Page 2 -The Portland O b server September 12, 1990 E R S P E C T I V E S ...».... ......... ’ By Professor McKinley Burt ; , ... the “ information explosion” , when before, our poor mental circuits may already have been quite overloaded? Most of just routinely file new facts away somewhere in a cluttered “ memory bank” . A number of people who have seen my presentation on local television have asked, how can you stand there for an hour and a half straight and deliver all that information without halting, stutter ing or a lot of * ‘er-ahs’ ’? You sure know your subject matter. “Knowing" is not quite enough! You have to be at ease, with your mind free enough to allow you to ‘deal with t was not surprising that several your audience’ - to be able to respond readers said they could identify with with your eyes and a glance to those nods last week’s statement, “ The Best Tests of assent and murmurs evoked be Key and Curriculum Are In Your Mind.” points. You need an opportunity to ad Though consciously unaware of using dress unforeseen audience responses to this approach to the learning process, particular parts of your presentation, and many people do employ it. Believe me you must have “ Facts On File” to deal when I tell you that “ learning can be fun with that. Now, we know one thing for sure; a contractor does not go about at any age.” Let us see if that isn’t so. Being able to retrieve and deliver building a house in some helter-skelter information "on call” is what it is all fashion. HE HAS THE ARCHITECT'S about -- the bottom line! that is what a PLANS! That is what it is all about, a computer is all about, supposedly. But think about it - this machine has first to “ Plan.” A book, any book, has a plan or be told what to do. Data or information commonly accepted format. You find a has to be inserted in a highly organized ‘Table of Contents’ where the subject form before it can be retrieved in any matter is organized in a classification useful manner. And the ‘ ‘mind’ ’ that is scheme which proceeds in orderly fash relying upon this device must therefore ion to carry you through a chapter by be equally well organized in order to chapter presentation of the subject mat effectively insert data (programming) ter. There is an introduction and/or pref ace that gives an overview of the ‘jour and to retrieve it. W hat’s the answer in the era of ney’ you are about to take. In the final What Do You Mean, You Can't Remember? I •%• • • pages you are given perhaps a summary, an index, a glossary, and maybe a bibli ography. Many books would be very difficult to use, almost useless, if they did not have this schema. YOUR MIND can be almost useless if it is not as well organized. There are o f course many gim micks and devices on the market, all advertised to “ improve your memory” ' - high priced tapes ‘guaranteed’ to pro vide you with instant recall, and there are expensive sem inars sworn to make you a better student or a more effective speaker, or even a much higher paid executive. But I can assure you, just as with the ‘computer programming’ model I gave, that none of these things can be accom plished in a meaningful manner unless you first develop an organized mind; “ Knowing is not quite enough.” An interesting example of how useful classification schemes can be proceeds from my ‘Black Inventors’ presentation. I may have aday when I’m not up to par and have difficulty pulling up particular names or inventions. In such cases I’ll fall back on a set of particular classification schemes which provide graphic images - or economic modes, or educational backgrounds, whatever; All those with beards, or those who attended engineering schools, those who were dropouts or illiterate, those whose inventions sparked railroads or other transportation. There is no doubt about it; “ The Best Texts And Curricu lum Is In Your Mind.” My Power of Faith as: Internal Strength A Mother’s Secret Confessions by an anonymous parent For many, many years, my fondest wish was to adopt a child. Well, in Sep tember of 19831 received my wish. This child impacted my life so greatly that even though my blood did not run through her veins, the first time that I looked upon her little face I said, “ She looks just like my father.” I, too, look just like my father. This fact can be validated by everyone who’s come in contact with him. Our first year together was grand. She was growing faster than most new born babies. It made me feel very good. The second and third years were about the same. She developed normally. She was in good health and she was showing signs of being able to learn quickly; which was a genuine sign of a Moten sibling. She fit-in very well. Year four, on the other hand, was terrible. It was as though my child was always sick with colds, body aches and awful pains. Several trips to the doctors only gave us the same old answer, “ She’s suffering from leg cramps caused by her cold.” Week after week, there were more complaints of leg pains and added com plaints of tiredness. This was followed by an inability to walk for any distance. Emergency room visits were becoming more and more frequent. Increased visits were being made to her personal physi cian to find out what was causing the trouble. Everybody was saying the same