January 31,1990 • Portland Observer • Page 7
CRS’ Northwest Regional
Director Receives
Department of Justice
Robert Lamb, Jr., the Community
Relations Service’s Northwest Regional
Director in Seattle, Washington, today was
awarded the Department o f Justice's D is­
tinguished Service Award by Attorney
General Dick Thornburgh.
The Distinguished Service Award is
one o f the Department’s highest service
awards. Mr. Lamb was presented with the
award today by the Attorney General at the
Annual Awards Ceremony in the Great
Hall at the Department o f Justice, where
other Department o f Justice employees were
also recognized for exemplary perform­
ance.
“ I cannot think o f a more deserving
individual for this award than Bob Lamb.
He is a hardworking and innovative Re­
gional Director, who has dedicated most o f
his professional career to bettering the lot
o f minorities through conciliation and
mediation o f racial disputes," said CRS
Director Grace Flores Hughes.
"It was under Bob Lamb’s supervision
that the first multi-state coalition o f fed­
eral, state, and local officials, the North­
w est Coalition Against Malicious Harrass-
ment, was formed to counter racial harass­
ment. He also served as the Operations
Officer at the Wounded Knee Confronta­
tion in 1973 and the Prince Georges County,
Maryland, school desegregation activities
in 1972 and 1973. From his recommenda­
tion and under his chairmanship, CRS
implemented its National Project on Police
and the U se of Deadly Force. These are but
a few o f the examples in his more than 20
years with the Community Relations Serv­
ice and the award is for sustained perform­
ance," Hughes said.
Before entering national service, Mr.
Lamb served as a police Captain with the
Atlantic City, N ew Jersey, Police Depart­
ment, which he joined after serving as a
Sergeant with the U.S. Third Army in Eu­
rope during World War II. In 1962, he was
chosen as the Atlantic City Police Officer
o f the year and in 1969 was cited by the
State o f New Jersey Police Benevolent
A ssociation for valor. In 1966, he became
administrator o f Atlantic City's Police
community Relations Unit which the Wall
Street Journal lauded as one o f the best in
the nation.
Mr. Lamb has received numerous awards
and has a major award named for him. In
March 1982, the National Organization of
Black Law Enforcement Officials (NOBLE)
established the Robert Lamb, Jr., Humani­
tarian Award to be presented to law en­
forcement officials for efforts restricting
the use o f deadly force. In 1969 and 1985,
the Mayor o f Atlantic City, N ew Jersey,
proclaimed a day in his honor. In 1985, Mr.
Lamb received an honorary Doctor o f
Humane Letters degree from Central State
University in Wilberforce, Ohio. He is
married to the former Mildred Thomas and
has three daughters, one son, two grand­
daughters and one grandson.
r )J ..Robert .Lamb «m arked upon learning
of tjti; impending award* VI a$u overwhelmed
to receive an award o f this magnitude and it
is the result o f hard work by a number o f
individuals in my regional office and at the
Community Relations Service. I accept this
award with humility and gratefulness, be­
cause I have always felt that I could never
do enough to merit this award.”
" la m very appreciative o f the Director
and the Attorney General for this award. It
represents something that I never expected
in m y wildest dreams," Lamb also added.
Black Student Graduation
Rates Show Marked
Increase at U.V A.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, V A -G radu­
ation rates for Black students at the Univer­
sity o f Virginia have averaged more than 75
percent over the last three years, nearly
double those o f many comparable institu­
tions, according to University officials.
For the entering class o f 1984, the most
recent class for which five-years, nearly
double those o f many comparable institu­
tions, according to University officials.
For the entering class o f 1984, the most
recent class for which five-year graduation
rates are available, 78 percent o f the Black
students had graduated by last spring. Overall,
89 percent o f the class had graduated after
five years, according to data compiled by
the University’s O ffice o f Institutional
Planning and Studies.
"Graduation and retention rates for
Black students are showing a marked in­
crease compared to those of the early 1980s,”
said George A. Stovall, director o f institu­
tional studies.
In the spring o f 1983, for example, only
58% o f Black students who entered in 1978
had graduated, while the overall graduation
rate was 81 percent
Stovall attributes the gains, in part, to
better preparation o f Black students now
entering the University. The median SAT
score for B lacks in this year's entering class
is 30 points higher than last year’s, he said.
"W e know there is a strong correlation
between SAT scores and the graduation
rate for Black students, so we could very
w ell expect to see still higher graduation
rates for Black students five years from
n ow ," Stovall said.
Rick Turner, the University’s dean of
Afro-American Affairs whose own doc­
toral research focused on Black retention
rates, agrees with that analysis. He believes
that retention is a complex process that
begins with recruitment and admissions.
"W e would do a disservice to match
students with an institution that they can’t
succeed at," he said.
