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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1995)
Volume X X V Number 14 A p ril 5, 1995 Committed to cultural diversity. Join In Celebrating Our Old Radicals Deal With Modern Times Inner City Kids Learn Soccer The Portland Parks and Recreation's soccer program means fun for these area youth. They 're from the 60s, trying to survive. See Entertainment, page B4. See Metro, inside. A N N IV E R S A R Y 3Zlu' er 250 UCIA WEARS NCAA CROWN by D anny B ell It was an expected outcome in an unlikely way. The UCLA Bruins persevered without the luxury o f their field general Tyus Edney to come through with an impressive win over defending NCAA champion Arkan sas, 89-78, capturing their 11th national cham pionship and their first since the John Wood en era o f 20 years ago. Edney played only three minutes due to a sprained wrist he suffered in Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State. But freshman Cameron Dollar came off the bench and effectively took over the ball handling duties as well as play some important defense Playing before 38,540 fans at Seattle’s Kingdome, Ed O ’Bannon turned in another stellar performance scoring 30 points and gamering 17 rebounds. Arkansas’ much touted swarming de fense, labeled “40 minutes of hell,” by their coach, Nolan Richardson, was not able to shut down the quick passing and ball han dling ability the Bruins share as a team. To a large degree it was UCLA’s ability to move the ball in the open court and defeat the trap that gave them so many good looks at the basket. “I think it’s really hard to press good basketball teams,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “We had good spacing and when you play Arkansas, you need as many players on your team that can pass and catch the ball. ▼ Continued to page B2 Japan Attack Serves As Alert Japan's recent terrorist attack is a wake | up call, according to University o f Oregon professor emeritus Aaron Novick who I served on the Manhattan project which developed the atomic bomb. Novick says stockpiles o f chemical agents pose a seri I ous threat and should be destroyed. He says the nerve mist stored near Hermiston in northeast Oregon could be deadly in the wrong hands. Hill Seeks South Africa Investment | Post Office Named For Activist A post office building in Ruleville Miss, has been named in honor of the late human and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hammer, an outstanding orator and inspi rational leader from Mississippi who be came famous for her trademark phrase that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired" of blatant racial practices against | African Americans. Some Economic Gains Made African American women have made more progress than black men in closing employment and income gaps Th Census Bureau reports that more black women than black men were employed in 1990, includingthosew ithcollegedegrees. While college-educated African American wom en with full-time jobs have reached earn ings parity with their white counterparts, the same is not true for black men with college degrees. NAACP Sets Battle With Contract The NAACP has announced a major | campaign against the Republican Party's | so-called Contract With America which includes plans to roll back civil rights gains I and reduce federal social problems. Newly elected chairperson Myrlie Evers-W illiams | of Bend said she's frightened by what's happening in Congress. Rutgers Presidents Holds On The Rutgers Board of Governors re- I jected attempts to have university president ] Francis L. Lawrence ousted because of I alleged racist remarks. Lawrence suggest ed that blacks were genetically less intelli gent than whites. He later apologized and I the board accepted it. But black student leaders are promising continued disruption I of university activities under Lawrence is tired. Poor Science Could Boost Racism A panel of scientists and historians meeting in Atlanta, Ga. warn that biased scientific research and the public's weak understanding o f genetics could fuel a new wave of racism and prejudice in America in which minorities would be blamed for so ciety’s ills and discriminated against by a host a new restricted laws They were par ticularly upset by the media exposure given to last year’s best selling book “The Bell Curve.” Colin Ferguson To Appeal Colin Ferguson, the black man found guilty ol killing six people during a shoot ing spree on a crowded New York commut er train said he will appeal The Jamaican immigrant was found guilty in the deaths of six non-blacks and of try ing to kill 19 others on the Long Island rail road Oregon State Treasurer Jim Hill (right) and South African Consul General J.H. De Klerk boost the merits of investing in South Africa during a meeting at Doris Cafe on Northeast Russell and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (Photo by Donn Thomas) by P romise K ing help and we must stand up to this responsibil ity in the same way we stood up against ust a few years ago, Oregon apartheid," Hill said, recounting the horrors State Treasurer Jim Hill stood that apartheid wrought on black people. before lawmakers in Salem to “We stand to learn that people can put demand a ban on South African aside the gravest difference, the most severe business investments. discrimination and yet. the people there are But I 1 months after apartheid crumbled. w illing to put all of these things behind and Hill rose again last week, this time before move ahead,” Hill