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