Turner also noted a variety o f pro­
grams at the University that are contribut­
Problem Solving
When a social system is no longer
capable o f solving basic social problems,
the people who live under that system want
to know the reason why. They com e out into
the streets, they rise up, they speak out; they
step forward, they make demands. This is
true from Bucharest to the South Bronx,
Sofia to Soweto.
Over the last few months the people of
Eastern Europe have made it clear that the
ruling elites o f the various Communists
parties had no solutions to the chronic
problems o f material scarcity and the lack
o f democracy. So they came out into the
streets to demand new leadership, which
hopefully w ill be able to provide such solu­
tions.
Medical Foundation Awards $90,000 In Grants
More than $90,000 in grants, scholar­
ships and loans were awarded recently by
the Northwest Osteopathic Medical Foun­
dation, according to its Executive Director
David Rianda.
Included in that group were grants
earmarked for 31 senior citizen organiza-
tions throughout the state, for a total o f
$16,500, and for support o f two children's
programs on Oregon Public Broadcasting.
More than one-half m illion dollars in
grants have been made by the Foundation
since 1986, he said.
The senior citizen organizations will
receive unsolicited end-of-the-year grants
from the Foundation this week. Gifts will
range from $250. to $1,000. These pro­
grams provide a variety o f services to the
elderly and include nursing homes, senior
citizen service centers, and special focus
programs.
National Education Association
Urges Speedy Implementation of
Minority Education Action Plan
WASHINGTON, D .C .-T h e National
Friur-ation Association today called on public
and private leaders across the United States
to "change the map" that guided the edu­
cation reform movement in the '80s and
redesign it to include those students most at
risk, yet still most ignored.
Responding to a $1.2 million study
funded by the Carnegie Corporation on
improving U.S. education for minorities,
N EA Vice-President Robert (Bob) Chase
said, "The national education reform
movement has paid insufficient attention to
those students-particularly minority stu-
d en ts-w h ose performance is most critical
to the success o f education reform."
Chase cited the increasing numbers o f
racial- and language-minority children in
the nation's school population as one rea­
son why all U.S. residents must care about
educational equality. By the year 2000, one
o f every three U.S. elementary and secon­
dary school students will be from an ethnic
or racial minority.
* ‘To regain our global competitiveness
in this post-industrial age, we cannot repeat
our historical failures to meet the needs o f
these children," he said.
The study, "Education That Works:
An Action Plan for the Education o f M i­
norities,' ’ found that school reforms started
in the '80s " left behind the nation’s 13
m illion minority students, who remain for
the most part segregated in second-class
schools.”
It recommended a series o f “ 10 prin­
ciples for change,” including revitalizing a
faith in education among minority comm u­
nities and families and providing an even
start in school through early health care and
learning development programs.
Chase praised its conclusion that the
costs o f not mobilizing to provide equal
educational opportunities will far exceed
the long-term expense if we don’t build
minority participation into national reform
efforts.
He cited N E A ’s landmark 1986 task
force hearings on educational concerns o f
Blacks, Hispanics, Asians/Pacific Island­
ers, and American Indians/Alaskan Na­
tives. In its " . . . And Justice for A ll” series,
the Association published four reports that
inspired a number o f ongoing NEA activi­
ties. These range from minority teacher
recruitment and parental involvement proj­
ects to sponsorship o f broad-based confer­
ences on bilingual education and educating
the Black child.
Chase noted that the values and strengths
that children o f different races and cultures
bring ;to our schools too often arc undcrval -
ued or rejected. The C am cgic report’s rec­
ommendations build on these strengths,
rather than view differences as problems,
he said.
ing to increased retention o f Black stu­
dents. Key among them is his office's peer
advising program, through which 49 sec­
ond- and third-year Black students meet at
least weekly with small groups o f entering
Black students.
he believes that strong peer relation­
ships are "the biggest single factor” that
led 97% o f last year’s entering Black
students to return to the University this fall.
He hopes to have enough funding nex t year
to increase the number o f peer advisors to
65.
"Contact with Black alumni returning
to the University, multi-cultural orienta­
tion sessions for all new students, an out­
standing job by resident advisors and coun­
selors in the dorms, minority career pro­
grams, and an expanded academic support
system all contribute to Black students'
success at the University,” Turner said.
The academic support program, which
serves all students at the University, in­
cludes tutorials, academic advising, and
coordination o f workshops for study skills.
It is under the direction o f associate provost
Ron W. Simmons.
The Chronicle o f Higher Education
recently cited a national study showing that
only 26.6 percent o f Blacks and Hispanics
who entered four-year institutions in 1980
had graduated six years later. Institutional
studies director Stovall noted that such a
study would include many institutions with
more part-time and commuter students than
at the University.
