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Ml This Week in History
K • r w ■«- -*--*• *
by A ngelique Sanders
Making Our Voices Heard Via Our Government
In correlation with the prim ary elec­
tions, the focus o f this w eek’s colum n
shall be choosing those who lead us.
Flipping through the v oters’ pam ­
phlet, I found only seven Blacks and
thirty women out o f over 100 candi­
dates. This clearly does not reflect the
true percentages o f these m inorities in
society. W hat this means to us as a
people is disproportionate representa­
tion.
W hat can we do to help com pensate
for this? M inorities, I im plore you:
register to vote! Every one o f us needs
representation if we d o n ’t w ant to hear
our voices o f pow er dw indle. Any
other ways we can get in v o lv e d -n o t
only with the governm ent, but with
making ourselves h e a rd -h e lp dram ati­
cally. Pay close attention at election
time...candidates like to appear “ reach­
able” to voters, and will freely pub-
lish -a n d indeed, even send to you­
then-addresses. W rite these dow n and
save them for later use (when the candi­
dates are elected to office and a re n ’t as
reachable).
The poverty rate for A m ericans is
1 3 .1 % -o r one A m erican in eight. The
Hispanic poverty rate is 26.8% ; for
Blacks, it’s 3 1 .6 % -o n e Black A m eri­
can in three is living in poverty!
A nd w hile the top tw o-fifths o f the
incom e groups had increased earnings,
the bottom tw o-fifths becam e poorer.
A rising tide m ight lift all boats, but not
equally: A frican Am ericans seem to be
left stranded on driftw ood. The rich-
poor spread is the m ost immense that
has ever been recorded. Taxes should
be doing Robin H ood’s job, but the
governm ental leaders are in the upper
class and therefore see nothing wrong
with the status quo. A nd although
econom ists predict a 5.7% rise in na­
tional income this year, taxes are pro­
jected to take a 7.2% jum p. A ccording
to O regon Tax Research, Tax Freedom
D ay—the day yo u ’d have all your taxes
paid if you paid all your earnings to­
ward them from January 1--arrived on
M ay 1 this year, the latest date ever.
To m ake matters worse, the taxes we
pay often go to the w rong sources. Up
until 1987, a law was in effect which
provided tax advantages for com panies
doing business in South Africa. A ddi­
tionally, property taxes are much too
high in O regon, because our slated use
for them (education) is m uch too vast.
Below is a graph (obtained by the O re­
gon D epartm ent o f Revenue, the H igh­
way Division, and the Legislative Reve­
nue Office) of the six largest tax sources.
Type of Stale Tax
1988-89
Revenue
Personal Income
$1,725,324
Unemployment Insurance
328,037
Gasoline & Fuel Use
210,916
Corporate Income
157,770
Weight/Mile Tax
139,492
Cigarette
78,340
Parks Seek Volunteers
Portland Parks and Recreation is a c ­
cepting applications for assistant R ec­
reation Leaders for the 1990 Sum m er
Playground Program . These volunteers
will assist the Park D irectors in plan­
ning, directing, and supervising recrea­
tional program s in 30 Portland parks
and six Com m unity Centers.
In addition to the rew ards o f w ork­
ing with children on a volunteer basis,
benefits also include C PR and First Aid
certification, and training in the areas
o f arts and crafts, team sports, and lead­
ership.
A pplicants must be age 15 or older,
and able to w ork at least 10 hours per
w eek for the first six w eeks o f the sum ­
mer. This is an excellent opportunity
for those people interested in careers o f
education, recreation and child devel­
opm ent.
The Sum m er Playground Program
begins June 18 and runs through August
24. The application deadline is Friday,
May 18. For those interested in apply­
ing or have questions, contact Portland
Parks and Recreation V olunteer Serv­
ices at 796-5113.
W hat we desperately need is a re­
vamped lax structure, as well as leaders
that are working for us, not just voting
them selves huge pay raises while cut­
ting social security.
Now for the good news: yes, there
have been im provem ents, too, as shown
by various Louis Harris polls. In 1972,
the whites that would vote for a quali­
fied Black president num bered 74%.
