K r» F ra n c e s S cho e n-Le w sp a pe r Toon I : • - 3 '.ty o f C - n L ib r a r y AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY SPECIAL Randall Robinson Speaks at PSU Athletic Discipline Page 8 Section II Page 8 ■ *<■ -. . »Si s ÏSi * ». 25C 7 ERVER P O R TL •’ r* ’-3 5V- USPS 969 680 8665 ; V* ; -, -'•■’ • PIIAC: Progress Report by Nyewusi Askari Back in the early 1980s when alle gations of police officer misconduct were running rampant, the City of Portland appointed a Citizens Task Force On Internal Affairs. Its pur pose was to conduct a six-month study and make recommendations on how the Police Internal Investi gation process might be improved and how the public's confidence could be restored or enhanced. On July 16, 1982, the Task Force submitted a final report to the Mayor and Police Chief. The re port listed eight major conclusions and made 20 specific recommenda tions for improvement. One specific recommendation called for the esta blishment of an on-going Citizens' Committee to verify the fairness of the Internal Investigations process. In November, 1982, City Council voted to create such a committe comprised of three members of the Council, city staff personnel and citizen volunteers. They were char ged with the responsibility, autho rized by Section 2-109 of the Char ter of the City of Portland, to in vestigate the Internal Investigations System, utilized by the Bureau of Police for resolving allegations of police officer misconduct, by re viewing the overall process and by hearing certain appeals, filed by either the complaining citizen or the accused officer in such cases. Survey Reveals Losers in Price War: The Consumer by Ian MacCrae A 20-pound box of laundry deter gent costs $9.49 at Fred Meyer. The same item costs $12.99 at Safe way and Albertson's, and $14.69 at Kienow's and Corno Foods. An apple which costs 15 cents at Corno Foods costs 48 cents at Albertson's. A loaf of white bread may cost 33 cents at Corno Foods, but 85 cents at Fred Meyer. Meanwhile, several grocery chains claim to have lowest overall prices, and cite "indepen dent surveys" to back up these claims. For the consumer, the re S tudents at H arriet Tubman M iddle School w ere show n the Japanese sult of all this is confusion, and, art o f paper fo ld in g . O rigam i by an 84-year-old M arie Furukawa. according to the Oregon Public Furukaw a, a retired teacher w h o lives and w orke d in Japan, is v is it Interest Research Group, that con ing frie n ds and classm ates in this co u n try fro m her college days in fusion may be costing Oregon con the U nited States. (L-R) LaToya Ham pton, 6 gr.; Le Cherya King, 6 gr.; sumers millions of dollars every J o r ^ tu b e n v o lH U a n d Ju lie Hering Furukaw a; Nailah O ko n kw o , 7 gr.; and Angela Kaiser, 6 gr. year. OSPIRG's survey o f grocery prices. Photo by Richard J. Brown On February 2, OSPIRG released categories, however, including the results of a survey which its Of concern to the committee is dairy, grocery non-edibles and gro- • spokespeople claim could help to On November 20, 1987, Com Blumenauer's proposed, "Back to eery edibles; with Thriftway coming clarify which stores are offering the missioner Earl Blumenauer sent a the Basics" approach. As Blumen lowest prices. After surveying in last place in frozen foods. memorandum to Commissioners auer sees it, "under the current or Fred Meyer was the least expen prices of most commonly purchased Lindberg and Bogle stating that dinance, PIIAC has little power to sive in terms of overall prices, fol items at major supermarket chains "PIIAC (Police Internal Investigation grant meaningful relief to individual lowed by Waremart and Albert in the Portland area, OSPIRG found Auditing Committee) is a source of complainants and that it cannot re son's. Highest overall prices were that overall prices differ greatly as frustration to the citizen volunteers, verse or impose discipline on police found at Thriftway, followed by they do for the various categories the appellant, the police, and the officers, (thus) to the extent it takes Corno Foods and Safeway. Kie of grocery items. Project Coordina Council Committee members.” it [PIIAC] should take only those now's chain prices are in the middle tor Julie Hering called the results Blumenauer's memorandum noted that help it perform its auditing of the price range for local chain "startling in that an equivalent mar that "The Citizens Committee has function.'' ket basket cost $77.64 at Fred asked Council for direction and gui stores. In response, PIIAC has drafted a Meyer and $101.21 at Thriftway, a dance, thus opening the door for Stubenvoll said that message of letter to Mayor Clark and City Com difference of over 23 dollars . . . For some concerted thought and a fresh the survey is that consumers should missioners requesting a meeting to a family that spends this much every look at the committee and its role." be "a little skeptical when they hear discuss any proposed policy chan two weeks, this savings would In the memorandum, Blumenauer advertising claims by grocery chains ges. amount to over $600.00 per year." made four specific recommenda claiming to be overall price leaders. " While noting the quality, selec tions which included reorganization He also said OSPIRG would con See "PIIAC" Page 3 tion, location and service are also and/or elimination of the commit duct other surveys in the future to important factors in deciding where aid consumers who want to shop tee. to shop, OSPIRG consumer advo around for the lowest prices. cate Jon Stubenvoll called prices In related news, this reporter has therefore, we appreciate the efforts the "bottom line" in being a smart found evidence that overcharging of this body to