Page 4. Portland Observer, April 13, 1988
Magnum Stars: Players With
Academia in Mind
CALENDAR
by Fred Hembrey
Brush Up on Writing Grammar
Classrooms on Parade
Reviews the basics, the eights
parts of speech, their functions
and the four basic sentence
types. This class meets Sat., April
16, from 9am-2:30pm in 103
Cramer Hall. 1721 S.W. Broadway.
Fee: $40.
Lloyd Center, April 16-17, shows
what students are learning today
with 27 displays of student work
from 27 schools. 8 performances
and classroom demonstrations.
Candidates Forum
AIDS-Related
Discrimination Hearing
City Council Chambers, City Hall,
1220 S.W. Fifth Ave., Sat., April 16,
10 a m.
Jefferson Class of '38 Plant
Commemorative Tree
Members of the 1938 Gradua
ting Class of Jefferson High
School planted a Red Oak tree
Tuesday, April 5, next to the cam
pus statue of Thomas Jefferson.
A statement prepared by the
planning committee said:
“ In planting this tree we reach
out to the future of a great school.
We are responding to a quote of
Thomas Jefferson on the base of
the statue. ‘The greatest service
which can be rendered to any
country is to add a useful plant to
its cultures.' ”
The statement of the 1938
Class, celebrating its 50th anni
versary this September, went on
to say:
"The tree is also in memory of
so many of our classmates who
Economic
Development
Department
Names Deputy
Director
Carlene Jackson has been
appointed Deputy Director for
Adm inistrative Operations for
the Oregon Economic Develop
ment Department (OEDD), accor
ding to Richard G. Reiten, Direc
tor. Jackson moves from the
State
Executive Department
where she served as budget
supervisor. The appointm ent is
effective immediately.
In her new position, Jackson
w ill be responsible for managing
the budget, accounting, person
nel, management inform ation
system, and technical marketing
operations for the deparment, as
well as development of its bud
get for presentation in the next
Legislative session.
"W e are very fortunate to be
able to attract a person of Car-
lene’s ability and background for
this position,” Reiten said. "Her
contributions and leadership w ill
be critical as we manage the
state’s econmic development ac
tivity and work with the legisla
ture on refining our programs.
As a budget analyst for the Ex
ecutive Department since 1979,
Jackson's assignments have in
cluded the budgets of nearly
every major state government, in
cluding Education, Human Re
sources, Workers Compensa
tio n and Econom ic D evelop
ment.
For the last three years, she
has been the budget supervisor
responsible for economic deve
lo pm e nt program s, in clu d in g
those financed by lottery pro
ceeds.
Jackson joined state govern
ment in 1973 after working as a
teacher and supervisor of a Head
Start Program at Mt Angel, Ore
gon, and as an elementary school
teacher in varous school districts
in Oregon and California.
An Oregon native. Jackson has
been active in prom oting Black
history and an awareness of
Black culture. She has written
curriculum guides on Black his
tory for school districts, and co
authored and co-hosted a televi
sion series on Black history. She
and her husband, Eugene, own
and operate a cattle and horse
ranch in the Molalla ’ oothills
V
ItÂ&afiA.'.'SSî'S'- i ' *' *' At',*- * f / * ■*'
served in World War II. The Class
of 1938 suffered some of the heav
iest casualties of any Jefferson
High School class in the second
World War.
"Our reunion is not just another
exercise in nostalgic revelry, but
an opportunity to express our loy
alty and our support to the future
of Jefferson High School and to
its faculty and student body."
Class members participating in
Tuesday's tree planting with Prin
cipal Dr. Nathan Jones were:
George Lind, Alan Bartholemy,
Helen Duley Bartholemy, June
Justice Rousseau, Ruth Morey
Schneider, Charlotte DeLin So
renson, Laura Smith Geisler, Har
ry Kraus, and Oliver Larson.
Second Annual
National
Candlelight Vigil
The Association for Children
fo r E nforcem ent of S upport
(ACES) is sponsoring the Second
Annual N a tional C a n d le lig h t
Vigil.
The theme of the vigil is “ Light
a spark of hope for forgotten
children in the United States ”.
The viqil is intended to draw pub
lic attention to children living in
poverty. ACES will also put pres
sure on elected officials and law
enforcement agencies to protect
the rights of children a provide an
efficient legal system to collect
child support.
The candlelight vigil is being
held in each of our fifty states and
is free and open to the public.
The vigil forM ultnomah County
w ill be held Wednesday, April 27,
1988, at 1021 SW 4th at 6 p.m.
For more information please
call 236-6802.
PSU Community Culture
Youth Day
“ How to Help Your Child
Say NO’ to Sexual Pressure"
Emphasis on Science, Techno
logy, and Math. Info on how to ob
tain financial aid and ge, to know
the university environment. Sat.,
April 16 10am-2pm.