A fairer comparison, he said, would be
among the 39 institutions participating in
the American Association o f Universities
data exchange program. A recent report
from 22 o f those universities, which in­
clude the University of California at Berkeley,
UCLA, Camegie-M ellon, North Carolina,
Tulane, and the University o f Wisconsin,
shows a medium six-year graduation rate
for Black students o f 38 percent. Only three
universities, among them the University of
Virginia, reported rates above 70 percent.
Two award-winning television programs
which air throughout the state on Oregon
Public Broadcasting w ill receive sole spon­
sorship in 1990 by the Foundation: "De-
Grassi Junior High” and "Reading Rain­
bow .”
Rianda said seven Northwest osteo­
pathic medical students were also selected
for financial aid in loans and scholarships,
totaling $16,500. This brings to a total 45
students in a four-year period receiving
assistance to attend one o f 15 osteopathic
medical schools across the country. Stu­
dents arc from Oregon, Washington, Mon­
tana, Idaho, and Alaska.
According to Rianda, “ The balance of
the grants were given to civic organizations
and for medical education for a total o f
$57,049. ’ ’ They included disaster relief for
California earthquake victims to the Ameri­
can Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
Other grants were awarded to: Kendall
Community Center, $ 1,500; North Lincoln
Hospital, $2,000; Retired Senior Volunteer
Program, $1,000; Tree o f Learning High
School, $1,200; Waverly Children’s Home,
$1,599; Osteopathic Physicians and Sur­
geons o f Oregon, $15,000; Eastmoreland
Hospital (2) $9,500; and $12,000; and a
research project, $3,500.
The Northwest Osteopathic Medical
Foundation was established in 1984. A
public charity, it represents the concerns of
the osteopathic (D .O .) medical community
and provides support to programs for fami­
lies and children as well as to non-profit
organizations in the areas o f health ca re-
prevention, research, equipment, and pub­
lic education. Rianda said the Foundation is
administered by an 11-person Board of
Directors, including six Doctors o f Oste­
opathy.
URGENT!!!
PIANO/ORGANIST
St. M a rk Baptist Church
on Rodney. Salary nego­
tiable. Please contact Rev.
Joe S. Hardie at A M A ,
285-0493.
Like our brothers and sisters in Europe,
the American people are becoming increas­
ingly aware that the permanently incum­
bent professional politicians o f the major
parties who run this country on behalf of
white corporate America have no solutions
to th serious problems that beset our coun­
try: poverty, homelessness, rampant police
brutality, domestic violence against women
and children, the epidemics o f drug addic­
tion and AIDS, official corruption, a rav­
aged environment and a blatantly undemo­
cratic electoral system in which more than
half o f us do not choose to participate.
It is obvious that the Republican Party
and the Democratic Party—both which have
billions o f dollars at their disposal—have no
solutions; if they did, these problems would
be in the process of being solved. But in fact
the problems are only getting worse—they
have reached crisis proportions. And this is
true no matter who holds office, ‘ ‘liberals”
or "conservatives” "machine regulars"
or “ reformers. ” It is true whether they are
men or women. Black or white. As long as
they are Republicans and Democrats, they
have no answers for the broad masses o f the
American people who must confront those
problems in their everyday lives.
In N ew York City some folks have
been telling me that I should stop "dog-
g in " ’ David Dinkins, the new mayor. "Dr.
Fulani, they say, you need to give Dinkins
a chance. " O f course I’m going to “ give
David a chance! H e’s the mayor o f New
Y ork-the Black and Puerto Rican working
class communities put him in a place where
he can address the problems that confront
the people o f the city. But we can’t afford to
rely on this m ayor-any more than we could
rely on the legion o f Democrats who pre­
ceded him in office. We have seen reform­
ers and reform movements come and go:
they failed-m iserable—because when push
came to shove, when throw down time
came around, they were too beholden to the
banking and real estate interests which control
New York to front for the people who
elected them: the ones who pay rent and
ride the subways and buses and send their
children to the public schools and take their
elderly parents to the public hospitals. The
reformers, whatever their intentions were­
n ’t independent.
As the chairperson o f the New Alliance
Party I am working day and night to build
an independent alternative to the major
parties-a Black-led, multi-racial party that
stands for PEOPLE INSTEAD OF PROF­
ITS. When our people com e out into the
streets to demand solutions to the chronic
problems o f material scarcity and lack o f
democracy that the corrupt leadership o f
the major parties cannot and w ill not solve.
NAP-after 11 years, America’s fourth larg­
est electoral party-w ill be there with the
independent option. Then we will have our
chance!
Conrad K. Harper, Nominated as Next
President of The Association of the
Bar of the City of New York
Will Become Association's First Black
President If Elected By Membership
Cyrus R. Vance (left) and C onrad K. H arp er, partners in the law firm o f
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, outside the M anhattan headquarters of The
Association of the Bar o f the C ity o f New Y o rk . H arp er was nominated as the
next president of the Association. Vance, theformer U.S. Secretary o f State,
served as the Association's president from 1974 to 1976. I f elected by the
Association's membership, H arp er will become the first black president in the
Association's 120-year history.
