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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1993)
• « * w- » « Volumn XXIII. Number 4 I "Serving the com munity through cultural dive: r 06. 1993 ®íj£ ^ a r tla n h (Oh *5 e r u ivr Portland Christian School Minority Business Award METRO SECTION SECTION C METR Black Cabinet Says Clinton Is Keeping Promise To African Americans A frican A m erican m em bers o f President Bill C lin to n ’s cabinet said in a p ress co nference d u rin g the recent C o n g ressio n al B lack C a u cus Legislative W eek th a t die P resi dent w as “ag g ressiv ely keeping in com m itm ent to a full p a rtn e rsh ip ” w ith the A fric a n A m erican co m m unity. T he p ress conference, hosted by D em ocratic N atio n al C o m m it tee C h airm an D avid W ilhelm , in clu d ed S e c re ta ry o f C o m m e rc e R onald H. B row n, S ecretary o f E nergy H azel O ’L eary, S ecretary o f V eterans A ffa irs Jesse B row n, and A lexis H erm an , A ssista n t to the President an d D irecto r o f the W hite H o u se O ffice o f P u b lic L iai son. Secretary o f C om m erce Ron Brown, who was the first African American chairm an of the Demo cratic Party, said. “President Clinton promised that African American lead ership would be an integral part o f his Administration. He lias kept his prom ise by not only appointing a history making five African Americans to his cabinet but more than 300 other Afri can Americans to key positions in the Executive Branch of the federal gov ernment. This is twice as many as any previous adm inistration.” Herman announced the recent appointm ents by the President of Law Professor M a n Berry being named the first woman chairperson o f the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and Attorney Togo West as Secretary of the Army. Secretary O ’Leary and Secretary Jesse Brown em phasized new policy and program initiatives taken by Presi dent Clinton having direct impact on the African American community, including Earned Income Tax Credit for low income families. Health Care Reform, Family and Medical Leave, comprehensive child im m unization, and emergency unemployment com pensation. At the Congressional Black Cau cus D inner, attended by more than 5,000 President Clinton thanked the members o f the Congressional Black Caucus for their support and partner ship on key legislation passed by the U.S. Congress this year. The President said, in his re marks: “A few days ago, we fought a b a ttle in V id o r, T e x a s. H enry Cisneros, the secretary o f Housing and Urban Development, went there todeliver our message loud and clear” No more discrim ination and segrega tion in public housing. “T hat message has also been de livered by the Attorney General, Janet Reno, in the areas o f employment, education, hate crimes and voting rights. And we believe that districts drawn to increase the empowerment of m inorities are good for America, not bad for America,” the President said. One of the popular activities dur ing C ongressional Black C aucus W eekend was a reception hosted by D em o cratic N atio n al C om m ittee chairm an W ilhelm and attended by more than 400 African American of ficials and leaders from throughout the country. Portland Public Schools Statement Scheherazade, the immensely popular dram atic ballet based on the exotic talcs o f The Arabian Nights, will return to Portland as part of a special tribute program to late Port land choreographer Dennis Spaight The program kicks off Oregon Ballet T heatre's (OBT) 1993/94 Fifth An niversary Season on October 7-10, 1993 at the Portland Civic Audito rium of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts Performances are at 7:30pm on October 7.8. and 9; 2pm on October 9 and 10 The ballet, w hich caused a huge sensation when it was premiered in November 1990 by OBT, headlines a program com m em orating the cre ative genius o f one of P ortland’s most gifted choreographers and showcas ing three of his celebrated works In addition to Scheherazade, the pro gram will feature Rhapsody in Blue and Gloria The entire program will be accompanied by live music. 