The Prince of Peace Fellowship,
5004 NE 6th Ave.. Wed. nights,
April 20-June 8, 7:15 p.m., Room 5.
“ When I’m In Charge"
Candidates Forum
Sponsored by NAACP, Portland
Chapter. Sat., APril 16, 1-3pm.
A insw orth United Church of
Christ, NE 30th and Ainsworth
Sts. Free.
Business Success
Workshop Slated
Small Business Adm inistra
tion, Clackamas Community Col
lege, and the Service Corps of
Retired Executives are co-spon
soring a Business Success Work
shop on the college campus on
Wednesday, April 13. The work
shop will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
with registration at 8:30 a.m. The
workshop is intended for those
wanting to start their own busi
ness or those already in business.
Subjects covered will be suc
cess and failure factors, market
ing and sales, money manage
ment, SBA programs, recordkeep
ing and legal considerations.
Each subject will be taught by a
different instructor with practical
experience in dealing with small
business.
There w ill be free kits of
publicationsdistributed, and time
for questions and discussion. Ad
mission is $10 for the day, and the
room will be the Small Dining
Room in the Community Center
Building.
For information and registra
tion, call 294-5211.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
"The Eyes and Ears of the Com m unity"
288-0033
Changes In Workforce Will Offer Minorities
‘ Real Opportunities,’ Labor Secretary Says
P hiladelphia — Changes in the
makeup of the labor force will of
fer m inority group members
“ great opportunities." But these
opportunities could be lost un
less future workers acquire the
necessary skills, Secretary of
Labor Ann McLaughlin said in re
marks to the students at the Uni
versity of Philadelphia's Wharton
School.
The secretary observed that
during the next 10 years, the labor
force will grow more slowly than
at any time since World War II and
the profile of the work force w ill
shift dramatically.
“ Eighty percent of the new en
trants to the work force will be
women, blacks, Hispanics and
im m igrants," McLaughlin said.
“ American-born white males will
account for only 15 percent of
new entrants."
The jobs created in the near
future will be more complex They
w ill demand better reading, w rit
ing and reasoning skills and very
few jobs will be created for those
who can’, read, follow directions
or use mathematics, she said.
# * * » €
Sponsored by National Organiza
tion of Women, Portland Chapter,
Mon., April 18. 7-9pm, Willamette
Center, auditorium, 121 S.W. Sal
mon. Free. Accessible.
She warned that in a period of
growing demand for labor, the
country faces the “ ironic pro
spect” of an underclass of hard
core, so-called “ unemployables."
“ This is a situation we cannot
allow," she added.
She observed that the country
is headed for a significant and ex
pensive skills gap, adding that “ if
we move quickly, through educa
tion and retraining, over the next
ten years, we w ill be able to offer a
job to everyone who wants one."
McLaughlin said, “ We must im
prove the quality of the American
work force, and by that I mean
th e ir self-esteem , their skills,
their education and their adap
tability.
“ We have to sharpen the learn
ing curve of everyone working in
this country. Only then can we
assure the high quality of Ameri
can products and services, and a
better standard of living at home.”
The secretary noted that over
the past five years, 15 m illion new
jobs have been created — an ave
rage of 250,000 jobs a month fo r62
months in a row.
A* *
P e n in s u la Park C o m m u n ity
Center, 6400 N Albina St., 11/z hr
class for 3-5 grade students cover
ing safe “ home alone" practices.
Thursday, April 21, 3:30 p.m.-5:00
p.m. Free.
Psychology - C o n ’tFrom
that the high infant m ortality rate,
prem aturity and m alform ation
among Blacks are closely related
to the lack of prenatal care.
He further discusses maternal
malnutrition, hereditary birth de
fects, family size intelligence, and
lactose intolerance (inability to
digest milk properly).
On Thursday, March 31st, I had
the opportunity to view a youth
basketball team comprised of the
best talent Portland has to offer.
One usually thinks, "That's
greeft, but are they going to
graduate from high school, or
make it in college?” For those
skeptics of the great basketball
irony — not to worry, they will.
These individuals will do so with
flying colors.
The Magnum Stars AAU bas
ketball team (ages 13 to 17) are
normal in respect to high playing
standards. What makes them uni
que is this — they expect each of
their athletes to maintain a year
long Grade Point Average of 3.0.
Grade standards like this give the
children work to do on and off the
court.
The program is coached by
M arvin Johnson and Vernon
Baker. I spoke with Vernon about
his people and program.
Vernon and Marvin began their
strategy after realizing the great
numbers of kids who were herded
through the public school system
on the court, and in the class
room, only to find average educa
tion skills, and no further play out
side of “ streetball.” With this,
they began with a team of elemen
tary age boys, and monitored
them on and off the field of play.