Conrad K. Harper, a partner in the law
firm o f Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, has
been nominated as LhenextpresidentofThe
Association o f the Bar o f the City o f New
York, the nation's oldest local bar associa­
tion.
If elected by the A ssociation’s more
than 18,000 members. Harper, 49, w ill
become the first Black president in the
organization’s 120-year history. The presi­
dent is the chief executive officer o f the
Association and supervises the manage­
ment o f the Association's activities.
Harper was a member o f the A ssocia­
tion's Executive Committee from 1976-
1980, and was its chair in 1979-80. He also
served as a vice president o f the A ssocia­
tion in 1980-81, and has served on a number
of Association committees.
Since joining Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett in 1971 and becoming a partner in
1974, Harper has concentrated on litigation
involving civil rights, securities, environ­
mental and insurance law. Previously, he
was a staff lawyer with the N AACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund for which he
handled racial discrimination and other varied
cases.
Results o f the mailed ballot for the
election for the office o f president, other
Association offices and the A ssociation's
executive, audit and nominating com m it­
tees w ill be announced May 22, at the
A ssociation’s annual meeting. Those in­
cluded on the slate for office were nom i­
nated by the A ssociation’s seven-member
nominating committee, chaired by Robert
M. Kaufman, partner at Proskauer Rose
Goetz & Mendelsohn.
The Association is an independent,
nongovernmental organization whose
membership o f attorneys and judges reside
principally in New Y a k City but also through­
out the United States and in more than 40
countries. Founded in 1870, the A ssocia­
tion has engaged in many battles for civic
reform and improvements in the admini­
stration of justice and the professional welfare
o f the bar.
Articles and Essays by Ron Daniels
Social Uplift For The Black Masses Requires
Conversion From Guns To Butter
" A nation that continues year after
year to spend more money on military
defense than on programs of social uplift is
approaching ‘ ‘spiritual death. ’ ’ These were
the prophetic words o f Martin Luther King
as he spoke at the Riverside Church in New
York one year before he was assassinated.
The Viet Nam War was sapping vital re­
sources away from programs and projects
to help poor and working people in Amer­
ica. King talked o f "spiritual death” be­
cause placing a priority on manufacturing
bombs to make war over producing bread to
feed the hungry is symptomatic o f a d e­
ranged value system and a sick political-
econom ic system. King realized that m il­
lions o f people would continue to suffer
cultural, educational, occupational and
physical death as long as this nation could
build exotic weapons for defense, while
failing to defend poor people against hun­
ger, poverty and disease. America did not
heed King's warning. America continues to
maintain a war economy.
In the '80s Ronald Reagan presided
over a multi-trillion dollar escalation in the
defense budget including billions o f dollars
for his "Star Wars” fantasy. The massive
military build up was achieved at the ex­
pense o f poor and working people as virtu­
ally every major social program to aid the
disadvantaged was drastk ally reduced. There
was a 63% cut in job training programs in
the Black community for example and aid
to education was reduced by 20%. During
the Reagan y ea n .55 cent o f each tax dollar
went to the military while only .2 cents
went to education.
In reality the massive build-up was far
out o f proportion to any real or preceived
threat from Reagan’s imaginary evil Rus­
sian empire. Much o f the bloated military
budget amounted to a huge welfare check
for wealthy defense contractors and corpo­
rations. The rich grew richer w hile the poor
were driven deeper into poverty.
Needless to say the African-American
community suffered disproportionately under
Reaganism and Reaganomics. The gap
between Black and white incom es w idened
significantly and there was a dramatic
expansion in the so-called Black under­
class. The drug crisis, crim e, v io len ce,
increased incarceration and the deteriora­
tion within Am erica's inner city ghettos is
directly attributable to Am erica's sen seless
militarism and corporate greed. African-
Americans are bearing the brunt o f Am er­
ica's "spiritual death." B lack people are
dying.
As we enter the decade o f the '90s the
National African-American community must
muster the energy and resolve to mount a
major assault on America's defense budget,
the defense establishment and A m erica’s
militaristic mentality and values. W e can­
not win th * *w ar on drugs " without w inning
the war against poverty. A frican-Am eri­
cans w ill not have a secure future unless the
battle against illiteracy, and inadequate
education is won. T he elevation and uplift
o f th black m asses w ill require a major
change in A m erica's priorities and a m u-
sive infusion o f resources for job s, housing,
education and healthcare. It w ill be im pos­
sible to make the necessary investm ent o f
resources for human developm ent without
taking direct aim at the military b u d g et T o
use a time worn clich e its tim e for African-
Americans to push for a conversion o f
"guns to butter." the very life o f our
community may depend on that prospect
t