thing, “ Her symptoms are attributed to latent flu side effects.” November rolled in and so did the increase in pain for my baby. This time they (the doctors) not only found leg cramps but spinal meningitis. She was placed in intensive care for seven days. I stayed in the hospital day and night wondering what was going to happen. I was not familiar with this illness-at all. All that I knew was that it was very serious. This was my first experience with uncertain feelings about how strong I could be. Can I withstand this kind of pressure? For several months, I worried about her severe leg pains and the fact that on one was able to find anything conclusive. ERVER PORTL (USPS 959-680) OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established in 1970 Alfred L. Henderson Publisher Gary Ann Garnett Business Manager Joyce Washington Operations Manager Leon Harris Editorial Manager The PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc. 4747 N.E. M.L.K., Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 P.O.Box 3137 Portland, Oregon 97208 (503) 288-0033 (Office) FAX#: (503) 288-0015 Deadlines for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5 p.m. - Ads: Tuesday, 5 p.m. PO S TM A S T E R : S»nd A<M r»M Chang»» to: Portland Obaarvar, P.O. Box 3137, P o rtland, O R 97208. Second-class postage paid at Portland, Oregon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts and photo graphs should be clearly tabled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. AD created design display ads become the sole property of this newspaper and can not be used in other publications or personal usage, without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad 1990 PO RTLA ND O BSERVER. ALL RIG HTS RESERVED, REPRO DUCTION IN WHOLE O R IN PAR T W IT H O U T PERM ISSIO N IS PROHIBITED. Subscnprions $20 00 per year in the Tri-Countyarea. $ 2 5 0 0 all other areas The Portland O b s e rve r- Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication - is a member I The National Newspaper Association - Founded in 1885. and The National Advertis ing Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY X Seven days had passed. I prayed that the doctors would make her well and her uneasiness would disappear. Then, she was released. At last, we were home ward bound. I was thinking, “ She’s feel ing good, looking good, so everything must be -OK.” December came around and so did the leg cramps. This time my child was not only unable to walk but she couldn’t even stand up. The doctors ran more tests and she was given medicine for pain. In a few days, she felt OK-again. My nerves were wrecked. I knew there had to be more to this because there was no cold present; but, the pain was still there. In January, my dad died. I travelled to California and remained there for two weeks. I called home every day; check ing on my child’s condition. She was feeling fine. The second week, I talked to my little girl. The pains had returned. I rushed home! I called her doctor and said, “ You are going to have to find out what is wrong with my child or send me to someone who can!” We arrived at the clinic at 10 a.m., in the morning, and when we left the clinic it was 6 p.m. We went directly to the hospital. SEE INTERNAL STRENGTH ON PAGE 8 PARKING COMPLAINTS Dick Bogle, Commissioner of Pub lic Safety, David Sweet, Housing Serv ices Supervisor, Bureau of Buildings, Barbara Peterson and Willie May, field representatives held a news conference to announce a program to handle the growing number of neighborhood park ing complaints. The Bureau of Buildings receives more than 100 complaints per day con cerning violations of neighborhood park ing regulations: On-street storage of vehicles...off-street storage of disabled or discarded vehicles...illegal parking of trucks, trailers and oversized vehicles. Neighborhood liveability is severely impacted. The lag time between citizen com plaint and on-site inspection is now 3-4- weeks. Before the severe budget cuts of the 1980s reduced Bureau staff, and an nexations increased the volume of calls, the lag time was 3-4 days. Currently, the Bureau of Buildings sends housing inspectors to investigate parking complaints...but only as time allows. Higher priority is given to hous ing and nuisance violations, which pose greater threats to health and safety. The new program is intended to reduce the lag time between complaint and inspection by 75% or more. The goal is a turn-around time of one week or less by the end of October. Gang problems are no longer boy problems. Local experts are alarmed at the marked increase in girls’ involve ment in gangs and violence. Girlfriends of gang members are having “ gang babies" as statues symbols and girls who hang around with boys in gangs are often sexually abused. Girls are also starting their own gangs; selling drugs, fighting other girl gangs and carrying weapons. Eight to en percent of the teenagers on probation in Multnomah County’s juvenile justice system gang department are girls; five years ago there were none. Why are girls getting involved in gangs? Counselors and probation officers see them facing the same self esteem and peer group issues as boys who join gangs. But young women face the added diffi culties that teen pregnancy brings: