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Page 2 -T h e Portland Observer- May 29, 1991
News Briefs From Office Of The Mayor
M ayor Opposes SB 656/PERS
Mandate - The Oregon Slate Legisla
ture is considering amending Senate
B ill 656 to provide fo r an increase in
retirem ent benefits to both retired and
active PERS-covered employees. [This
increase w ould offset personal income
taxes now required to paid by PERS
recipients). It w ould further provide for
extension o f those same benefits to
non-PERS covered police officers and
firefighters. The State is proposing that
the C ity , along w ith other local govern
ments and school districts pay for the
increase. The State would then reap
(and keep to fund state programs) ap
prox. $50 m illio n o f net revenues from
taxing the increased pensions.
In a M ay 16 letter to Senator Bob
Shoemaker signed by all C ity Council
members, the C ouncil said: “ Consid
ering all o f the provisions o f the amend
ments before you, we believe that Port
land taxpayers would be required to
pay an additional $2.5 m illio n im m edi
ately for non-PERS retired police and
fire, $2 m illio n for non-PERS actives,
and at least $1.5 m illio n in increased
employer contributions to PERS.”
Mayor Clark, who has been a strong
supporter o f legislation this session to
lim it stale mandated costs, criticized
the legislative action as being the larg-
est mandated cost to the city in many
years. He stated, “ I t ’ s hard to under
stand how the legislature can tell us
we’ re on our own, threaten legislation
that pre-empts our a b ility to raise local
revenues to cope w ith Ballot Measure
#5 [Property Tax L im itation Measure]
cuts, and then turn around and hand us
an annual b ill o f $6 m illio n dollars!
This mandate would have been unac
ceptable before Ballot Measure #5; it is
nothing less than insulting af ter B a llo t
Mcasure#5. This is a tax increases that
the legislature has indirectly and selec
tively placed on local government tax
payers!”
A C ele bratio n o f C o lo r T o Begin
- The 83rd Annual Portland Rose Fes
tival, “ A Celebration o f C olo r’ ’ begins
on Friday, M ay 31, w ith the L lo yd
Center Queen’s Coronation, and runs
through S u n *iy , June 23. This year’ s
celebration boasts more than 65 events,
including new additions to the list o f
traditions.
The Delta A ir Lines Grand Floral
Parade w ill lake place Saturday, June
8, w inding its way from M em orial
Coliseum to D owntown Portland. The
Grand Marshals for the parade this year
w ill be Pacific Northwest residents who
are representatives o f each branch o f
the m ilita ry and who served in the
Packwood Introduces Bill
To Improve Health Care
Oregon Senator Bob Packwood has
introduced legislation that attempts to
solve a problem facing many Oregon
comm unities-a shortage o f health prac
titioners practicing in rural areas.
“ M ultnom ah County has one
physician fo r every 203 people, w hile
rural Grant county has only one physi
cian fo r every 2,633 people. More than
h a lf o f the small towns o f Oregon don’ t
have any physicians livin g there. For
that matter, Sherman, G illia m , and
W heeler counties don’ t have any phy
sicians livin g there.” Packwood said.
Packwood’s b ill w ould help rural
comm unities attract and keep physi
cians, nurse practitioners, and physi
cian assistants by:
* Providing tax credits to those
practicing in medically underserved area;
* Exem pting from tax repayments
o f education loans under the National
Health Services Corps Loan Repay
ment Program fo r health professionals
physicians practicing in rural areas;
* A llo w in g a tax deduction for up
to $25,000 or basic medical equipment
purchased by rural physicians annu
a lly; and
* Providing grants to area health
centers, rural county health departments,
and a newly created State Health Serv
ice Corps.
Last year Packwood introduced
legislation, called “ The Rural Health
Care Im provem ent A c t” , aimed at
helping rural hospitals survive. Several
provisions o f that legislation were signed
into law. Today’ s b ill is the second part
o f Packwood’ s e ffo rt to improve the
a vailability o f health care for rural
Oregonians.
“ More than 20 percent o f the
physicians practicing in Oregon’ s rural
areas are older than 60 and are fast
approaching retirem ent,” Packwood
said. Unless we can attract young phy
sicians to these areas, many more Ore
gonians w ill fin d themselves without
access to health care,” he said.