1993 Minority Enterprise Development Week Governor Roberts Praises I EW Representative for IBEW Local 48 look on as Governor Barbara Roberts praises IBEW Local 48's Metro Electrical Training Center to the Oregon AFL-CIO Convention delegates. G overnor Barbara Roberts sited the International Brother hood ofElec- trical W orkers (IBEW ) LOCAL 4 8 ’§ M etro Electrical Training Center as the best exam ple of private industry training workers for the future. Rob erts praised the Metro training pro gram to an audience o f trade unions attending the Oregon AFL-CIO Con vention at P ortland's Hilton Hotel. E m phasizing the im portance o f p rep arin g the next generation as w orkers in the 2 1 st century , G o v ernor R oberts stated , “the IBEW Local 48 train in g center is a perfect exam ple o f la b o r and m anagem ent w orking to g ether to provide highly skilled training for w orkers. W e need m ore apprenticeship program s th at are built on th a t successful m odel.” T he electrical u n ion’s la bor-m anagem ent cooperati ve tra in ing pro g ram .said R oberts, exem plifies the “ long- term vision” and com m itm ent to the fu tu re” th at she, as G overnor, w ould like to help O regon achieve. The M etro Electrical Training Center was formed in 1963 by the National Electrical Contractors As sociation (NECA) Oregon-Columbia chapter and IBEW Local 48 as a cooperative labor-management effort to provide training and skills for union electrical apprentices and journey men Currently over 336 apprentices are enrolled in the program, and re ceive academic and hands-on train ing in the classroom as well as in the field. Dr. Tukufu Resigns From Urban League TIt e in ci den t n/t ieft occu rredyesterday (Ta es day, Oct. 4.) after school near Jefferson High School was but the latest in a series o f appalling acts o f violence. While the response o f both the School Police and the City o f Portland Policewasboth swift and effective, thecommu- nity—including those o f us in the schools—have to fin d a solution to this situation and fin d it soon. Neither the community nor the schools can thrive in an environment in which people fear fo r their safety. Frankly, it has become increasingly difficult fo r teachers and students to focus on education when they see, hear or walk past such events on the street and in the neighborhood. Peace must be restored quickly and thoroughly so both schools and the community can feel free from fear. John Bierwith Superintendent Ballet Opens MED Week ’93 BY DAN BELL L ast Friday O ctober 1st Dr. Darryl S. Tukufu announced his res ignation as President and C hief Ex ecutive Officer of the Portland Urban League. Effective October 31, Dr. Tukufu has accepted a position with Lorraine County Community College located just west of Cleveland, Ohio. He has accepted the position as executive director of Public Services institute there. Dr. Tukufu arrived in Portland 3 1/2 years ago. He came at a time when the local Urban League had lost some of its credibility and was in a $400,000 deficit. Under his leadership the $400,000deficit was eliminated. -The actual budget has been raised from $900,000 to $ 1.4 million. -Restored the integrity of pro grams and met or exceeded contract obligations. -Restored the credibility of the Urban League in many parts of the business com m unity and in race/eth- nic communities. -Instituted training in efficiency and Total Q uality Management. -Assisted in stabilizing the Ur ban League. Employment Department and forming partnerships with local em ployers, assisted in the expansion o f the League to operate a Male Responsibility Program, a IBM sponsored Computer Training Cen ter, a Grandparents Support Pro gram, an Alzheimer Support Group, a Street Academy, a Youth Em ployment Program and a Youth Leadership Development Program. -Assisted in raising the League’s role as an advocate. Dr. Tukufu sited several reasons for leaving this time. Among them he observed that “the Urban League ca pable staff, board and other volun teers have all worked to bring the League back from the hole that it was stuck in, to now being able to stand on its feet.” The two most prominent reasons he stated were family considerations. A native o f Ohio he is returning to the Cleveland area, where he will be in closer proximity to his family. S eco n d w as th e issue o f d iver sity. H e said his fam ily w as ac c u s tom ed to living c lo ser to areas o f larger A frican-A m erican p o pula tions. H e m issed activities and e x periences th at locales w ith larger A frican-A m erican populations can afford one with those interests. Although there are members of Portland who work toward diversi fying Portland. He states that “Portland still has a long way to go in this area. If diversity is to become a reality in this area institutions and communities of all types will become more open and inclusive.” In terms o f his career Dr. Tukufu indicated that his career goal is to serve as a President for a community college. This move appears to be a step in that direction. The Board o f Directors o f the Urban League will be selecting an interim