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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1992)
Page 2...The Portland Observer...April I, 1992 civil rights journal n By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. C m o m Z im babw e (form erly Rhodesia) declared its independence from Britain in 1980. One of the conditions that led to the negotiated independence was a ten year prom ise that the best land of the nation, alm ost 50 million acres held by ab o u t4,000 while farmers prior to inde pendence, would not be nationalized. W ell, President Mugabe kept his prom ise although it was very difficult for m ost o f the 10 million Zimbabweans to agree w ith given the fact that the m ajor ity o f the population has been forced for ten years to subsist on very small plots o f land. A recent poll taken in Zim babwe show ed massive support for the land reform legislation that will be acted upon this year by the legislature. The present plan is to first acquire about 20 m illion o f the 50 m illion acres now h e ld . by affluent white farmers in Zim ba bwe. G reat Britain and the United Stales both have cautioned President Mugabe not to proceed with the implementation o f this type o f land reform. We wonder, why the United States and other nations do not want to sec the native people of e n Africa acquire a right to their land? If President Mugabe had broken the ten year promise, we are sure Z im babwe would have received the wrath of the western world. But, it seems even though Zimbabwe has kept its com m itm ent made at the time of inde pendence the western world is threat ening to pull the international eco nomic “rug” from under Zim babwe in response. At a meeting o f the W orld Bank, Zimbabwe’s representatives were told that western investors might not continue to invest in the nation if the land redistribution began. Zimbabwe should not be “w hite-m ailed” by the west to ensure Anglo economic injus tice and privilege. From our perspective, this is an issueof international racial justice. The centuries-long struggle against colo nialism, imperialism and racism have exposed the degree to which these re pressive forces will try to disguise un der neo-colonialism. The international community should take greater notice of the good things that have happened in a nation like Zimbabwe in only 12 • a t r y years o f independence. W hile there have been some problems, overall Zim babwe, even in the face of substantial interference from South Africa, has made steady progress. Butthis progress would be put in serious jeopardy if the issue o f land reform and redistribution is not confronted at this crucial stage of Zim babw e’s national development. President Mugabe stated to the New York T im es. “ You cannot run a society of haves and have-nots....and hope that society will continue to ac cept the situation...W e have to do ju s tice and give the communal people and other people who want to go into agri culture, land to do so.” We know that Mugabe is correct in his assessm ent of the situation in Zimbabwe. We further hope that the day will come when American society will stop accepting the irreversibility o f the “haves and have-nots.” Maybe rather than criticize our sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe concerning land reform, the United States could possibly learn something from them about social trans formation. The Big Guy Hits a Big One Packy.the Metro W ashington Park Z o o ’s world-famous Asian elephant, turns 30 years old April 14, and a cel ebration to match the big guy’s size and age is planned. The entire month of April will be dedicated to programm ing and events about Packy, the elephant herd at the zoo and their cousins in the wild. M ajor sponsor for the birthday bash is TCI Cable, Packy’s Zoo Parent o f three years. Packy was the first Asian elephant to be bom in the western hemisphere in 44 years. Only seven elephants had been born before h im -a ll in circ u se s- from 1880 to 1918, but no zoo had ever seen a baby elephant. Thirty years later, Packy truly is a “big guy”- a t 13,500 pounds and over ten feet in height, he is the largest known Asian elephant in the World. Beginning the month-long elephan tine festivities tocelebrate Packy ’ s birth day is an appearance by the Zoo O ut post at Jantzen Beach Center on April 4 and 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Outpost, which features anim als from the children’s zoo, insects and several elephant activities, welcomes sponsor KISN radio for a live remote broadcast on Saturday, April 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. On Sunday, the zoo’s show staff will exhibit reptiles in presentations at 2 and 3 p.m. Visitors can also sign Packy’s birthday card and com pare the size o f their foot to the buy g u y ’s. At the zoo, visitors