in adequate prenatal care, single parenting and the long-term problems of raising children in a gang environment. What kinds of girls join gangs: Are girls imitating the boys or are their gangs different? What do you think? Join Jack Faust and his guests for this important discussion on Sunday, September 30th from 6:00-7:00 p.m. For seat reserva tions please call Frank Mungeam, Ali son Highberger or Liza McQuade at 231 - 4620. Guests should arrive at the KATU studios (21st & N.E. Sandy Blvd.) be tween 5:00-5:15 p.m. The public is wel come, but reservations are required. Letter to the Editor: The Portland Shuffle by Nyewusi Askari “ Where you goin Mr. Spider, climbin up the wall?” The Spider said, “ I’m goin to get my ashes hauled.” After reading Ullysses Tucker’s article, ‘ ‘Push needs to shove in another direction,” September 5, 1990, Port land Observer, I was reminded of the Spider goin to get his ashes hauled. Haul his ashes? Tucker did more than that. Coming straight to the point, he severely tongue-lashed the African American community, for rais ing its voice in protest against The Nike Corporation, and by the time the article came to an end, it was very easy to speculate that Tucker’s roar was in de fense of NIKE. “ Listen,” he wrote, “ I am sick and tired of hearing folks in Black community complain about NIKE’s underpresentation (?) of minorities in management and on its board of direc tors. I am mad, but not at NIKE. Ac cording to a recent study released by UCLA, 95% of top level management jobs are held by white men. Even more deplorable, these figures have barely moved over the last ten years. If black folks want to boycott do it across the board and fairly. Don’t just single out the NIKE corporation, go after Exxon, MGM and countless others.” Tucker spends the rest o f his time truing to explain why he is slam ming Operation PUSH, tongue-lashing the African American community and defending NIKE. It was a poor performance. Tucker displayed a severe lack of awareness of how African Americans have viewed the NIKE/Operation PUSH happenings. The chain of events speak for themselves. When the PUSH delegation asked fora meeting with NIKEofficials, they had to contend with a security guard, who pleaded ignorant of knowing any thing about anything. When the PUSH delegation convened at a local African American church, to discuss the issue with local African American leaders, very few of our leaders showed up. S ince that time, various articles have been written about PUSH/NIKE, and some of best known African American leaders have issued statements that attempt to explain why they are not » 8 A a .. e , - - Zs.- .T* t ¿ \ . ? VEZ adding, “ I am in a position to make it happen.” As commissioner-in-charge, Bogle has directed the Fire Bureau to establish a dual hiring list. One list contains the names of all those who pass the exam. The second contains only the names of minorities and women who pass. Bogle said he will employ the sec ond list, if necessary, “ to speed up the process of integrating what is perceived as an all-male, all-white public agency in a city with a sizeable minority popula tion, and more women than m en.” Of the bureau’s current 750 sworn personnel, only 24 member o f minority communities-10 African Americans, 10 Hispanics, and four Asians-and only three are female. Bogle once was an opponent of dual hiring lists. He said he changed his think ing when he realized that integration-of the Fire Bureau “ would take too many years, without extra effort on my part.” Also, he said dual lists are consis tent with the city’s Affirmative Action policies. All other city bureaus, with the exception of Police, employ minority and female hiring lists. At present, 120 women and minori ties are enrolled in the Fire Bureau’s on going Affirmative Action Training Pro gram. I am responding to a letter from Betty Gamer about block parties that was published in your August 15th edition. There is a very clear process for closing a street for a community event. I have enclosed a copy of the brochure and application that is available from the Office of Transportation, Street Systems Management, and a sample of the required forms. Insurance is required for all events such as this. Neighborhood Associations that belong to a coalition are covered by the insurance the coalitions carry Coalitions are independent non-profit entities. There are some associations like Ms. Gamer’s which do not belong to a coalition and therefore are responsible for making their own arrangements for insurance. Ms. Gamer was given this information along with the application forms. She chose not to complete and return them. The Sabin/Irvington Heights Association may be recognized and incorporated in the state of Oregon but there is different criteria for city neighborhood associations. The Office of Neighborhood Associations and myself are always available to assist neighbors or neighborhood asso ciations to access city services. Sincerely, Gail E. Washington Mayor’s Liaison to Office of Neighborhood Associations supporting the boycotL That sounds good, but it’s poor repre The Tucker article implies that sentation. We heard it from the Presi some of our local leaders aren ’ t support dent, but did we hear it from the mem ing