“ In the beginning our objective
was for our group to do well in
school, with basketball being
supplementary to this, not vice-
versa,” Vernon states.
Over an eight-year period, this
group has grown into the shoes of
high-schoolers. Some of them
are: Ali Dirks, Grant; Pat Strick
land, Wilson; Charles McKinney,
Wilson; and Erin Cowan, Jeffer
son.
Erin is one of the Magnums
oldest (in terms of playing years)
products of their program.
Erin is also called “ Jo Jo' by his
coaches and teammates, a nick
name given to him because of his
playing style likeness to college
standout Jo Jo White. Erin has
been playing baskeball since age
10. He maintains a 3.0 grade ave
rage. His favorite subjects are
math (his strongest) and English.
Erin, who also like journalism,
aspires to major in the field of
Business Administration in col
lege.
"M y coaches and parents make
sure that I do well in school. Even
though they’re on me, I like school
a lot," he says. Erin would like to
attend an east coast college after
g ra d u a tio n next year. “The
schools back east are a lot more
com petitive than western col
leges in basketball. I think that
would be good for me.”
Erin has a zest for school and
sports. In addition to basketball,
he has played tennis, gone to
State in cross country, and runs
the 800 (2:00 best) in track. Erin is
a great example of what a positive
program, coaches, and parents
can do for our youth.
The Magnum Stars have been
state AAU champions and have
ranked nationally for three years.
Last summer they were eligible to
travel to the east coast for the na
tional championship tournament,
but were unable to attend due to
finances.
Sponsorship for local tourna
ments are funded by Magnum
Protective agency, owned by Carl
Johns. This alone w ill not be
enough. Donations for the team
would be greatly appreciated.
More sports programs of this
nature should be enacted to help
athletic youth reach their full
potential. A job well done, Vernon
Baker and Marvin Johnson!
Send all tax-deductible dona
tions to: Magnum Stars Basket
ball Program, c/o Marvin Johnson,
54 N.E. Wygant, Portland, OR
97217.
Among his proposals for solu
tions to the problems of prenatal
care are increased government
support for cital health services
and educational programs for
pregnant Black mothers.
In another section on language
and c u ltu re , W ils o n argues
convincingly for greater interest
and re s p o n s ib ility by Black
parents in the education and
socialization of their children.
And I believe we must agree The
Saturday School is a step in that
direction.
The controversy over Black
English is examined and Black
parents are encouraged to accept
Black dialect as a legitimate form
of expression. On the other hand,
Black parents are urged to teach
and support ther children in learn
ing standard English in order to
function effectively in a mddle-
class caucasoid society.
A fte r b r illia n tly a n a lyzin g
causes of apathy, dependency
and anti-intellectualism among
many Black parents, particularly
among the lower socio-economic
group the author calls for a “ com
plete cultural revolution in the
Black community.” This can only
be achieved by concerted effort to
re-examine and develop new
values, attitudes and beliefs. It i s
imperative that the Black child be
re a re d in s e lf- lo v e , s e lf-
knowledge and self-esteem. The
importance of a positive self-
concept cannot be overstated.
Other chapters included are:
"The Pre-School Years: The Ef
fe c ts of race A w a re n e s s ,”
"Psychogenic Brain Damage and
the Black Child," "The Role of
Play in Development,” "The Black
Child — Intellectual Develop
ment as Revealed by Standardiz
ed Tests” and "Socialization and
the Black Child."
Throughout the pages of "The
Developmental Psychology of the
BlackC hild", Professor Wilson has
succeeded in clarifying, edifying
and sensitizing his readers to the
unique world of the Black child
v t '" •
Relative Happiness — Following January's Super Bowl, Washington
Redskins' quarterback Doug Williams said, in a national commercial,
he would be going to Walt Disney World. That wasn’t a solor promise.
Williams arrived with his daughter, Ashley (Mickey’s right hand is on
her shoulder), and nine cousins and neices for a family vacation.
Copyright 1988, THE WALT DISNEY CO.
The Black United Fund
of Oregon
Helping People
Help Themselves"
The Black United Fund of Oregon provides financial and
technical assistance to non-profit organizations operating in or
serving Oregon's Black communities.
Send your tax deductible contribution to the BUFO at P.O.
Box I2406, Portland. OR. ^7212, (503) 282-7973, or contribute
through your company's payroll deduction plan.
These companies are leading the way in payroll deductions and
helping the BUFO better serve our communities.
IBM Corporation
Portland Community
College
St. Andrew Legal Clinic
.• » x t--
N N.E. Community Mental
Health Clinic
Portland Public Schools
Tri-Mct
3M M