lir a Frances Schoen-! ewspaper Too» U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y uugene» Oregon 97403 Portland, Oregon P O R TLR 25C ERYER April 6, 1989 VOLUME XIX NUMBER 13 CONGRATULATIONS! 1 by Imani Countess Special Report (N lS )-W o m en from across the U nited States w ill converge on » Washington D.C. April 9, to fight against ■ the Bush A dm inistration’s attem pts to reverse freedom o f choice and reproductive rights. Organizers say the march is especially significant for Black and poor women who are hardest hit when rights and choices are curtailed. W om en o f color represented 75 percent o f deaths from illegal abortions before a Supreme Court ruling made abortions legal, reports Sabrae, Jenkins o f the W om en o f C olor Partnership Program, a D.C.-based educational group. In New York City « alone 50 percent o f illegal abortion ÏI deaths w ere Black women. “ Women of color already suffer from a variety o f serious health conditions § w hich m ay b e e x a c e rb a te d by pregnancy” Jenkins notes. Her group provides health facts to Black women, along w ith regional forum s on comprehensive reproductive health care issues. The Partners!) ip Program , spon sored by the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCA R), is aimed at Black, Latino, Asian/Pacific and Native American women who are sorely affected by lim itations in choice because of poverty. The Partnership Program recently convened a forum on abortion, ^reproductive rights and the role of the y church in affirm ing choice, attended by some 150 w om en from Boston to New ? York. Jenkins says future conferences will address other reproductive health concerns including forced sterilization and the use of Depo-Provera, an injectable commonly used for contraception. Depo-Provera, the center o f a ten- year controversy, is banned for birth- control use in the United States but doctors are allow ed to prescribe it for The House Com m ittee on Human Resources has scheduled hearings for A pril 12,1989 at 1 :30 pm in Salem on tw o bills introduced at the request of State Treasurer Tony Meeker. House Bills 3190 and 3232, if passed, would seriously weaken the Oregon South A frica divestiture statute. A broad coalition o f Democrats and Republicans in both houses o f the 1987 legislature approved a bill sponsored by Representative M argaret Carter which required the State o f O regon, by February 15,1992 to divest itself o f any stocks and bonds o f American business entities which directly invest in South A frica or Namibia. W hile he reports that he is actually ahead o f schedule (the 1987 act set as a goal the divestiture o f 1/4 of the offending stocks and bonds for each year o f the four-year period), Treasurer M eeker is asking the legislature to delete the 1992 cutoff date. He has also expressed concern that he may not be able to purchase South Africa-Free stocks and bonds that have as high a return as those o f com panies doing business in South A frica and Namibia. He therefore proposes to perm it state employees, whose pension funds comprise a large portion o f the state funds involved, to elect w hether or not they wish to have their potential retirem ent funds in South A frica-Free investments. O ther states, some with shorter tim e frames for divestiture than Oregon, have successfully divested without loss o f income and w ithout attempting to divide state workers on matters o f investm ent policy. Treasurer M eeker also asked the legislature for m ore m oney to cover expenses o f the divestiture law. It is inappropriate for the state treasurer to single out one o f his legal responsibilities and request specific funding for it. The Treasurer also proposes that the legislature am end the law to bar the state from purchasing goods and services from businesses investing in South Africa and Namibia. Were such a law to pass, responsibility for implementing it would, o f course, be on other state governm ent offices, not the treasurer. The potential im pact o f such legislation has not been analyzed by the treasurer but it would appear to be an appropriate objective which should be given consideration. All persons and organizations who are interested in supporting the existing legislation and who object to the attem pt to weaken the law are invited to contact Rep. C arter’s Salem office (378-8823 or toll free number 1-800-327-7389). Í Junior-Benson \ The Reverend and Mrs. Michael Jones Rev. M ichael Stephen Jones, former M aranatha Church adm inistrator, has been promoted to District Sales Manager o f the Burroughs-W ellcom e company in Kansas City, M issouri. Jones was the principal o f the M aranatha school before it closed and served in several leadership positions in M aranatha Church. Jones has been active in many community organizations, among them is G ive Us This Day, Inc. where he served for eight years as board president. He and his wife, LaV eta, w ere the third family to adopt a child through the G ive Us This D ay family recruitm ent outreach. They were also foster parents and participated in the Extended Family Cannon Chatman Junior-Benson Monique Norwood Senior-Benson Home Program by parenting two high- risk teenagers; one, a ward of Children’s’s Services Division and the other a youth from the com m unity who needed an extended family. Jones attended Pacific University and received his BS degree in Biology in 1976. He joined Burroughs-W ellcom e Company in July 1976 as a Sales Representative in Portland, Oregon. In