the PUSH boycott because they aren’t bership? Not only that, where are th< willing to “ bite the hand that is feeding leaders we so often depend on to guidi them.” and direct us through these types o W hat’s happening here? matters and issues? When we hear lead The truth of the matter is, Port ers using words like neutral, it makes u land’s African American community has wonder, “ is that it?” Is that the onl; been pulled smack dab into the middle position you are recommending we take' of a national issue,however, our local Are you asking us to “ Do as you do?’ leadership has been handling the issue Or are you asking us to “ do as yot with kids gloves. say?” Local leaders have made little History is on the side o f Opera of the seriousness of this matter. tion PUSH. African American boycott! Local leaders have done little have a way o f feeding on themselves. Il to inform or involve the broader com history is right, we can expect more ant munity. more African American organization! That the PUSH delegation left to join the PUSH boycott against NIKEs our community with a warped, negative For the duration of the boycott. Port' picture is understandable. They were land’s African American community wil treated as strangers. They were treated be in the spotlight, and can expect to set as the bad guys. Mind you, the majority a lot of national traffic trampling througf o f the delegation were African Ameri its backyard. can women. If we are going to play host to t There was no honor in our house. national boycott, our leaders had bettei Who is to blame for this trag get on the ball. So must our journalist edy? All of us. We knew the PUSH Now is not the time to act ill-respon delegation was coming. We knew why sible. Now is not the time to act con they were protesting. We knew that fused or baffled. It’s make-it-or-break- NIKE was the target, yet we didn’t take it time. the time to get our house in order, in As for Ullysses Tucker, well, 1 order to create an environment from suggest that he let NIKE speak for itself. which some for real business could take Obviously, Tucker views himself as an place. intellectual and is proud of it, nonethe We missed a golden opportu less he should examine the damage done nity to become the centerpiece of hospi by his September 5 article. More impor tality, negotiations, goodwill, clear think tantly, he owes the community an apol ing and African Americna tourism. ogy. After all, this is America, and all It is ironic to hear our leaders citizens have a right to complain and talk about the need for economic devel raise their voices in protest. Tucker’s opment in North/Northeast Portland, yet education was made possible by the have to watch them do things that drive struggle of African ancestors, slaves, away those who might be willing to common, everyday people, millions ol invest, by bringing African American others, including those of us who got out conventions, festivals, delegations etc., heads busted in the name of injustice. to the new Convention Center. We share this planet with oth Operation PUSH brought a ers, and we have no right to keep others national issue to our community. The from coming into our community to delegation, in no uncertain terms, let us solve problems, or address common know, that although NIKE is sitting in issues. our backyard, its policies and practices Community sentiments toward are affecting African Americans through Tucker’s article? Listen to the words of out the country. one well-known community sister. “ If What shocks many, in this Ullysses is that mad with people in the community, is the ways in which our Black community, he sould pack up his leaders have chosen to show their sup bags and move into NIKE headquarters. port for NIKE. For example, Portland’s After what he said. I’m sure he can geta Urban League President has said the job there...” Urban League is neutral, on the matter. I ► ***•.- W -f Commissioner Dick Bogle has re leased figures which show a dramatic increase in minority and women appli cants for jobs with the Portland Bureau of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Serv ices. Bogle said 1,380 applications were received for the firefighter examination conducted Friday (SepL 7) at Portland State University-an increase of 33.5 per cent over the number applying for the last exam, given in September, 1987. Of this year’s applicants, 190, or 13.8 percent, are minorities, an increase of 58.3 percent. The number of female applicants rose 50.6 percent to 119, or 8.6 percent of the total. O f the 190 minorities, 175 are men- 67 African American, 48 Hispanic, 32 Native American, and 28 Asian. O f the 119 females, 104 are white, five are Af rican American, five are Hispanic, three are Native American, and two are Asian. (All minorities, male and female, and all females, white and minority, are listed in the two categories, as called for by federal Affirmative Action reporting guidelines; thus, minority women are counted twice in statistics furnished by the city’s Bureau of Personnel.) Bogle went on to say that he “ ex pects to see improved minority and female representation in the very near future,” Letter to the Editor » A . t k A BOGLE RELEASES FIGURES ON MINORITY/WOMEN APPLICANTS G,rls And Gan9s ?>r ’. ’’ " - '4