said. businessmen, politicians and community lead South Africa's economy, according to ers in Portland to appeal for more dollars for foreign watchdogs, has not benefitted the post-apartheid South Africa. poor black population which fought against “More than ever. South Africa needs our apartheid, rather they contend that President J Nelson Mandela's budget has so far pros pered the wealthy white minority'. This prob ably to placate the extreme right wings w hich were bent on stalling the transition period. Millions ofblack South African families still live in tin or cardboard shanties. They haul water from great distances in order to have fresh drinking water. On the streets, tension and mistrust of government officials, especially the police still linger. Hill’s appeals came at a time when Bloemfontein. South Africa, one ofthe coun try's major cities and home to the largest shanty camp. desperately needs medical attention for people ravaged in extremely unhealthy con ditions. “Now is the time to demonstrate our commitment to a free South Africa," the state treasurer said, in a gathering at Doris Cafe in northeast Portland and which included South African Consul General J.H. De Klerk. De Klerk was in Portland on the invitation o f Hill to meet with Gov. John Kitzhaber. Oregon business leaders and community activists to discuss changes in his country and seek closer trade ties with the state. Hill visited the former apartheid enclave last November as part of a delegation of pension fund managers to learn firsthand about changes in the country and possible investment opportunities for the state pen sion fund. De Klerk thanked the American peo ple. especially African Am ericans for their consistent and sustained effort to end apartheid. "Portland deserves our thanks. It de serves the regards of all South Africans and in particular the Africa American community in Portland," De Klerk said. He said an economically viable South Africa would mean a better life for all free dom fighters. The country’s business environment, according to De Klerk, is conducive to good business investment, adding that government incentives are well in place to help emerging businesses. “Your continuous involvement in the business of our world helps meet our com mitment to our needy brothers,” De Klerk said. That commitment includes the building of about one million housing units, improv ing the educational system and creating eco nomic opportunities for the majority of the black South African population. Governor Faces C hallenges Of Com m unity I (Editor's note: The Portland Observer recently had an exclusive interview with Gov. John Kitzhaber. This is the last part of a special series.) by P romise K ing ov. John Kitzhaber has taken a pragm atic approach to governing Oregon. He's shying from being heavy-handed in partisan politics and philosophies. G “ I am not an ideologue,” Kitzhaber ex plains. The governor said he’s a “good Demo crat" in the sense he believes in the value of the Democratic Party , but said the Democrat ic Party o f today needs to “re-evaluate how we achieve our objectives.” Unless something drastic happens, this physician turned-politician would certainly would like to be re-elected “I think it’s important to have a certain degree o f continuity, especially when your job is effective and particularly with term limits," Kitzhaber said Governor John Kitzhaber "There are a lot people (new legislators) who have no history of the Oregon Health Plan, no history of education reforms, no history of land-use planning and 1 think that is a problem." he said Kitzhaber said part of his challenge is to curtain this Legislature from eroding "a lot of important things," passed by former lawmak ers. Another challenge is the economic de velopment of the state, particularly of north and northeast Portland which constitute’s one of the state's poorest domains. Past efforts have stalled in quagmire and have done little to alleviate the pains of poverty Kitzhaber was concerned that economic activities and jobs are not being spread even ly for minorities and minority-owned small businesses. “One of the problems is the credit line,” he said. "They've (minorities) never been players on the table.” How does he intend to solve this linger ing financial nausea? “I think we should really look hard at try ing to get people into the revenue stream,” the governor offered “Economic develop ment should include hiring people," adding that a lack of jobs has fueled crime. E The challenge of crime has the gover nor's attention Recently, he met with the Johnny Gages, one a director of the House of Umoja in northeast Portland and the other a director of MYCAP, to develop a plan on curtailing the social ills of juvenile delinquency. Even though he does have some reserva tions about recent ballot measures requiring the treatment of some juvenile offenders as adults and building new prisons, he noted that he was going to implement them anyway . Kitzhaber said he hopes to provide con stitutional provisions and reform that will insure equity in the justice system. “As we construct our juvenile justice system. It’s very important we not lose sight that the most effective way to deal with juvenile justice is to keep kids out of the sy stem in the first place," he said The governor sees the challenge of di versity as an opportunity to enrich ourselves and learn from each other ▼ Continued to page A4 ¡■KfiHS EDITORIAL A2 HEALTH A5 METRO BI SPORTS B2 ENTERTAINMENT RELIGION CLASSIFIEDS B3 B5 B7 b J y 4
