T he P ortland O bserver • S eptember 7, 19 9 4
P age A 3
Urban Renewal:
People, Politics and Planning, Part II
B y P rof . M c K inley B urt
I was delighted to find that so
many rem em ber that 19 70’s course 1
taught at Portland State University:
Black or Urban Economic Experi
ence”. A three-quarter course, whose
home was the School o f Urban Plan
ning, Black Studies D epartm ent,
proved o fa superior design and ended
up being cross listed in the school
catalog under a num ber o f other dis
ciplines (only after discovery by stu
dents).
This interactive spread extended
to three additional departm ents or
disciplines, sociology, business and
economics. As you will see from this
series 1 had incorporated into my
design thirty years o f realistic urban
experience that no textbook or aca
dem ic discourse would reveal; the
range was from accounting, real es
tate broker and property owner to
federal program s, businessman and
a parent with a child in the failing
education system.
By the second quarter registra
tion day, the line before my faculty
registration table in the gym was
exceeded only by that epitom e o f
’bonehead’ courses, “ Econ 101” , I
could read the minds o f those han
dling registration at other tables when
at first they stared uncomprehending:
“w hat” in the world are all those
white folks doing at B urt’s table?
By the third quarter, word had
spread throughout the school that
my course delivered the most com
prehensive data base and operational
understanding o f the urban scene
anywhere north o f the Berkeley C am
pus (just as found w eekly irt these
pages). By the start o f the second
year, the class had expanded to a
lecture hall, and a second off-cam -
pus site to accom m odate the m anag
ers from industry and those from
city, state and federal governm ent—
and from social programs. In the
same year I added the Vice President
o f Urban Affairs for the U.S. N a
tional Bank as my teaching assistant
(Conrad Rosing).
A special section o f the first
quarter was a docum entation o f a
long-established(ifw ellhidden)skill
level and technical ability o f African
A m ericans. The w hite personnel
people from industry jum ped on this
with both feet for it gave them needed
support w hen c o n fro n tin g th e ir
bosses with the necessity for some
positive action in the area o f Affir
mative action. I can rem em ber ex
ecutives (students) from United Par
cel, Forest S ervice, B onneville,
foundries etc., staying after class and
asking for special guidance. And I
well rem em ber some black students
in the class who now have excellent
positions because they met the right
executive in the class and were hired
within the week.
The same connection made be
tween the low earnings o f minorities
and their hidden abilities in technol
ogy piqued the interest o f U.S. For
est Service personnel who gave me a
contract to travel all over the N orth
west from A laska to the California
border, conducting workshops aimed
at overcom ing the hiring prejudices
o f hard core personnel. This w orked
very well and resulted in the hiring
o f q u a lifie d m inority perso n n el
where they had never w orked be
fore—at places they had never even
heard of; good paying jobs as secre-
d a d tw n dfodemerd
tolde
taries, truck drivers, surveyors, en
gineers etc.
As a further indication o f what a
competent and thorough evaluation
o f the urban elements o f “people,
politics and planning can accom
plish, we note that my m onthly so
journs around the Pacific Northwest
Became A traveling University. My
w orkshops had sufficient contact
hours to award credit hours in per
sonnel adm inistration from Anchor
age to K lam ath Falls and from
sp o k a n e to G old B each o r to
Redmond (too bad Air Oregon ‘
didn’t have frequent flyer goodies).
A n o th e r fo rtu n a te s p in o f f
w as th at ru ra l p e o p le s and e d u
cation d is tric ts got a new slan t
on u rban p ro b le m s o f ra c e , e m
p lo y m e n t and p o litic s, sin c e lo
cal p e o p le w o u ld hear o f the F o r
est S e rv ic e e x p e rie n c e an d in
vite me b ack to sp eak at sc h o o ls,
g ra n g e s a n d p u b lic m e e tin g s.
N ext w eek: “ The g re a t “ L ight
Rail S c a m ’; G en eral M o to rs and
the bus c o m p a n ie s c h a n g e d the
urban la n d sc a p e and our p o c k e t
books.
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t i d e V' dUa/nay /a c lo c n (503) 2 8 8 -5 2 4 6
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.
Coleman To Lead Children’s Services
A new adm inistrator will guide
the state’s C hildren’s Services D ivi
sion in the Portland area.
Lee Coleman, 37, will be re
sponsible for five branch offices,
superv ising 3 4 1 employees and over
seeing a $60 m illion budget. The
branches offer child protective ser
vices, foster care, family therapy,
counseling, parent training, adop
tion, residential treatm ent and other
services.