By 1982, this figure rose to 86% (Jackson,
are you listening?). In 1956, half o f the
white Americans did not feel schools
should dro p the co lo r line and
integrate...by 1982, only 9% felt this
way. 47% o f white Am ericans in 1973
would be “ only a little” or “ not at a ll”
upset if Blacks moved into the neigh-
Taxes should be doing Robin
Hood's job, but...
borhood. This percentage jum ped to
70% by 1978 (we have a way to go:
there are still plenty o f Bensonhursts).
Additionally, the percentages o f A fri­
can A m ericans that own hom es has pro­
gressed steadily between 1940 and 1980,
increasing from 23% to 44%.
I hope that som eday w e’ll reach the
sum m it o f equality. The only way to
get there is to keep clim bing. It is frus­
trating to find that for all the good you
can do, there are still bigots such as
Tom M etzger and his clan undoing it.
But we ARE rising, don’t forget, so
M artin Luther King, Jr. was right: we
SHALL overcome. Ask yourself this
when you’re at the election booth: who
will help us? It seems m undane, but it’s
easy to get caught up in rhetoric, false-
bottom claim s, and credentials rather
than good ideas, integrity, and m otiva­
tion.
*******
I wanted to also extend recognition to
B ob M arley, who helped to prom ote
Rastafarianistic principles and equal­
ity via his m usic...he died nine years
ago this M ay 11.
Bogus Telemarketers Run Out of Town
Attorney General Dave Frohnm ayer
announced a $27,500 settlem ent in the
first law suit filed under O regon’s new
telem arketing laws. A judgm ent order
signed today by M arion County Circuit
C ourt Judge Rodney W. M iller also
stops telem arketing activities in O re­
gon by a N evada com pany and requires
it to pay restitution to O regon consum ­
ers w ho paid a credit card application
fee but didn ’t receive a credit card.
“ O regon’s new telem arketing law s
are working w ell,” Frohnm ayer said.
“ N ot only are we resolving enforce­
m ent actions quickly and getting resti­
tution for O regon consum ers, but q ues­
tionable telem arketers are choosing to
take their operations elsew here.”
Frohnm ayer’s office filed a law suit
on March 6 ,1 9 9 0 . The law suit alleged
that C redit Financial A cceptance C or­
poration (CFAC) violated O regon laws
by using automatic dialing and announc­
ing devices (ADADs) to solicit con­
sum ers, failing to register as tele­
m arketers with the D epartm ent o f Jus­
tice and failing to register with the
Secretary o f State’s office to do busi­
ness in Oregon.
An unknown num berof O regon con­
sum ers received com puter-generated
telephone calls or m ailings offering to
obtain credit cards if consum ers paid a
$25-$35 application fee.
The settlem ent was signed by Robert
Raym ond Corbett, o f Las Vegas, presi­
dent o f Com puter System s Develop­
ment Corporation, which also does busi­
ness as CFAC.
The settlem ent prohibits the defen­
dants from violating the Unlawful Trade
Practices A ct and from operating as a
American Legion to Bring 18,000 to Portland For
September 1995 Meet at Oregon Convention Center
1932.
The visitor association’s C ara Lee
Tobias accom panied O regon A merican
Legion Adjutant Barry Snyder and Maury
D ruhl, an O regonian on the national
com m ittee, to make the final presenta­
tion April 30 in Indianapolis. “ The
presentation w ent sm oothly,” said T o­
bias. In assessing the reasons for Port­
land’s victory over its stiff com petition,
Tobias observed that “ we follow ed all
their formal procedures” - including
m ini-presentations at legion board
m eetings during each o f the past four
years.
“ The legionnaires have wonderful
m em oriesof their past m eetings in Port­
land,” Tobias said. She also observed
that the legion had a successful conven­
tion in Louisville in 1988, where their
hosts included Jeff Blosscr and Debo­
rah Jeffrey. At the time B losscr and Jef­
frey were with the Louisville conven­
tion center but now are general m an­
ager and m arkcting/sales m anager, re­
spectively, o f the Oregon Convention
Center.
The Portland/O regon Visitors A sso­
ciation is responsible for m arketing the
O regon Convention Center to potential
users nationally. Their services arc
provided under contract to the M etro­
politan Exposition-Recreation Commis­
sion.
