1 he P ortland O bserver • N ovember 9, 1994
P age A 7
I Thought I Had The Keys To The Universe IV C rim e S t o p p e r s
by
P roe . M c K inley B urt
Well, you couldn’t blame me,
could you? All that “ground-break­
ing" for a black accounting 40 years
ago could well seem pretty heady
stuff. But today’s young profession­
al (or a career counselor) needs to
consider the time and place, as well
as the personalities and attitudes in­
volved in any set o f circumstances -
on any stage.
“The play is the thing” it has
been said, which means that one act­
ing in an advisory capacity must pay
strict attention to the action (student)
at hand. In the particular case it has
been made obvious the past several
weeks that I brought an outgoing
personality to the accounting game, a
“contact sport.” And it is to be kept in
mind that when it is said that “expe­
rience is to be desired,” it need not
necessarily be in the specific career
under examination. Beneficial expe­
riences can be those that find the
subject deeply immersed in a matrix
o f people, systems, issues and pro­
cesses - clubs, politics, fraternal or­
ganizations, etc.
In the particular case, Los Ange­
les at the particular time and place
(1954-1964) represented for African
Americans a very unique, albeit op­
portunistic, niche in that ever-length­
ening time line o f the race. The pre­
dominately black central city was a
new and exhilarating phenomenon
for this segment o f American society
- an eclectic, serendipitous Standard
M e tro p o lita n S ta tis tic a l A re a
(SM SA) that was in itself larger than
most U S. cities.
How a “brother or sister” was to
operate within its confines was not
conduct that could be guided by a
formula as simple as the one I gave
last week for balancing books or
energy equations. How such a prom ­
ising niche in the affairs o f mankind
failed to achieve economic perm a­
nency will be the subject o f discus­
sion, controversy and learned socio­
logical treatises for decades to come.
My main goal was to gain a
business experience not be had in
Portland, Ore., at the time; on-the-
jo b accounting and auditing. I would
not count my setting up the “Union
Avenue Finance Co.” from scratch
for two car dealers because I con­
tracted that operation and hired the
p ersonnel. P erio d ic a lly I w ould
History Center Opens
Doors On Vets Day
Veterans Admitted Free
th ro u g h th e ey es and e a rs o f O r­
e g o n ia n s w ho liv ed 50 y e a rs ago
on th e hom e fro n t. T he e x h ib it
u ses film , ra d io and p rin t to te ll a
sto ry ra n g in g farm w o rk e rs and
se rv ic e m e n and w om en to a n x ­
ious fa m ilie s in th e ir d a ily lives.
Admission is free to veterans.
Regular admissions are adults $4.50,
students $ 1,50, families $ 10.00. Chil­
dren 5 and under are free. The OHS
Library will be closed on Veterans
Day. The Oregon History Center is
located at 1200 SW Park Avenue,
Portland.
For the first time in its history,
the Oregon History Center will re­
main open from 10:00am to 5:00pm
on Veterans Day, Friday, N ovem ber
11,1994. As a special salute, Veter-
ans o f all wars will be admitted free
o f charge. Guest visitors will be able
to tour the Oregon Historical Soci­
ety’s major exhibit, Home Front:
Oregon in World W ar II, before it
closes on December 31, 1994.
C re a te d to c o m m e m o ra te the
50th an n iv ersary o f D -D ay, H om e
F ront g iv es v isito rs an o p p o rtu ­
nity to e x p e rie n c e th e w ar y e a rs
Activities Leagues Hosts Gala
The Third Annual Holiday G ala at the Pittock Mansion will be held
Thursday, Dec. 8 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Portland Police Association members
have attended the event, which celebrates a successful year of activities and
recognizing donors and volunteers.
Sponsors are being sought and advance tickets sales are available in the
PAL office, 823-0502.
switch from my own office to a jo b
opportunity that looked “education­
al,” always keeping my public ac­
counting clients to pursue evenings.
And, then between “gigs,” m eeting
some o f the most fascinating and
talented African Americans to be
found in the world.
I’m not sure that I ever slept
during those 10 years, but 1 did take
the opportunity to giving some time
to I B M. school, City College, adult
evening school, getting married and
fathering a daughter; Blacks were
“ looking over an economic Jordan!”
and in a hurry to get there. Soon I had
worked as an inventory accountant at
the Downey Plant o f “North A m eri­
can A viation,” the same at Standard
Tool and Die Co.,” and at “Globe
W are Enam eled Pots and Pans.”