Packwood introduced the b ill to
day, also on behalf o f Arkansas Senator
David Pryor, who is recuperating from
a heart attack. Pryor is Chairman o f the
Special Committee on Aging.
Packwood is the senior Republi
can on the Finance Committee, which
has jurisdiction over health issues.
Persian G u lf during Operation Desert
Storm.
A n othe r popular event, the
Maxwell House Rose Festival Airshow
(presented by Safeway) w ill take place
Saturday and Sunday, June 15-June 16
at the H illsboro A irport. The Airshow
is dedicated this year to the Oregon A ir
National Guard in commemoration o f
its 50th Anniversary.
S ports A re na Task Force A p
pointed - On May 6 the Portland T ra il
Blazer organization announced the
proposed site for a new sports arena
located in the v ic in ity o f the present
M em orial Coliseum. F ollow ing that
announcement. C ity Council adopted
a resolution on Wednesday, M ay 22,
establishing a Sports Arena Task Force
that w ill “ evaluate and recommend a
fair and judicious public investment in
a possible public/private partnership
for a new arena which maximizes bene
fits to the citizens o f the region w hile
m inim izing public costs” . The M etro
politan Service D istrict (M E TR O )
Council is expected to adopt the same
resolution this week, in what Pat L a
Crosse, D irector, Portland Develop
ment Commission (PDC), stated was a
“ remarkable cooperative effort between
the tw o governmental agencies” .
Coming Up On
“ Jesse Jackson”
Saturday, June I and Sunday, June 2
The New M orality: A F o u r le tte r World
Show #35
Profanity and nudity on television,
pornography and gore in m ovie the
atres, lying and deception the norm in
business and personal relations: Is this
the Am erica we want? Are there any
lim its to behavior today? And is any
thing sacred in 1991? Guests panelists
include Rev. Jerry F alw ell, founder,
M oral M ajority; Eleanor C lift, colum
nist, Newsweek magazine; Richard
Cohen, Washington Post columnist; and
Gary Bauer, Rcagon Adm inistration
policy advisor.
Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9
W h ylsn ’tP o litic s W orking? Show #36
Many Americans are frustrated by
the conventional political scene, w ith
its attack ads, negative campaigns,
posturing instead o f positions o f sub
stance, and few satisfied voters. Is the
political system responding to the real
needs o f the country? I f not, why not?
Should there be a third party? Guests
include Ann Lewis, Democratic p o liti
cal consultant, Eleanor Smeal, National
Organization for W omen, Richard
Trumka, president, United Mine W o rk
ers.
Parents Must Bridge The Gap
When I wrote last week o f the
‘ Alum inum Plant Experience’ that u til
ized every facet o f a rich, but nonuniver
sity, science background, I should have
mentioned that on alternate weeks we
instrument technicians worked as
POWER HOUSE G R ID OPERATORS,
You w ill recall those fascinating scenes
from movies like “ The China Syn
drome” or televised reports from the
Trojan Nuclear Plant.
The workers stand before huge
arena-size displays o f meters, graphs
and instruments, regulating the pro
duction and/or transmission o f immense
loads o f electrical power (In the par
ticular case, here in the Dalles, co ntrol
ling the input o f hundreds o f thousands
o f K ilow atts o f power flo w in g daily
from the Bonneville Dam). An a lu m i
num smeller consumes as much elec
tric ity as a good-size city and it is
charged at the rate o f many thousands
o f dollars per hour. Hence, accuracy in
performance as w ell as the mainte
nance o f instruments is o f the highest
p riority. Note, the correct name o f this
now employee-owned company is the
“ Northwest Alum inum Company” .
W hat I have been developing here
is an inside veiw o f jobs in technology
that are and w ill continue to be a va il
able to the high school graduate who
has had a good background in science
and math. And I am especially empha
sizing how important it is that m inority
students and PARENTS understand this.
And, certainly, you can better under
stand why I deplore any “ tracking” ,
especially those contemplated systems
that w ill put so many youth ‘o ff-thc-
train’ at the tenth grade. Let me cite an
experience o f two decades ago, gained
while teaching at Portland State U n i
versity. I spent a lot o f time developing
summer and part time jobs fo r my stu
dents, but I soon ran into some startling
revelations in respect to m y m in ority
students. The fo llo w in g comments are
absolutely critical to a parents under
standing o f the problem (and to teach
ers).