For the fourth time in 63 years
Portland will be the site o f the annual
convention o f the A merican Legion,
the legion’s board o f directors an­
nounced M onday from its headquar­
ters in Indianapolis.
An estim ated 18,000 legionnaires
will com e to Portland Septem ber 1-7,
1995. The most recent American Legion
convention in Portland occurred in 1970
and, with 20,000 attedning is the larg­
est convention in Portland history. The
projected hotel use for 1995, a total o f
33,000 room nights, make the 1995
even Portland’s largest in term s o f
hotel occupancy. In num bers o f atten­
dees, this June’s Rotary Convention
and the 1995 legion event will tie for
O regon’s second largest convention.
The legionairs will create an $11.3
m illion econom ic im pact during their
five days in Portland.
The legion’s directors passed over
San Diego, Denver, Anaheim, Salt Lake
C ity, Las Vegas and San Francisco in
granting Portland the convention. Port­
land’s visitor association had been work­
ing on the bid since spring o f 1986.
Had Portland been turned down, its
next opportunity would have been the
year 2000, when the legion conven­
tion next returns to a western city.
In addition to 1970, the A merican
Legion met in Portland in 1965 and
• . -,
,»
telemarketing business in Oregon. CFAC
m ust obtain D epartm ent o f Justice per­
mission before any future telephone so­
licitation in Oregon and pay $2,5000 in
attorney fees and investigation costs,
an undeterm ined am ount o f restitution
and a $25,000 civil penalty. The civil
penalty will not be collected if the de­
fendants com ply with the other require­
ments o f the settlement.
Consum ers who paid the application
fee but did not receive a credit card are
eligible for restitution. Consumers
seeking restitution should call the De­
partm ent o f Justice C onsum er Hotline
at 378-4320, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
weedays.
The telemarketer registration require­
m ent and AD A D ban were enacted by
the 1989 O regon legislature.
• •» ■*» <•*• W ♦ '
Homosexuality: A Personal Choice Or Is It Genetic?
by Ullysses Tiicker, Jr.
Last week, I was invited over to a
good friend’s house, along with several
others, for a mellow day o f barbecue,
music, and conversation. W e have a
way o f getting together and attem pting
to solve or address som e o f the w orld’s
problems.
W hile there, I w atched the Tracy
Ullman Show for the first time, quite
surprised that her father was gay. He
also had a lover that was featured on the
program. Considering the pow er o f the
PTA and other conservative lobbying
groups, you would think that the pro­
gram would inspire more protest at
FOX TV 49. I hardly watch television
outside o f sports. W hen I do, I watch
shows like Mr. Ed, Inspector Gadget,
The Simpsons, The A dam s Fam ily,
Leave It To Beaver, or the Andy G rif­
fith Show. In short, there is no televi­
sion program that I religiously dash
home to watch. Being em ployed at a
television station, I see more new s in a
day than the average person views in a
week. My purpose, when I choose to
watch television, is to “ chill out” and
recapture the inner peace that was lost
in the day. I like to laugh too.
Homosexuality or bisexuality is not
a laughing matter. W hen you consider
the “ confusion” that television causes
or how it “ alledgedly” creates values,
molds lifestyles, and influences young
people, I thought my column should
address the topic this week. Over the
years, I’ve worked with my share of
people who desire the same sex as mates,
lovers, or as a com panion. I have
family members who are gay, also.
There are respected politicians, both
locally and nationally, who are gay.
There are activists, lawyers, doctors,
police, neighbors, and people you work
with who are gay. Some live an overt
lifestyle and others keep it behind close
doors. W hile watching the Tracy U ll­
man Show, the great debate between
teh somewhat enlightened and educated
Baby Burtdler Baby Faire
Celebrate Mother]'s day week­
end. M ay 11 -13 a t th e second
Baby Bundler Baby Faire to
benefit Morrison Center's Early
Intervention program.
The
baby Faire will b e lo ca te d in
insuma- nr
hormones and sexual orientation. Psy­
chological theories which attem pt to
explain homosexual behavior lacks evi­
dence to show that hom osexuality or
bisexuality result from inadequate par­
enting. The one thing on which sexol­
ogy experts seem to agree is that there
is no agreement about what causes sexual
orientation.