Here, I would come down on Satur­
days to fuss around the plant, chang­
ing dies in the punch presses, or even
taking the “flatbed” down to the docks
at San Diego to pick up a load o f
“cold-rolled-steel” out o f which the
kitchen-ware was stamped.
This type o f “extra-curricular”
activity I perform ed at a num ber o f
interesting operations, having gained
Portland State University and
the O regon D epartment o f Human
R esources’ C hildren’s Services Di­
vision (CSD) have entered into a
research and training partnership
aimed at improving the delivery o f
w elfare services to abused and ne­
glected children and their families
throughout Oregon.
“ T h is is an e ffo rt to w a rd r e ­
p ro fe ssio n a liz in g the se rv ic e s d e ­
liv e re d to fa m ilie s and c h ild r e n ,”
said Ja m e s W ard , d ean o f P S U ’s
G ra d u a te S ch o o l o f S o c ia l W ork.
“ T h is p a rtn e rsh ip re p re se n ts an
e ffe c tiv e w ay o f p o o lin g re s o u rc ­
es. It d raw s from the fie ld s o f
c h ild w e lfa re , e d u c a tio n , tr a in ­
ing a n d re se a rc h , p lu s in c o rp o ­
ra te fe d e ra l s u p p o rt.”
Funding for the program will
total $3 m illion in its first year and is
split between new federal money and
existing monies and staffing from
CSD and PSU, said Ben de Haan, the
partnership’s interim executive di­
rector. The partnership recently re-
THANKSGIVING DINNER -
free
November 24, 1994
at
DAHLKE MANOR
915 N.E. Schuyler Street
from 11:00a.m. - 2:00p.m.
'¡ncwne P ci M
Please sign your name below and
indicate the number of family members attending.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION - Please Call:
Charles Green - 254-8605
Marge Moore - 283-9433
Ethel Holmes - 287-5720
Please respond by November 17, 1994
Deliver
Need a
ZYUUI CSS
Name
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ceived $1.3 million in federal foster
care money from the U.S. Depart­
ment o f Health and Human Services
to launch the program.
The partnership’s organizers say
the program will go far beyond im­
proving services to children and fam­
ilies. It will also improve opportuni­
ties for current state child welfare
workers who wish to gain additional
professional training, direct new so­
cial work graduates into public ser­
vice, and enhance existing curricu­
lum at PSU ’s G raduate School o f
Social W ork by adding real-life cas­
es and workers in the field said de
Haan.
“This represents a partnership
that takes advantage o f each group’s
strengths,” said Kevin Concannon,
director o f the Oregon Department
o f Human Resources. “ It should pro­
vide better professional services for
children and families, and will pro­
vide the university with ongoing
grounding on w hat’s going on in the
real w orld.”
Task Force On
Portland
Neighborhood
Involvement
Announced
will be serving
& A m
(Continued next week.)
New Research And Training
Program Developed
The A R K A N S A S C L U B of O R E G O N
f a S&u&i
entry to the plant via the accounting
route (It doesn’t have to be a stifling
mousey profession - it can serve many
purposes if you use your imagina­
tion). Later, I learned the “family
game,” - most “small business” (u n ­
der a 100 e m p lo y e e s) w as o p e r­
ated by a “ p a tria rc h ” w ho ex ­
panded by se ttin g up ch ild re n and
re la tiv e s in sim ila r e n te rp rise s
and p o o lin g th e ir c re d it, both
black and w hite. I only have room
to list a few I w o rk ed for.
T he “ S p ik e s B ro th e rs and
M ecca M o rtg ag e C o .,” th re e e ld ­
erly black sib lin g s (7 5 , 80 and 90
at the tim e ) w ho fin an ced m ost o f
the m o rtg a g e s fo r the “ n o u v eau
ric h ” A fric a n A m ericans m oving
into a re a s like “ B aldw in H ills,”
w ith th e sw im m in g p o o ls and
guest ho u ses. I w rote a b o u t the
o ld e st b ro th e r in my “ B lack In­
v en to rs o f A m e ric a .” He in v e n t­
ed a ra ilro a d se m a p h o re , tro lle y
for the San F ra n c isc o c a b le c ars,
fa il-sa fe brake fo r tru c k s, etc.