T ypica lly, these student’s back
grounding and perception o f industry
and worksite activities-technology were
so much less than those o f M Y G E N
E R A T IO N at the same age that it was
absolutely frightening. I had developed
contracts w ith industry and public
agencies to f ill slots for work/study
positions and internships (as I am doing
now). The U.S. Forest Service experi
ence is a prime example. I developed a
questionnaire to be administered to all
my students, white, black, whatever. In
answering the question, “ Name some
typical jobs you would expect to find at
the U.S. Forest Service?” , usually the
Black students’ answers seldom ex
ceeded three or four positions: * ‘L og
ger, secretary, firefig hte r and truck
d riv e r” . (They ‘ do not’ hire loggers)
The white students would list many,
many more o f the personnel slots. Here
arc ju s t a ‘ fe w ’ in that jo b spectrum:
Computeroperator, architect, mapmaker,
surveyor, entopmologist, anthropolo
gist, sociologist, nurse, personnel ana
lyst, compensation specialist, pilot,
accountant, artist, w riter, public rela
tions o ffice r, equipment operator, rec
reation specialist, welder, plumber,
tim ber cruiser, attorney, printer, audi
tor, clerk typist, word processor, etc.
We are dealing w ith a ‘ poverty o f o ri
entation’ lack o f that old-fashioned
‘supper table’ input. A nd w ith a lack o f
m otivation to read.
M y point here is that the parent
(and student) has to realize that there is
a vast gulf-gap between ‘o u r’ k n o w l
edge o f the w orld around us and the
realities o f the workplace and infra
structure. I f one does not know that
certain jobs and opportunities exist,
they w ill not be applied for. And i f the
PARENTS do not have this know l-
edge-or there is none-the situation is
exacerbated. You w ill understand, then,
my insistence that our com m unity par
ents have to receive structured and com
prehensive assistance in preparing their
children fo r survival in this w orld o f
technology. O bviously, we cannot
depend upon the school system to pro
vide the specialized inform ation sys
tems and orientation a race must have
fo r survival. That is silly . We w ill be
lucky i f we are just able to get them to
do an adequate jo b o f teaching ‘ read
ing, w ritin g and arithm etic.’
Having said a ll o f that, I feel that
you can now appreciate the gravity o f
the problem; especially i f you project
my experience w ith that agency to the
jo b sites throughout the Portland M et
ropolitan Statistical area. As I increase
my activities in this respect, I am en
countering some o f the same problems
I found in the 1970’ s. “ O U R ” organi
zations who employ people in ‘ Job De
velopment’ capacities, inevitably hire
people who have the same ‘ technical
orientation disabilities* as the students
I just wrote about. Even i f they move
beyond calling up the phone company,
Tektronix, N ike and the public sector,
hundreds o f opportunities are missed
sim ply because they do not recognize
the correlation between the jobs pub
lished and the corollary or supporting
positions that must also be related.
In my Urban Economics Class I
designed and taught at P.S.U., I had '
students read the daily newspaper and
report on NEW BUSINESS A C T IV E (
TIES. Then, they were taught to relate
that to the jobs which would be neces
sary fo r the implementation o f these
projects; just as a contractor would
study building plans and ‘ take o ff the
specs’ for the materials needed - lu m
ber, bricks, nails, etc, I would send
them to the library to use the “ D IC
T IO N A R Y OF O C C U P A T IO N A L
T IT L E S ” which lists and defines the
thousands o f jobs that exist in the
American industry and public sector (I
bought the latest edition last week).
I f we are sincere about surviving,
these are the things that w ill have to be
done. I f our organizations can’ t do the
job, then we must do it ourselves - i f it
means ‘ new’ organizations. M ore next
week.
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Reinvestments
What You Should Know About Why Canada’s
Health System W ouldn’t Work Here
Let’s Play School,
Sesame Street Style
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Attention class! I t ’ s time to enter
the w onderful w orld o f pretend, and to
play school w ith the Sesame Street
characters in the all-new SESAME
STREET L IV E production o f “ L e t’ s
Play School,” coming to the M E M O
R IA L C O L IS E U M , in Portland, Thurs
day, June 13 through Sunday, June 16
for seven performances.
