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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1994)
S eptember 21, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver P age A 8 Alternatives To Ballot Measure 15 On Sunday. September 25th at 7:00 PM. a public forum will be held to discuss the topic: Winning Tax Payer Support for Public Education and Human Services Alternatives to Ballot Measure 15. The forum will take place at the Lutheran Inner-City Ministries Community Center. 4219 NE M L.K . Jr Blvd. in Portland and will open with brief statements by the following speakers: Jan Haaken, P.S.U. professor and member of Portland Solidarity Cecil Prescod, Pastor of Highland United Church of Christ, Ivonne Rivero, Editor of El Hispanic News, DyLynn Robertson, member of the Portland Metro Worthy Wage Cam paign. Joel Shapiro, Portland school teacher and member of Organizing for Education. The purpose of this forum will be to discuss the importance of de veloping long-term stable funding for human resources, public educa tion, and public safety in the state of Oregon. The discussion will not be limited to the merits and shortcom ings of Ballot Measure 15. We will focus on coalition building among all state-funded programs for the purpose of working together toward lasting solutions. This event is sponsored by the Portland-Metro Worthy Wage Cam paign, Organizing for Education, and the Portland State Association of American University Professors. For more information, please contact John Grueschow at 282-41 15 or Jan Haaken at 284-4414. Oregon Ballet Theatre Offers “Magic Of Dance” To Portland-Area Students 7 • « * . 1 I » ■ « • J Oregon Ballet Theatre has an nounced the fifth annual series of free performances for Portland-area students entitled “Magic of Dance." The first performance is sched uled for Friday, October 14, at 10:45 am, in Portland Civic Auditorium. This date is also teacher in-service day for Oregon and Washington, so home schools, private schools and social service agencies are encour aged to sign up. Reservations can be made by contacting Sandy Baldwin at 227- 0977. “Magic of Dance" provides an opportunity for school-age children to become exposed to all aspects of the world of dance: performance, lighting, staging and music. The first “Magic of Dance” of fering, Act II of Coppelia. is part of Oregon Ballet Theatre’s season open ing performance of Coppelia which runs October 13 through 16, at Port land Civic Auditorium. Other “Magic of Dance" performances include Graduation Ball. Friday. March 10, and “American C horeographers Showcase," Tuesday, May 16 and Wednesday, May 17. Oregon BalletTheatrespurpose is to offer the highest quality profes sional ballet to the people of Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and the United States, to both entertain and educate audiences, and to encourage the cre ative talents of dancers, choreogra phers. composers, and musicians. T ow n H a ll Sept. 18 A Burning Issue - Fire in Our Forests Wildfires have ravaged the west this summer. The destruction of more than 500,000 thousand acres of for ests, and the deaths of nine NW firefighters, call into question the way we fight fires. Should we put lives in the line of fire to save prop erty and forests? Or should we let nature run its course and allow fires to burn ? Sept. 25 One Size Fits All? Requiring School Uniforms Seattle’ s school board has urged its schools to require uniforms or adopt dress codes. Schools strug gling to combat gang violence be lieve uniforms could help Propo nents see added benefits: curbing offensive attire, cutting clothing costs for families, and reducing the ten dency to judge kids on appearances. Are imposed dress codes an innova tive solution or an unfair intrusion? Town Hall airs Sundays at 6 pm on KATU Channel 2. Call 231-4620 fi oim ojir m a n c a i/ happent u/kerv w e m ove into- ou nei#hborhood/. The ne¿#Tiborhood/ be#úny to- chctn#e. W hen/we b u d t on/Seattley M.L Kin#/, Jr. BL vc L yectry a#o- i t way "otter o f tk e w o n t sections o f town/“. In/ j o i t a sh ort ttmcz everyone way baildin#/ a new basinesy. t h e m ajor stores join ed/ ay an d/ th e streety filled/ with people,. South African President Nelson Mandela (center) joins Anti-Defamation League representatives David Strassler and Abraham Foxman to condemn racism and anti-Semitism. A delegation from the Jewish organization visited South Africa recently to examine the changing political situation and to offer programs in combatting bigotry and promoting tolerance. We in v ite othery Itke B arger Kin#/, mom/ n/ pop storey, grocery, mosce ytorey, & restau ran ty to- join/ ay to becom e ou p e u t o f th e new neighborhood/.. iV y g o o d basinesy. YodU / b e g l a d y o a d id . YcfuuU/ Love/ I t! National Pride Self-Service CarWash 5733 N.E. M.L. King, Jr. Blvd. Class Structure In Africa Sydney Izuagie stoo balcony of his house, in his Africa regalia - e have-nots. There is re- o m iddle class. I t’s either - a free flowing garment made from guinea brocades -a smile runs care fully in his mouth as he savors the compliments and the attention he re ceives from passer-bys as a result of his Africa-made outfit. To these folks, Mr. Izuagie exudes class and rich ness. But in some Africa societies class is much more than flowing robes. It’s about taking responsibili ties. And surprisingly many Ameri cans who drive around in financed automobiles and live in financed houses, would not qualify in the class of haves in most African settings. It’s because there is no credit system. Every transaction is