I he P ortland O bserver • J une 14, 1995
P age A3
Test
Concerns
At Middle
School
▲
Coalition Fights Nuclear Port
Continued from front
▲
o f e n try are lis te d w h ic h in ­
c lu d e P o rtla n d and T a c o m a
E n e rg y D e p a rtm e n t E IS
P ro je c t M a n a g e r C h a r le s H ead
to ld the P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r that
c o m m e n ts h a ve been p re d o m ­
in a n t ly n e g a tiv e fro m the w est
c o a s t. H e s a id the d ra ft sta te ­
m ent re c e iv e d m ix re a c tio n s
in the east c o ast.
O n the s a fe ty o f the s h ip ­
m e n ts, H ead s a id the P o rtla n d
c o a lit io n s h o u ld not be c o n ­
c e rn e d .
“ T h e m e c h a n is m s used in
t ra n s p o rtin g the sp e n t fu e l is
Continued from front
w o u ld lik e to a d m in is t e r. T h e
d is t ric t , w h ic h has the la st say ,
u s u a lly c o n c u rs w ith the s c h o o l.
A n o th e r p o in t o f in te re st is
that the m ath m e th o d o lo g y used
v a rie s at P o rtsm o u th fro m the
d is t ric t w id e p ra c tic e . W ith the
h e lp o f a F o rd F o u n d a tio n grant
P o rtsm o u th h a s sp e a rh e a d e d a
te a ch in g te c h n iq u e that v is u a l­
iz e s a lg e b ra fo r the past three
ye a rs.
A c c o r d in g to p r in c ip a l Tom
P ic k e tt there is a th ru st at the
s c h o o l to h e ig h te n the p r o f ic ie n ­
c y le v e l o f s tu d e n ts in a lg e b ra .
I h is w o u ld a p p e a r to in v it e
p ro b le m s w ith re g a rd to d e v e l­
o p in g b a s ic m ath s k ills as o u t­
lin e d by the n a tio n a l sta n d a rd s
ado pted by the d is t r ic t .
T h e is s u e w a s f u r t h e r
sh ro u d e d in c o n fu s io n by the
fact that o n ly a seg m e n t o f the
stu d e n ts w e re re-te ste d .
A c c o r d in g
to
G age
K in g s b e rr y w h o is in c h a rg e o f
te stin g and e v a lu a t io n , th is o c ­
c u rre d b e ca u se the stu d en ts w h o
w e re s e le c te d fo r re te stin g had
not met the s c o re o f 2 2 2 m in i­
m um c o m p e te n c y . T h e se s tu ­
d e n ts then b e cam e v u ln e r a b le to
a re q u ire m e n t to m ake up c la s s ­
es in h ig h s c h o o l.
O th e rs w e re s e le c t e d b e ­
c a u se they w e re c o n s tru e d to
h a ve the p o te n tia l to po st a sc o re
that w o u ld p ass the test w ith o u t
a c t u a lly h a v in g the m a th e m a ti­
c a l k n o w le d g e , K in g s b e r r y sa id .
K in g s b e rr y sa id the c o m p u t­
er p ro g ra m that w a s su p p o s e d to
id e n t ify stu d e n ts w ith c h a n c e
s c o r e s , o r th o se s tu d e n t w h o
c o u ld c o r r e c t ly g u e s s the a n ­
s w e rs , d id not p e rfo rm as it w as
d e sig n e d .
H e s a id M o n d a y ’ s re -te s t­
in g c o u ld a ls o h a ve been d o n e in
a m o re t im e ly fa s h io n , i f the
stu d e n ts in q u e s tio n had been
id e n t ifie d e a r lie r .
T h e d e b ate w il l p r o b a b ly
c o n tin u e both in the a c a d e m ia
and the la y c o m m u n it y re g a rd ­
in g the im p o rta n c e o f a lg e b ra as
o p p o se d to b a s ic m ath and the
m a n n e r an d w e ig h t g iv e n to
these tw o a re as o f m ath.