“ L e t’ s Play School” isa ca n ’ t-sit-
s till show Filled w ith audience partici
pation and familiar Sesame Street songs.
Professor Grover w ill take you singing
and dancing through an imaginary day
o f school on Sesame Street. Big Bird,
Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Pro
fessor Grover and a ll o f your favorite
Sesame Street friends w ill be in school
as you rock through ro ll call, dance
ihrough spelling class, jam through music
class and sing through story time.
“ Let’ s Play School” was produced
by Vcc Corporation in conjunction w ith
the C hildren’ s Television Workshop
(C TW ). This all-new production was
produced by Bob Shipstad, choreogra
pher and directed by M arilyn Magness,
lyrics w ritten and produced by Decker
V clic and Peter Johnson.with art direc
tion by Jim Waters and lighting direc
tion by David Agress. “ L e t’ s Play
School” was w ritten by Nancy Sans,
one o f C T W ’ s w riters for “ Sesame
StrccL”
Am erica’ s health care system has
been in the news a lot lately. You may
have read articles or heard people ta lk
ing about the idea o f national health
insurance that’ s funded and managed
by the federal government, sim ilar to
the system used in Canada, where there
are no private insurance companies.
One study even contends that the U.S.
could save enough money on adm inis
trative costs to be able to provide care
to everyone, rich, poor, young, old and
homcless-simply by adopting a Cana-
dian-style system.
I f this sounds too good to be true, it
probably is, according to Joseph F.
Boyle, M D , executive vice president o f
the Am erican Society o f Internal M edi
cine (A S IM ). “ The reason is simple:
Americans arc not Canadians. There
are many reasons why a Canadian sys
tem would not be acceptable to the vast
m ajority o f us in this country,” said Dr.
Boyle.
How is America different?
First, there arc major social and
demographic differences between the
U.S. and Canada. Canada is fa irly
homogeneous w ith only small, scat
tered ethnic populations. In contrast,
Am erica has large Hispanic, Asian and
M id d le Eastern communities in most
cities, in addition to im m igrant and
native American populations that live
A D V E R T IS E
pORTLAXDQBSERYER
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Community
in rural, sometimes remote areas.
at the drop o f a hat, huge amounts w ill
Social variances also account fo r
continue to be spent on documentation,
higher health care costs. Teenage preg
legal fees and malpractice insurance
nancy, poverty and violence-as w ell as
premiums. We w ill continue to practice
illness and injury related to alcoholism,
“ defensive medicine,” ordering extra
drug abuse and cigarette smoking-soak
tests only as a defense against lawsuits,
up many more health care dollars here
not because we need the answers. Prac
than in Canada. O bviously it costs more
tice guidelines w ill help in this area, too,
to care fo r a more diverse, more popu
giving the jud icia l system and our courts
lous society w ith wide differences in
an understanding o f what constitutes
income, social and ethnic characteris
appropriate care.
tics, languages, expectations and prob
Finally, Americans may find spend
lems.
ing somewhat more money to be an
Second, the United State holds
acceptable price to pay fo ra system that
physicians and other health care per
emphasizes choice and innovation.
sonnel to a higher standard o f accounta-
Our System is Far From Perfect
b ility than most other countries. This
The fact is, we do have some m ajor
means continual checking and review
problems in our health care system,
ing to make sure that all o f us who
according to Dr. Boyle. Heading the list
provide health care arc qualified to do
is having more than 31 m illio n people
so. And i t ’ s important that our labora
w ithout adequate health insurance. He
tories and equipment meet certain stan
also added that the U .S. spends too much
dards. Our country has also begun a
money on needless paper work and regu
major undertaking to define what con
lations in an inefficient, out-of-control
stitutes appropriate care in a variety o f
bureaucracy.
situations. The result w ill be form al
Toward a Uniquely American
“ practice guidelines” to assist physi
Solution
cians in making decisions about appro
Abandoning our current system in
priate patient care. O bviously, all this
favor o f an untested, foreign one is a big
is good news fo r you and your fam ily-
risk w ith no guarantees. In fact, our
but it does cost money that Canada is
experience w ith Medicare suggests that
not spending.
the costs o f red tape could increase
T hird, our litigious society breeds
under a totally government-sponsored,
higher costs. As long as Americans sue
national health insurance plan.
"Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearing
in API publications throughout the USA.
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