can join a scav enger hunt every day in April, and search the zoo grounds for elephant and Packy information. O ver 100 prizes, including a portable phone, will be awarded throughout the month. Prizes are provided by TV Host Magazine, HBO and KISN radio. Beginning Saturday, April 4 and continuing on weekends throughout April will be animal talks by zoo volun teers, who will display elephant arti facts and specimens, as well as Packy memorabilia. Also presented on w eek ends will be a shadow puppet show which will take place in the Elephant Museum. Visitorscan also sign Packy’s birthday card in the decorated Elephant Bam. The second annual Packy Auction takes place Friday, April 10, The A uc tion is a fund-raising event for the C en ter for Species Survival (CSS), an off- exhibit breeding facility designed to provide highly endangered animals a private place to live and produce young. A primary goal of the zoo and the CSS is to contribute to the conservation o f anim als in the wild and in zoos by continuing to research and improve husbandry techniques, exhibitenviron- ments, animal managem ent concepts and captive propagation. Auction orga nizers hope to raise $25,00; last year’s event raised $16,000. Tickets for the event, which begins at 6 p.m. are (of course) $30. On S aturday, A pril 11, all o f Packy’s best friends are invited to his 30th birthday party at the zoo. Festivi ties, including face painting, signing his birthday card, walking through the Elephant M achine and getting an el ephant ears hat run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 2 p.m. Packy will get his 40- p o u n d -w h o le -w h e a t-p e a n u t-b u tte r- frosting-with-carrot-candles-cake while well-wishers sing happy birthday. Birth day cake for 5,000 o f Packy’s closest friends, baked, decorated and donated by Albertsons, follows. April 11 is also the grand opening of the Elephant Museum Gift Shop, which will carry a large variety o f el ephant merchandise, including a spe cially designed w eather vane depicting Packy and his mother, Belle. The shop will also carry exclusive 30th Birthday items. The Metro W ashington Park Zoo has made Portland the elephant capital o f the western world because of its success in breeding Asian elephants. The zoo operates the w orld’s m ost suc cessful breeding program for these en dangered anim als, and it all began with the birth o f Packy, who made interna tional headlines for months before his arrival. Since that day, 25 baby el ephants have been born here. Born of parents from the wild, Packy’s genetic lineage is im portant to the survival of the species. He has sired seven off spring, two of which- Rama and Sung- S u rin -a re still living at the zoo. Portland Observer encourages our readers to write letters, to the editor in response to any articles we publish;-;- - /u . • i - . 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Name Address city, State zip-code __ T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver V e r s v e c tiv e s Bun ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ This Is Where I Came In 1 took one look at the cover section for last Thursday 's Portland Oregonian newspaper and thought, "Ho Hum!" With a byline, Dean Baker, we were led once again into that Alice In W on derland of Portland Public School poli tics; "Shirmishes End In An Uneasy Peace: The leader of the walkout say no, but school people and board m em bers say gains have been made" W e are given protagonists, an tagonists and deteragonists, no less - from "relentless critic," Ron Herndon, to Stephen G riffith, board chairman and board member, Marty Howard. Among those who have been served up years of a diet o f controversy, rhetoric, polem ics, tirades, hypocrisy, racism, oxym orons and refinements in the art o f slander, we hear cries of "enough, already." A m idst it all the present superintendent is walking away, rela tively unscathed, while waiting in the wings are three hopefuls chafing at the bit for an opportunity to gain new responsibilities (and increased salary). As happens ever so often, I am sufficiently jolted by one of these es says to think, "Hey, I know quite a bit about this process m yself-- a little over 20 years worth. Now, how was it I first got involved?" As that baseball payer said, "It's deja vu all over again". It was around 1971 when, having discovered how ill-prepared for the work force were both high school and many col lege graduates, I persuaded the Busi ness D epartment and the Black Studies Program at Portland State University to allow me to teach several courses of my own design. This part-tim e sortie into the field o f education (I still worked full time as an accountant and adm inistrator in in dustry) evolved into an eleven-year, full time career at the institution with my curriculum designs