Personally, unlike some of my friends,
I believe that is an individual’s choice
to be a homosexual or bisexual. I think
that the genetic excuse is a convenience
out o f justification for a dysfunctional
lifestyle. A person is gay because they
desire to be gay in my opinion, not be­
cause his or her sixth cousin was gay.
People should learn to stand up for what
they believe in and live their life ac­
cordingly.
Even though the American Psychi­
atric Association in 1973 chose to re­
move hom osexuality/bisexuality from
its list o f m ental disorders, many o f
them continue to face social, vocational,
and economic oppression. H om osexu­
ality/bisexuality, be it unfortunate or
not, will always be viewed as a charac­
ter fault by society. W hatever the life­
style, “ those who live by the sword
shall perish by i t . . . “
In closing, I am rem inded of a state­
ment m ade by a lesbian high school
friend, who by the way hated men be­
cause they “ were dogs, insensitive, self­
i s h . . . “ and a host o f other descriptive
words. She suggested that only “ a
woman know s how to make a woman
feel good.” As one would expect, I
then disagreed because I do not feel
that way about men. I guess you could
say that I ’m from the Percy Sledge
school of thought, you know, “ W hen A
M an Loves A W om an.”
U llyssesTuckerJr. is a contributing
writer and is read regularly within the
Portland Observer. His observations
and opinions do not reflect the opin­
ions o f the Portland Observer.
PDC
'PôMtASTI
W.VB.d’MES't
(XiMMIsSK*.1-
Request for Input
The Portland Developm ent Com m is­
sion is considering im plem entation of
an E m e rg in g S m all Business (ESB)
O p p o rtu n ity P ro gram , in ten d ed to
assure u tiliz a tio n o f e c o n o m ic a lly
disadvantaged businesses in contract­
ing and purchasing opportunities of the
Commission.
PD C is the C ity o f Portland's urban
renewal and economic developm ent
agency.
Comments and suggestions on the pro­
posal are sought from small businesses
who m ight benefit from this program,
particularly m inority and wom en busi-
nesses. Copies of the proposal can be
obtained from:
D avid N em o, C h ie f, A d m in . Services
Portland D evelop m ent Com mission
1120 S.W . 5th A venue, Suite 1100
Portland, O R 97204 - Phone 796-5348
Interested businesses are also invited to
meet w ith PDC representatives to pr
pro-
vide input on this proposal or explore
business opportunities w ith the Com ­
mission on:
May 16, I WO — 5:00 ta 7:30 pa
Oratpa Assodatimi of Minority
Eatropraaaars (OAME) Caatar
«47 NE 1 »tk. Soita 245, Portland
C ommunity C alendar
The Block United Fund
of Oregon, Inc.
is now a cce p tin g grant appli­
cations from non-profit organi­
zations operating in or serving
N/NE Portland or other minori­
ty communities throughout the
state in the programmatic areas
of: Arts & Culture; Economic
D e ve lo p m e n t; E d u ca tio n ;
Emergency Needs; Helath &
Social Services; Social Justice
& Legal Services. All grant a p ­
plications are to be submitted
to the Black United Fund of
Oregon's business office by 5:00
p.m. by June 15,1990. For a p ­
plications or further info., call
Winthola Hodges, 282-7973, or
at BUF of Oregon, 3802 NE
Martin Luther King, Room 301.
began. Is homosexuality a personal
choice or genetic? Are you gay be­
cause you desire to be or is it because of
some gene you inherited from a family
member?
The term sexual orientation means
erotic attraction towards people o f the
same gender (homosexual), the other
gender (heterosexual), or both genders
(bisexual). The first factor that inter­
feres with people identifying their sex­
ual orientation is the confusion between
sexual orientation, gender identity, and
sex roles. G ender identity refers to the
feeling or conviction that a person is ei­
ther a man or a woman (K lausner &
Hasselbring). Sex roles, also called
gender roles, are traits and behavior a
given culture expects o f its m ales and
females.
