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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1994)
P age A3 T he P ortland O bserver • O ctober 19, 1994 Thought I Had The Keys To The Universe: Wasn't Too Wrong! B y P rof . M c K inley B urt That is, I feel that most of the desirable doors were opened, though not as far as they should have been, given American culture. But the spe cific we wish to talk about, here, are the possible worlds that can be opened up by the selection "accounting'' as a career. Like they say in siting a busi ness, its a matter of "location-loca tion-location!” T h is little d is c o u rs e w as prompted by a number of inquiries from parents relative to career choices for their children, and in a particular case, “ would I again select account ing as the ultimate end game?" In the first place, I d idn't 'select' account ing as the ideal means of livelihood, it selected m e'. That was the only class left open when I registered late at a V ancouver, W ashington busi ness school during the war yes ( 1943). Not having finished high school (nor to ever do so) was no obstacle, any more to than it was later in O r egon when I passed the entrance exam to law school with near the highest score in the state./ Again, I cite the curriculum of that southern ghetto highschool I mention so often. All o f this was not a predeter mined route to gain a good educa tion. Since the sixth grade and a chemistry club of neighborhood kids, I had wanted to be a chemical engi neer and to carry on where the great black scientist, Dr. George W ash ington Carver left off W orking in the Pacific Northwest was just a hold ing pattern until the war ended and I could have a shot at entering the freshman class in chemistry at North western University in Illinois. Stu dents of my peer group always made a second career o f ’floor show ing' on college entrance exams. Three years of high school at the time and place was equal to today’s first year of college. But a funny thing happened on the way to the university (parents should not always despair when their little darlings finds a few hooks and crooks in the road). Again not finish ing a prescribed curriculum, - when the war ended the company spon sored school fo llo w ed suit w ithin days — I found m y se lf w ith a w hole new set o f a m b itio n s and asp iratio n s. I w as c o n v in c e d that the field o f a c co u n tin g held those "Keys to the u n iv e rse !” H ow ever, it w ould su ffice if they w ould sim ply unlock d o o rs to the trade secrets o f how m oney w as made in A m e ric a n 's in d u strie s, fin a n cial in stitu tio n and p ro fe ssio n s. I moved across the river from Vancouver to Portland, hanging out my accounting shingle on the black business thorough fare, W illiams Avenue. I shared offices with a Mr. William (Bill M cClendon), then the owner and publisher of the "Portland Observer newspaper"; We split asu e- 'trade association' m aterials from organizations like the 'N ational A s sociation of Retail G rocers” , or an “Association o f Finance Companies”. These kind o f organizations furnish standard accounting and billing sys tems, inventory forms, etc. But it h elp s m o st o f all to have a tte n d e d the kind o f high school Iv ’e b o asted about the past few w eeks -- if you can ‘read , know the L atin and G re e k p re fix es and su ffix e s, scale and m o d a lity . In d u stry can take it from there if you h a v e n ’t b een s u b je c te d to one o f th o se “d u m b e d d o w n " c u r r ic u lu m s . Y e s, o p posed to som e o f the “ S ch o o l R e fo rm ” ! C o n tin u e d nex t w eek able rent of $20 amonth ( 1946). W uh all the confidence (and guts) in the world I rapidly built a clientele of both black and white businesses. If the type of enterprise was new to me (which was usually the case), I would retire to my "university” , conve niently located in the basement of my rooming house. Here, I would put together an integrated system o f soup cartons and file boxes that represented the individual departments of functions of a specific business. Then, having, written up a host of fictitious docu ments, invoices, checks and orders, I would initiate imaginary transactions to see if I could “balance the books”. It helped, of course, to have gotten HAPPY GRADUATION DAY P A R T N E R S H IP to Roger, Merleen, Romy, Thanh, (also not pictured; Steve, David & Myrna). Con gratulations on completing yourtraining! Best wishes on starting your new career in th e e le c tro n ic s in d u s try through: FOR A DRUG- 1-800-822-6772) (For more information, call KCI emp°rary I y l L i L v / T Services 1-800-90KELLY Family Advocates Needed H ere's a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the lives o f so many-by strengthening families. Join our team of advocates who work with parents and their children. As advo cates for childrens group. Parent helpline, child abuse hotline and fa cilitator of parents group. You can contribute to a healthier community and really make a difference. Com plete training provided. C ontact Lynette-238-8819. A d v e rtise in ( T |ir I J i i r t k n i ò ( O b s e r n r r eall (503) 288-0033 A Meyer Memorial Trust grant will expand a mentoring program serving Northeast and Southeast Portland. Bicycle Helmet Drive Boosted A $750,000 grant has been awarded to the Oregon Health Divi sion to increase the use of bicycle helmets among bicyclists and espe cially children in Oregon Part of the funding is matched in kind by Or egon Health Sciences University and the Oregon Department of T ranspor tation. A primary objective of the grant is to help communities provide bi cycle helmets for low income chil dren over a three-year period. Friends of the Children is a pre ventive program that works inten sively with children, families, schools and social service agencies in an effort to break the cycle of failure among children at risk. The program's underlying belief is that a caring re lationship with a positive adult role model is fundamental to a child’s physical, em otional and spiritual well-being and that this one-to-one commitment will achieve long-term success with children at risk. 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