director within the next two weeks. There will be a nationwide search and local candidates will also be considered in the effort to find a new president and C.E.O. Domestic Violence Proposal Reaches Breakthrough In Negotiations (Health Groups Agree To New Training Requirements For Medical Schools As Prerequisite For Federal Funds) In an unprecedented move, health care groups announced their support of a proposal by Rep. Ron Wyden (D- OR) and Sen Barbara Boxer (D-CA) that would require medical schools to include domestic violence training or suffer cutbacks in federal funding The proposal was developed by Wyden following a M arch 1991 com munity forum in Portland which fo cused on domestic violence against women Some of the witnesses who testified at the forum complained that they received inadequate physician care due to a lack of training in this area In Oregon in 1990, the state police reported 18,000 domestic as saults, a figure believed to represent only a small fraction of actual dom es tic violence cases. Wyden, w ho has worked on do i mestic violence issues for five years, described the new announcem ent of support for his legislation an impor tant step forward in the battle against domestic violence. “It just isn’t ’ right to leave these women in an isolated island o f pain Education and devel opment of standards o f care within the medical community must be at the forefront o f our efforts if we arc to end the cycle of domestic violence,’’ Wyden said The Oregon Democrat noted that as recently as 1992. none of the 126 medical schools polled by the A ssociation o f American Medical Colleges reported a curriculum on domestic violence Wyden and Boxer were joined by representatives o f the American Col lege o f Obstetricians and Gynecolo gists. the American Medical W omen’s Association, the National League for Nursing, the NOW Legal Defense Fund and the N ational C oalition Against Domestic Violence. Wyden says each year, 4 million women suffer physical abuse by a husband or boyfriend and one in four American women will be the victim of domestic violence in her lifetime, yet many health care professionals don't understand how to handle the issue. “This education has to start in medical school,” Wyden said. “ It is a good investment for the federal gov ernment to give hundreds o f millions of dollars every year in loans to medi cal colleges and students to provide state-of-the-art- medical education It is not a good investment when medical colleges omit training in the identification and treatm ent o f the number one causcofinjury to women ” The Wyden-Boxer proposal, the Domestic Violence Identification and referral Act which is being intro duced on the eve of Domestic Vio lence Awareness M onth, would re quire all health profession schools to incorporate an HHS-approvcd cur riculum on domestic violence two years after passage of the Act, or face a loss o f federal grant funding. The required curriculum must include significant training in identi fying victims of domestic v iolence and m aintaining records that include documentation of the examination, treatment and location and nature of the victim ’s injuries. Training must also include how to prov ide medical advice about the dynamics and nature of domestic v iolence and referring victims to entities that provide ser vices to victims of domestic violence The proposal has a ham m er ef fect toencouragccom pliance the fed eral government will invest in health profession schools only if they train their students about domestic vio lence w hich is the number one cause of injury to women betw een the ages of 15 and 44 B eginning in F Y '9 6 . schools not m eeting the curriculum requirc- 1 m ent in the bill could receive no m ore than 9 5 % o f the p rio r y e a r ’s T itle VII g ra n t m oney. T hese a re g ra n t p ro g ra m s fo r d e v e lo p in g training and o th er special p ro g ra m s received by v irtually all m edical and health p ro fession schools F or each subsequent y e a r the school fails to comply w ith the A ct, the potential a w a rd w ould be reduced an additional 5% . a fte r the fo u rth y e a r o f noncom pliance, the school should receive no federal funds until they w ere adequately teach in g th e ir students about dom estic violence. W yden said , “ It is v ita l to A m e ric a ’s future that vve have p re ventive m edical care for b a tte re d w om en W ith violent b e h a v io r in the hom e often p a sse d from one generation to the next, a p ro p e rly trained physician can help sp a re not only the pain o f the b a tte re d victim but a lso the pain o f the generation to follow .”