accredited in Business, Black Studies, Urban Stud ies, Sociology and Affirmative Action. I still recall the initial discussions with Dean Parker of the Business D epart ment where he emphasized that while he had the H A R V A R D A N D STANFORDGRADU ATES on his fac ulty, w hat he really needed was som e one with REAL TIM E EXPERIENCE in theeverydayoperationsof small and m edium -sized business and public agencies; the "ONLY WAY" to get an adequate curriculum designed. Keep in mind that, unbelievably, the very same things about the failure of our educational system were being said then, twenty years ago, as now. Not only had that Catholic priest w rit ten "Why Johnny Can't Read" ( his latest, "Why Johnny Still Can't Read") but hose of us in industry were teaching people basic math and language skills — new employees whom, naively, we had supposed to have gotten this level o f education just as we once had before being turned loose upon the world. Sound familiar? 1 was aware o f this problem long before beginning the teaching stint at P. S. U. In 1966 1 won a National Science Foundation Award for The Dalles, Oregon School District while em ployed in the accounting depart ment o f the Martin M arietta A lum i num Company. A conversation with the chairman o f the district's math em atics departm ent (M oonlighting as a guard at the plant) inspired me to design a remedial demonstration pro gram that would combine m athem at ics, language and com m unications skills. Soliciting the aid o f fellow members o f the "Toastmasters Club" - - NW Bell Telephone, Bonneville Pow er, Tektronix, etc. -- and the finan cial contribution o f a local rancher, I was able for the first time in the nation to put an elementary school in a ON LINE, INTERACTIVE MODE with com puters and teletypes around the state and California, simulating in the classroom a hands-on demonstration of precisely w hat was done in industry each day. That is, TW ENTY-SIX YEARS AGO these pupils were painlessly and enthusiastically acquiring the very skills that today's industry says the new workforce is "ill-prepared" to offer. From their base in a little Oregon town, these children were putting labor time into a com puter in Torrance, Califor nia and pulling the totals back out to print the payroll checks, right in the classroom . O ther operations and tech niques involving math, language and com m unications involved in shipping, manufacturing and report writing were structured into the new type C U R RICULUM. This is why I was able to make the following relevant statem ent in my colum n here on March 18; ”O1 course, I cam e to this teaching position from industry where I had gained many years of experience in technical crafts and trades before gaining academic and administrative s k ills - from punch press operator to electrical instrum ent technician. It is for this reason that I am able to understand and advance the realistic propositions that are now be ing placed before us in an effort to get our national priorities on track." Over this time period of several decades o f the indicated traumas and confrontation in Portland's educational system, there were others o f us who also possessed real-time, experienced- based understanding of the problems. For instance, my successful "The Dalles, Oregon Math Project" played well "Off Broadway", the was brought to Portland and made available to the local district in 1969 and 1970. But, there were no takers among the con fused and recalcitrant and school ad ministrators and board members who, even then, were denying that racism and incompetence were involved in their failure to deliver a quality educa tional product. So you sec, the reason for my choice of titles for this w eek's colum n, "This Is W here 1 Came In' (on this bad movie). W hen I spoke of twenty years of involvem ent, I could further cite an early contribution to the "Base Line Essays" - as a local consultant in the math and science phase, and whose cogent advice on structure o f the pro cess was rejected or ignored with d i sastrous results (You though I had forgotten, Huh?; folks in some major cities are now paying strict attention to what I have to say about the process several will be here this sum m er for my redesign workshop). In the further developm ent of this series, I will discuss th. classes in the "New Math" I taught for Portland teach ers, my stint as chairperson o f the "Minority T eachers O rganization", my "LakeOswego Montessori School Cur riculum" that 1 wished to introduce to Portland's early grades and the inno vations. These projects are all "Go" again now, so follow along. Letter to the Editor D ear Editor: Today we have an economy with many Oregonians out of work. W hy? It is not entirely because of factors beyond our control; to a large degree we have forced this recession