keep tabs on how shopper. Here are some of the sur customers may frequently be occur the police handle citizens' com vey's conclusions as to which stores ring as a result of the electronic offer the lowest prices in various plaints." pricing system now used by all categories. Addressing the issue of public major grocery chains. Reports of Fred Meyer has the best prices for opinion, Avel said the BUF believes overcharging suggest that a com meat, dairy, grocery edibles and PIIAC has an obligation to "help bination of several factors makes it non-edibles. The chain was second the community understand how it increasingly widespread and diffi lowest in prices for frozen foods. has functioned in the past, and cult for consumers to detect. Corno Foods was the winner in the what its present functions are.” Among those factors; electronic produce category, followed by She said one way to do that is pricing means that prices are no Waremart and Thriftway. Corno through a series of public hearings. longer stamped on the items them- Foods came in last in several other In a letter addressed to Commis sioners Blumenauer (Chairperson, PIIAC), Lindberg and Bogle, the Black Leadership Conference voic ed its support for PIIAC. » • •• I ■Ï.. '• t •• . J -.’ .. t » OSPIRG * •- •i« • T t > - r (R) respond to questions about Photo by Richard J. B row n selves; it is up to the buyer to remember what price was listed on the shelf. Thus, if the computer at the check-out stand contains an in correct price, the customer may be overcharged. Adding to the problem is the fact that many stores list prices in a man ner which customers regard as con fusing. The unit price by volume or weight may be listed without the price of the item itself, or may be difficult to read and understand. Finally, the speed with which items are run through the check- stand makes it virtually impossible for the customer to keep up with the sum on the register. This com bination of factors makes double checking a time-consuming and complex task even for experienced and careful shoppers, much less those whose mathematical skills are poor or who suffer from impaired vision. Bob Jenks, OSPIRG Campus Coordinator at Portland State Uni versity, said that numerous com plaints of overcharging had been re ceived by the consumer interest organization since the release of the price survey. He said that OSPIRG is now deciding whether to syste matically investigate electronic pric ing with a view toward urging a return to individual pricing of items. <7^ ;A. £7 fe.« 37 &S1 I :-v r X- X-'" £ '7 ; VX- Overall Gocery Prices — Comparison by Store and Item Ranking Order; Least Expensive to Most Expensive PIIAC m em ber, Jean Vessup. proposes p ublic hearings to a llo w c iti zens the o p p o rtu n ity to fin d o u t w h a t the C o m m itte e .. PIIAC Update Responding to efforts by the Po lice Internal Investigation Auditing Committee to strengthen its investi gating and monitoring standards, improve its image and regain citizen respectability, Jean Vessup, Vice- Chair (PIIAC), has proposed a three- point plan that is gaining support from the African-American commu nity. Ms. Vessup's plan calls for setting up public hearings, soliciting public opinion via questionnaire, and eval uation of questionnaire responses and testimony to determine public sentiment and support for the future direction of PIIAC. At PIIAC's February 4th meeting, Vessup stressed the importance of Ì I**» t * •«*•**? B row n citizen input. "W e are talking about a Committee that was voted into existence by the voters. The voters have never really had a chance to even address the issue of the Com m ittee." Vessup said media's focus on PIIAC has generated public interest and curiosity. "W e have not taken the opportunity to go out there and talk to the public about the Commit- We have not talked about tee. it's done or what it stands what she reminded Committee for. members. Avel Gordly, representing the Black United Front, said the BUF "believes the community has a right to know how the Police Bureau, funded with their tax dollars, is functioning in specific areas. And, p ittin g r * f»* * •>-» "W e believe it is necessary to reiterate the importance of PIIAC and emphasize the vitality of having a group of independent citizens oversee the Police Bureau's hand ling of citizens' complaints of police misconduct. "W e would like to be involved in any future discussions regarding the Police Audit Committee. It would probably be a good idea to hold a public hearing so other citizens can express their opinions," the letter concluded. Ms. Vessup has proposed that public hearings be held in North east (March 8), Northwest (March 22), Southeast (April 5), Southwest (April 19), and North Portland (May 9). After some brief discussion, the Committee voiced its support for the proposal and said it would work closely with Ms. Vessup on imple mentation of the plan. ?’ ?l Albertson s Corno Foods Fred M ey e r K ienow s S a fe w a y T h riftw a y 2 •19 06 $23.74 $18 81 $20.51 $20 96 $22.87 13 Items G rocery Non edibles 21.82 24 33 16.72 23 62 21.52 24.08 16 51 12.50 14 97 15 41 16 38 10 25 9 53 10 51 9 69 11 35 03 45 05 67 05 49 06 32 05 09 07 85 06 94 07.45 08 94 06 23 W arem art grocery item s G rocery Edibles 4 7 Items Dairy 7 Items Frozen Foods 5 Items Produce 8 Items M eat 5 Items TO TALS 45 Item s 3 13 67 7 4 9 85 6 6 00 3 1 3 07.31 3 $77 71 $86 13 9 19 $70 17 4 B $82 55 $82 84 7 $88 00 •EDITOR'S NOTE; Only Item s available at every store w ere included in these totals. Stores w h ic h c t r y house brands may decrease these to ta l figures - "store brands" were n o t tnc.uded In the to ta ls above if any store did not have a store brand fo r the item on the grocery is