January 1981, Jones was prom oted to MCR. He was appointed Field Trainer in 1987 and was appointed to the Field Management Training Program in 1988. Jones was selected as a 1988 Premier Preform er in Region 7. J S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S io « » ^ » SPOTLIGHTING GWEN COOKE One of Kaiser's Employees of the Year I 1 Tanya Fox Freshman-Benson PUBLIC NOTICE The Portland Observer has Issued press passes to all of it's employees These passes are identifiable by (1) the Observer's logo at the top, (2) the employee’s name and pic ture, (3) the word PRESS and, (4) a fingerprint of the right Index finger. Anyone not in possession of an Observer press pass does not represent the Portland Observer newspaper.40 Cooke, says being a payroll clerk gives her the opportunity to meet a variety of people. ‘‘Hospitals have people from diverse backgrounds in different positions. Since I work in payroll, 1 have the opportunity to meet a lot of them. ” She has worked at the prepaid health program for 19 years. M INO RITY STUDENT CONCERNS FOCUS OF W O RK SH O P AT "B lack by Popular D em and." a com bined video/w orkshop/sem inar presentation currently gaining national prom inence for its frank appraisal o f academic, financial and social problems which black students can face on pred o m in an tly w hite educational campuses, will be presented to interested faculty and staff at Portland State University Thursday and Friday, April 13-14. *‘Portland State has m ade a com m itm ent to recruit and retain minority students and to assist them to be successful,” said Jeffrey Moreland, PSU student and representative o f the university’s Black Cultural Affairs Board (B C A B ) sponsoring the tw o-day PSU ^ e n t a l i o n al Portland Slate, ‘We strongly encourage your presence as well as support of this event,’ ’ he urged in an open letter to m em bers o f the university community. The free cam pus presentation is designed to encourage tw o-w ay communication between presenters and PSU personnel who have various roles which affect recruitm ent and retention o f minority students. A key clem ent of the presentation, a “ Black by Popular D em and” video created independently by students at Iowa State University during 1987, ‘‘...presents commentary from students, faculty, staff and administrators to evoke thought and ultimately action in resolving issues pertaining to bl io . students,” terminal cancer cases. The drug has been w rongfully adm inistered as birth control to Native A merican, m entally retarded, and other women deem ed “ undesirable.” Many Black women regularly receive this drug from their doctors for female disorders. The vast majority are never told that Depo-Provera has failed to gain governm ent approval. The side effects are num erous and potentially dangerous. The National W om en’s Health Network reports that Depo-Provera users have suffered from irregular bleeding, depression, high blood pressure, excessive weight gain (more than 30 pounds), stomach pains, blurred vision, and a range o f other ailments. Long-term effects have not been established, but animal and clinical evidence so far indicate risks of infertility, uterine and breast cancer, diabetes, anem ia, blood clots, and excessive bleeding leading to hysterectomy. In tern atio n ally , Black w om en in Namibia, Belize, South Africa, Kenya and Australia have been given the drug without information on the risks. In Namibia, a country in southwestern Africa colonized by apartheid South Africa, Depo-Provera is routinely administered to mothers recovering from delivery and to teen-age girls at health clinics. Many exam ples have also been cited o f the white minority governm ent forcing young women to take the drug and then to become prostitutes for the occupying military force. A delegation o f Namibian women will m arch in the April 9 dem onstration voicing support for the rights o f women both in Namibia and the United States. The m arch, is convened by the National O rganization o f W omen (NOW ) and assembles at 10:00 a.m. on the Mall in W ashington, D.C. Contact (202) 331-0066 for more information. BAN APARTHEID! * * * * * •k * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Î SENIOR OF THE W EEK J * : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * by Jim i Johnson Mrs. Erie F. Robinson was bom in Coushatta, Louisiana on O ctober 14, 1905. She and her husband Floyd cam e to Portland in 1943 so he could find work in the shipyards. Mr. Robinson passed in 1973. An active person, Mrs. Robinson exercises regularly in her home, she also takes short w alks to visit friends and neighbors in her com m unity. At 83 years old, Mrs. Robinson is a “ picture of good health” and is currently raising her great nephew ’D rew ’ who is a junior at Jefferson High School. Mrs. Robinson enjoys being around her family, including 2 sisters and 1 b ro th e r-n o w living in the Portland area. A m em ber o f V ancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, Mrs. Robinson attends regularly and credits her strength and longevity to “ trusting in G od” . Mrs. Robinson believes “ young people should go to school and trust in God. They should listen to their parents and elders because they can learn a lot from them ” she continued. The Portland O bserver salutes this wonderful Senior Citizen. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Introducing: State Treasurer Seeks To Weaken S. A. Divesture Bill W OM EN M ARCH FOR FREEDOM OF CHOICE