B lind at 90 he w as still in v e n tin g
w ith aid o f a “ d ra ftin g ta b le for
the b lin d ,” he in v ented.
Number
:
The Portland City Council af­
firmed members o f the Task Force
on Portland Neighborhood Involve­
ment appointed by Commissioner
Charlie Hales. A resolution calling
for an assessment o f the Portland
neighborhood network/ citizen par­
ticipation system passed the City
Council last Wednesday.
“We are really pleased with the
depth and breadth o f experience and
expertise the members bring to this
citizen task force. We worked in
cooperation with the neighborhood
district coalition boards to determine
mutually agreed upon participants.
This task force will take on the formi­
dable effort o f finding ways to make
a good system o f neighborhood and
citizen involvement work better,
said Commissioner Charlie Hales.
Each neighborhood district coa­
lition board was asked to submit the
names o f three people with board
experience. These names were then
considered by the Commissioner for
appointment. The Task Force will
Vlvvi lia vnuu
r
— r
s élection o f a consultant to facilitate
he process.
“The next important step is in-
th ro
VUI» me, ( - it iw n e ....
— i i s r h -- o u t the CitV
to stay informed and involved in this
ii r _ ..I_ a I r t i i t F
pu n u v «
1)rocess. w c p ia n
ipportunities in this process. We plan
t o provide a lot o f opportunities to
m eaee everyone interested in the
assessment to express their ideas and
o n m io n s
s a id Diand Linn, Director
o f the Office ofN eighborhood Asso-
ciations.
r | o A d v e r t i s e In
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( D h s v r t u 'v
( a ll 503-288-0033
Homicide
Portland Police Bureau Homi­
cide Detectives, in cooperation with
Crime Stoppers, are asking for your
help in solving a murder.
A case previously profiled on
Crime Stoppers, detailed an incident
which occurred on Tuesday May 10,
1994, at approximately 2:00 in the
morning Lashone Lawson, a 26-year-
old black male, who lived in a second
story apartment in the 9400 block o f
N. Tyler Ave., was shot and killed by
four subjects during an apparent res­
idential robbery.
According to investigators, the
suspects, who are described as four
black males, broke into Lawson’s
apartment yell ing that they were “po-
lic e ” and d em an d in g to know ,
“W here's the money.” When Lawson
reportedly told the suspects that there
w asn’t any money, they shot him and
assaulted his wife.
Investigators believ e that tw o
o f the four su sp e c ts are in c u sto ­
dy on u n related charges, although
they have not been ch a rg e d in
this case. W ith tw o p o ssib le su s­
p ects in cu sto d y , in v e stig a to rs
L a s h o n e L aw son, H o m o c id e
victim
are h o p efu l th at anyone w ith in ­
fo rm a tio n on th is ca se w ill co m e
forw ard.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash
reward o f up to $ 1,000 for informa­
tion, reported to Crime Stoppers, that
leads to an arrest in this case, or any
unsolved felony crime, and you can
remain anonymous. Call Crime Stop­
pers at (503) 823-HELP.
C r im e S t o p p e r s
The Beaverton Police Depart­
ment, in cooperation with Crime
Stoppers, is asking for your help in
identifying and apprehending a
wanted subject.
A warrant is on file in W ash­
ington County, charging a subject
using the names James Peter Pardue,
and John Russel Pardue, with Fail­
ure to Appear. This individual is
also a suspect in several burglaries,
in which businesses had checks sto­
len, and later cashed, using identifi­
cation to either John or Jam es
Pardue.
Investigators say the subject
has been known to simulate a heart
attack to avoid arrest, and is be­
lieved to be using Tri-M et buses for
transportation.
Authorities are attempting to
determine the subject’s true identi­
ty. He is described as a white male,
50 to 55-years-old, 5 ’ 10", 200
pounds, with graying hair, and a
mustache that may have been shaved
off. Investigators say the subject
usually wears business attire, and
should be considered dangerous.
J a m e s P e te r P a rd u e
Crime Stoppers isofferingacash
reward o f up to $1,000 for informa­
tion reported to Crime Stoppers, that
leads to an arrest in this case or any
unsolved felony crime, and you need
not give your name. Call Crime Stop­
pers at (503) 823-HELP.
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9 AM - 9 PM Sundays
Used books bought every day till 8:30 PM
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1005 West Burnside Street
228-4651
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