd from L), whose daughter is a
student at Cleveland H.S., asks questions of
cidents or racial problems. An in­
house reporting system should be
implemented throughout the school
building to each teacher. Portland
Public Schools should consider
establishing a similar system for ad­
ministrators, so that they will be
able to monitor these situations as
they occur.
A reporting system
should be clearly spelled out and
communicated throughout the sys­
tem, and the system should involve
both parents and the community
at large. This will let everyone
know what the nature of the con­
flicts and disputes are before they
reach an explosive level," Gudger
Robert O 'Neil, Principal at Cleveland, concerning
racial incidents.
Photo by Richard J. B row n
concluded.
Parents were informed that the
present reporting system requires
that complaints first be reported to
the Integration Specialist.
If a
parent is unable to resolve the pro­
blem there, he or she can take the
problem to the school's principal.
If no resolution is arrived at, parents
can then contact Ms. Edith Wilson
at Lewis Elementary School (280-
5768). Ms. Wilson says her job is
to supervise Cleveland High School
as well as other feeder schools in
the community.
By the time the meeting ended,
parents and school administrators
agreed that it had produced some
positive results.
Principal O'Neil
said, "I thought it was a good meet­
ing. I really appreciated hearing
what parents and community peo­
ple had to say. I think that one of
the things I learned is I need to go
back and take a look at some of our
programs. We may be doing some
isolation where we should be doing
more cross-cultural types of things.
I think I heard that loud and clear.
And we will begin to assess some of
those situations as early as tom or­
row. anytime I can sit and listen to
parents in this kind of setting, it's
a good setting."
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