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
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1-800-822-6772)
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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
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A Meyer Memorial Trust grant will expand a mentoring program
serving Northeast and Southeast Portland.
Bicycle
Helmet
Drive
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A $750,000 grant has been
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helmets among bicyclists and espe
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A primary objective of the grant
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B
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Awarded Grant
Friends of the Children, a pri-
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rant to expand its mentoring pro
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ommunities in southeast Portland,
'he program will continue to serve
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Michael M adden is the new
Tiend who will mentor at-risk sec-
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he YMCA, in day care programs
md in before- and after-school child
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