The position was held by Kay
Toran who now is the ch ief state
adm inistrator for CSD.
C olem an said s h e ’s ex cited
about w orking ir. the agency’s m et
ropolitan region.
Coleman had served on the O r
egon Parole Board. She previously
was an adm inister with the Oregon
Liquor Control Com m ission and has
been a self-em ployed m ediator for
family, divorce and business dis
putes.
C o lem an re c e iv e d law and
b a c h e lo r’s d e g re e s from th e U n i
v ersity o f O reg o n , E u g en e, w h ere
she m a jo re d in p u b lic a d m in is
tra tio n . She ta u g h t o n e term at
N o rth w e s te rn S c h o o l o f L aw ,
P o rtla n d , an d w as th e a ff ir m a
tiv e a c tio n d ire c to r fo r th e O r
egon S tate B ar A sso c ia tio n .
Before m oving to O regon in
1977, Coleman lived in Arizona. She
is divorced with tw o children ages
eight and four.
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Internet Address: lucasa@postes.dev.com
1011 E ast B i rnside
2 3 2 -3 8 5 7
H ome
loans .
Lee Coleman is the new administrator of Oregon Children's
Services Division in the Portland area.
1
OUR
PLACE
m edia portrayal o f Africa as a
f death and despondency while
illy carving out fancy w ords to
ie the horrors in other parts o f
^ T a g r e e th a t A fric a is in dire
ued to surfaced in Africa. Each A fri
can culture is unique and easily dis
tinguished. Attempts to impose one
culture on another has always been
the bane o f Africa civil wars. What
happens in Somalia or the famine in
Ethiopia has no direct bearings in
Nigeria. Just like the G erm ans are
different from the Irish or Swiss from
the Dutch, so also is the Swahili
different from the Ashantis.
Many folks perhaps have been
misinformed to believe that Africa is
converged in wars and w retched
ness. Come to think o f it, millions
were m urdered in Bosnia and also
m any were killed in Somalia and
Rwanda W hile there is poverty in
some parts o f Europe, so also is there
poverty in A frica.The difference has
n e e d o f a te c h n o lo g ic a l leap It is
tru e th a t it n eed s h e lp from fo r
eig n n a tio n s. It is a le g itim a te
re q u e st, c o n s id e rin g the fa c t th at
m ost o f th e se n a tio n s had forced
and ra p e d h e r o f h e r n a tu ra l r e
so u rc e s d u rin g the c o lo n ia l era.
Africa nations are covered in
natural resources, gold in Ghana,
petroleum in N igeria and uranium in
South Africa.
A fric a in som e p a rts g lo w in
b e a u ty . It is a p a rt o f the m o th e r
earth th at has n a tu re u n a llo y e d
F or a w h ile , fo rg e t the c a ta s tr o
phe in R w anda and in S o m a lia
and b e h o ld the a n im a l re se rv e in
Z a ire , A frica.
OR
Now you can apply for a mortgage at any o f over 400 branches o f
U.S. Bank or its affiliated banks. And if that’s not close enough, just
(Promise King was born in Ni
geria He has worked fo r local and
foreign Media, and is a staff writer
fo r the Portland Observer.)
call the U.S. M ORTGA G E LINE at 1(800)392-2412. A qualified
loan officer can take your application right over
the phone. So stop by, or give us a call. After all,
, ... »• xî ■
a new home could be closer than you think.
Kids are back in school.
0
IU .S .IB A N K
U . S . M O R T G A G E L IN E
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1(800)192-2412
, watch out for kids.
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AFRICA IW I^HIT
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O pen G ate
A cupuncture
C linic
1
Africa sadly stands alone, a n|
understood continent. Its cultures«
her traditions, often, sadly are mis
represented by the western media.
Gory pictures o f hungry babies and
faces o f poverty are beam ed to an
ignorant world. Imperfect patches o f
some cultures or traditions are played
and replayed. The fears and frustra
tions o f Africa, often, also glorify
pages o f newspapers. Rarely are we
told that there is som ething good
coming out o f the continent.
My A frica-A m erica colleague
in the office is concerned, so also are
others wanting to know the relation
ship between traditions and cultures
and the condition o f life.
It is not always easy to define
anything about Africa in one cu Itural
context, but I will attem pt to explain
some o f the questions that probably
would clear some misconceptions.
Africa like Europe is a conglom
erate o f different cultures and tribes
each with different traditions and
ethnic make-ups Like in Europe,
ethnic wrangling and chaos contin-
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