on the basis of cash and carry. Before the Europeans banged on the doors o f A frica, the royal kings reigned in the upper class, along-side with their chiefs and m inisters, a tradition that has held on to date. And from the influx of By Promis» King foreign pow ers and policies, a new upper class was carved out from the ordinary, for those who profited from the new bu rgeon ing political system put in place by the colonial lords. In to d ay ’s A frica, capitalism has added few upper class fe l lows who brake through the ranks and files o f the free m arket e n ter prise to make it on their own. The com bination o f royalties, b u si nessm en and politicians reign in m afia-like kingdom s to sustain their treasures.T he upper class structure has becom e som ewhat hereditary. This has fragm ented the so ciety into two dastardly classes - the rich and the poor. The haves ¡>se in upper-class can be non-profit organizations fom America, like Rotary, Lions d U b and Soroptomist, having timedn elitist rendezvous. They are not always clad in robes, except on special occasions. They are often the employers, publishers, lobbyists or king makers. They are the educated. The majority of the poor are always found in the countryside and others in city slums. The pre-occupa tion with them is always how to get the next meal. To some, class is measured in beads and bear pelts and to others it’s measured in cattle. To others it’s land and number of children. But which ever way you looks at it, A frica has class. are living at the subsistence level will not choose to pay for housing unless other basic needs, such as steady employment and food, have already been met. Further, the housing will not be used unless it suits the cultural needs of the intended residents. This approach often conflicts with the at titude of housing bureaucracies. David says housing bureaucra cies in the Third World are often committed to projects that keep poor people in their place. As a result, according to Davis, government of ficials resist developments like the Tamil Nadu Project that allow the residents to own their homes and to "profit” from the government “gift” of decent housing. Team members talked to the people who will live in the rickshaw drivers housing project and, with the residents’ help, designed homes that would fit their families’ needs. The residents chose where to place the homes on their lots and where to locate the two doors and two win dows in each structure. The researchers found that the rickshaw drivers and their families needed houses with two rooms and a porch. The families also needed small plots of land for gardens or to raise chickens and other domestic fowl. The final design allows the families to operate businesses from the houses, using the porches as shops or renting out one of the rooms. The project began in 1991 when one of Davis’ thesis students sug gested Davis get in touch with the center in Madras. The student, Paul Moses, is from Madras and knew that the Indian center was working to build housing for the families of the rickshaw drivers Moses is now work ing on the project in India. The houses will cost about $460 apiece and will have electricity and sanitary facilities. An Indian bank has agreed to finance the project because the rickshaw drivers who are buying the homes have already established a credit record by paying off loans that allowed them to buy their rickshaws. Once the project is completed, 110 families will live at the Tamil Nadu site. The researchers will use what they learn there to build similar projects in other Third World na tions. 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For more infor mation. contact your local college store or N ACS. 500 East Lorain St., Oberlin. OH 44074. ¿Tlie I J ‘1l* tln iih ( O lis r r u c r I “When you can't ask your boss " (Promise King was born in Nigeria. He has worked for local and foreign Media, and is a staff writter for the Portland Ob server.) University Researcher Designs Housing For Indian Rickshaw Drivers University of Oregon architec ture professor Howard Davis says the poorest people in India — who live on the sidewalks because they can’t afford housing - need more than shelter. For the last two years, Davis has been working on an inter national project to build houses for the families of bicycle rickshaw driv ers in southern India, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The project is a cooperative ef fort between the UOCenter for Hous ing Innovation, the Centre for Devel opment Madras, a private volunteer organization in Madras; and Pacific Architecture, an Australian architec ture firm. The rickshaw drivers are recent migrants to the city of Vellore. They are members of the lowest caste, known as the untouchables. Davis says without help, the only shelter most of them will find is in a mud hovel or some other structure that washes away in next year's mon soons. “We need to build houses in Third World nations that allow people to live and work in dignity,” Davis says. He contends that people who r n t S H --------- C p r fft E C T i^ PAYDAY ADVANCES c a ll 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 0 0 3 3 TROPICANA RESTAURANT Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Specializing in Barbeque Ribs & Beef • Installation • Free Delivery • Free Setup - We Sell Internet Access Accounts - 24 H our E mergency V oice M ah . Tues. - Thurs. 10:00 A M. to 6:00 P.M. LUE PARKER (503) 281-8696 Fri. & Sat. 10:00 A M. to 7:00 P.M. 3217 N Williams Ave Portland, OR 97212 503-948-7034 Internet Address: lucasa@postes.dev.com