M ost often gender-fem aleness or
m aleness-is determined at birth through
a complexed set of chromosomal, hormo­
nal, and physiological differences. The
female determ inant o f gender are the
XX chorm osom e, a preponderance of
the female hormones estrogen and pro­
gesterone, and female reproductive and
sex organ. The male determ inants are
XY chrom osom es, a preponderance of
the male hormone androgen and testos­
terone, and male reporductive and sex­
ual organs (Klein).
U nlike gender, which is predeter­
mined at birth, sex roles are behavior
patterns acquired after birth through so­
cialization. Sex role socialization oc­
curs through parents, peers, and social
institutions teaching children to behave
in “ gender appropriate” w ay s-h o w to
act like a girl or boy, for example.
Researchers have sextensively stud­
ied sets o f identical and fraternal twins
in which one twin was homosexual and
the other heterosexual. The search for
a genetic determ inant for sexual orien­
tation has lead to inconclusive results.
Hormonal research has yielded no simple
cau se-effect relationship betw een
the Beaverton Mall, 3205 SW
C edar Hill BIvd. It will feature over
40 booths of hand-crafted and
specialty items (clothes, toys, a c ­
cessories) and resources for moms
and babies, as well as live enter­
tainment.
Pictured are H enry G roepper from the C rim e Prevention
Association; M e G ru ff, C rim e Prevention mascott and News 8
Meteorolgist Jim Little. O ver 3,500 bears were collected during
K G W -T V 's T h ird Annual "O ffice r Buddy Bear" campaign in
conjunction w ith The Benj. Franklin Federal Savings & Loan
Association.
hotdogs, hamburgers, tabiewear
and beverages. Participants are
requested to bring side dishes
and desserts. There will be games,
cam araderie , a n d fun for every­
one. This event is ope n to the
public.
It’s auction time again for the
Mt. Hood Preschool.
The 12th annual benefit auctio n
for the preschool will be held Sat­
urday, M ay 12 a t 6:00 p.m. a t the
Welches Mt. Hood Lion's Club.
The Lion's Club is lo c a te d a p ­
proximately 15 miles east of Sandy
on Highway 26, next to the Clacka­
mas C ounty Bank.
Infant/Child CPR Course
Scheduled
Babies d o n 't co m e with instruc­
tions, but parents a n d caregivers
o f young children ca n learn to
b e c o m e prepared to handle
sudden em ergenc ies by taking a
Red Cross In fa nt/C h ild CPR
course. Infant/Child CPR training
will b e given in tw o parts at the
Red Cross Building, 3131 N. Van­
couver Avenue, on Thursday. May
24. a n d Saturday. M ay 31,from 6
p.m. to 9 p.m.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Parents Without Partners Family
Memorial Day Picnic
All Portland area single families,
and especially PWP Alumni, are
invited to a family M emorial Day
picnic on Monday, May 28th from
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. a t Lau-
relhurst Park, SE 39th a n d Ank­
eny, in Portland. PWP will provide
Music By Blue Lake Summer
Concert Series
Summer picnics with family and
friends are just around the com er
and so is the "Music By Blue Lake"
Summer C oncert Series!
This eight-w eek entertainm ent
program will have a diverse range
o f popular local musicians from
jazz, to country to reggae. The
musicians will be playing every
Thursday evening from June
21 to August 9,1990.
Each o f th e “ Music By Blue
Lake” perform ances will start
a t 6;30 p.m. and will perform
for tw o hours. Talent will be
finalized by April 30th. W hat­
ever the w e ath er conditions,
the conce rt will continue on
schedule.
PCC Announces Volunteer
Management Program
Starting in th e fall, Portland
Community C ollege will offer
a n 1 8 -c re d it c u rric u lu m
leading to a ce rtifica te in
volunteer m anagem ent.
The course, designed for
experienced managers and
for those just entering th e fie ld .
will b e offered b y th e PCC
M anagem ent and Com ­
merce D epartm ent in a series
of four workshops through the
1990-91 school year. Course
w o rk w ill in c lu d e b a s ic
m anagem ent studies, specific
vo lu n te e r m a n a g e - m e n t
classes a n d a n e le c tiv e
course.
bOHM
: 45 V «B c MA n MA