on ourselves. Under the pretense of saving the spotted owl, the preservationists have emasculated the timber industry and their good pay ing jobs, they are holding up the westside bypass around Portland and the thousands o f jobs which this would create, and they have stopped the Mt. Hood recreational project and doz ens more around the state. One factor most depressing our econom y is the restrictive and oppres sive Oregon land use regulatory sys tem. This prevents thousands o f land- ow ners from building homes on their own land. It prevents many small busi nesses from getting started because o f unreasonable zoning regulation. The high land costs resulting from present land use laws has raised housing costs out o f the reach o f many low and middle income Oregonians. The cum ulative effect o f the sys tem is to shut down jobs of construction workers, m ill workers and loggers; how ever, it filters down to all business, including the corner grocery store. In the 1930 era we went through a real depression which was the result o f circumstances beyond our control. T o day we are forcing a recession upon ourselves largely because of our own choosing. W hen will we ever learn? Herbert & Shirley Carnahan 12730 N.E. Flett Road Gaston, OR 97119 Gately Child and Adolescent Day Treatment...A New Beginning S m all c h ild re n b ein g g u n n e d down...teachers being slabbed...parents being murdered by their own children. Every day our attention is captured through a barrage of horrific headlines about today’s troubled youth. But according to Fran Salkin, L .C .S .W .,D irectorof Gately Child and A dolescent Day Treatment, a program of the Emilie Gamclin Institute, Provi dence Medical Center, there is a grow ing number of children and adolescents who are not only overlooked in the m c d ia -b u l by their families, teachers, peers and counselors. They are the quiet, withdrawn, “ high risk” youth who arc severely em otionally disturbcd-thosc that arc at the brink of suicide or severe personality disorders. They wage their emotional battles internally instead of at society or at their peers. Salkin confirms that these children arc usually o f average or above average intelligence, most of whom have been em otionally, physically or sexually abused. Their emotional problems pre vent them from being a part of m ain stream classrooms or special educa tional programs. They may be over looked because they arc not delinquent. Thcscchildren are known as thc"gccks” and “dorks” at school. 1 .onely and quiet. they are often unconcerned about their physical appearance and arc frequently shunned by their peers and becom e the brunt of practical jokes and pranks. “ Untreated, they may become vic tims o f those who use them for sex or crim inal activities, because they lack the self esteem to refuse,” she says. “ W ithout help, may will be unable to com plete school and wind up homeless because they arc unable to get or hold on to a job, form relationships or func tion on their own in society. Their iso lation and withdrawal can become so sever that suicide may be their only answ er.” Gately Child and Adolescent Day Treatm ent, a program of the Emilie Gamclin Institute, Providence Medical Center, was opened in May 1986 to further the Institute’s goal of providing com plete mental health services to the community. G ately serves em otionally d is turbed youngsters ages nine through 17. Most students referred to Gately have difficulty learning in public school sellings. G ately’s high staff to student ratio (one staff member for three stu dents) allow s individualized treatment and educational programs that these students require. G ately’s interdisciplinary team in cludes the clinical director, individual and fam ily therapists, handicapped learner endorsed teachers, therapeutic activities therapists and a consulting psychiatrist. Gately students are pro vided with intensive therapy, an exten sive therapeutic activities program and individualized academic classes. In the therapy program, families are crucial to successful work with stu dents. During weekly sessions, family members explore interactions, increase com munication and resolve conflicts. Students also receive weekly individual therapy sessions and participate in two therapy groups each week. Unique to Gately’s approach is the extensive therapeutic activities program. These enriching group experiences in clude skiing, backpacking, hiking, rock clim bing, community outings and, for adolescent students, job training expe riences to help students build self con fidence and problems solving skills. Once accepted into the program, students typically stay for one year, some two or more. Upon completion ol the Gately program, students make the transition back to public school settings or into GED classes or are placed ir jobs.