H o w e v e r , as P o r t s m o u t h
P r in c ip a l T o m P ic k e tt s u g g e st­
ed , v e s tin g a c h il d ’ s a c a d e m ic
c a re e r w ith a lo n e test is s o m e ­
w h at c h a n n e l v is io n .
T h e re are o th e r g a u g e s o f
studen t d e v e lo p m e n t s u c h as s tu ­
dent p o r t fo lio and p e rfo rm a n c e
o u tco m e s.
P ic k e tt stated that d ia lo g u e
and in p u t fro m c o n c e rn e d c it i­
z e n s is one o f the m o st v ia b le
m e a n s to p r o t e c t a c h i l d ’ s
p ro g re ss in s c h o o l an d m o n ito r
the m e c h a n is m s o f the a c a d e m ­
ic p ro ce ss.
v e ry s a fe ,” the p ro je c t m an ag e r
stated.
T h e d e p a rtm e n t has not c h o ­
sen a p re fe rre d a lte rn a tiv e at the
m o m en t, p e n d in g a d e c is io n in
S e p te m b e r w h e n a fin a l e n v i­
ro n m e n ta l im p a ct statem ent is
s c h e d u le d to be re le a se d .
B u t th e d e p a r t m e n t h a s
d ro p p e d a p ro p o s a l to in c lu d e
H a n fo rd in W a s h in g to n State as
a m o n g f iv e p o t e n t ia l sto ra g e
s ite s fo r the w aste .
K n i g h t , w h o h e a d s th e
H a n fo rd W a tch o rg a n iz a tio n has
s e r io u s d o u b ts.
“ W e are not s a t is fie d w ith
D O E ’ S p re s u m p tio n s and c o n ­
Portland public schools w il
provide tasty answers to the ques­
tion “ W hat’s for lunch?,” for an
estimated 4,900 youngsters from
June 19 through Aug. 17 in a fed­
erally funded Summer Food Ser­
vice Program.
Free lunches and snacks for
children underage 19 w ill be pro­
vided at 5 1 youth centers and parks
in the Portland area.
The program, w hich is spon­
sored by the U.S. Department o f
Agriculture, provides mealsto ch il­
dren enrolled in summer educa­
tional enrichment programs, rec
reation and craft programs and field
trips.
Portland Public Schools has
26 years' experience in the pro­
gram , a c c o r d in g to d ir e c t o r
Dorothea Fleskes.
M ore information may be ob­
tained from the Portland Park B u ­
reau or the Portland public schools
nutrition services department.
“ W e c o u ld e x te n d o p en
house d is c u s s io n s u n til d o o m s­
d a y , n on e o f u s w il l ch an g e o u r
m in d ” L y n n S im s a m em ber o f
the c o a lit io n te s tifie d re c e n t­
ly-
T h e e n e rg y departm ent has
c o n tin u e d to h o ld p u b lic m eet­
in g s o v e r the p ro p o sa ls .
More On Electronic Communications:
A New “Net” May Get Us All
by
P rof . M c K inley B urt
I remember when it all seemed
so sim ple; thirty-years ago when I
was ‘grow ing’ crystals for members
o f The Dalles, Oregon ham radio
club. H aving just transferred from
the accounting department to the elec­
trical engineering division at the huge
Harvey Alum inum Com pany, I found
m yself with the electronic controls
crew, a gold mine o f science infor­
mation and relevant instrumentation.
M uch learned is still relevant.
W ho wou Id have thought, among
all those “ analog” systems we were
servicing and building for industrial
controls and com m unications, that
today the world w ould be “ digital” -
- and that todays technicians (lik e the
pub lic) would be touching bases
through systems that have gone be­
yond just “ ce llu la r phones” , and
promise a new imaginative “ Person­
al C o m m u n ic a tio n s S p e c tru m ”
(P C S )?
T his is the new “ w ireless net­
w ork” I referred to only briefly in last
w eek’s article. However, the con­
cerns I expressed throughout were
applicable (at present) to the conven­
tional and escalating overload o f in ­
formation appearing now on our com ­
puter screens and fax machines. I put
it that it would require for each house­
hold an on-line operator w orking 24
hours a day to “ register, sort, file,
collate and archive a ll the megabytes
o f information already promised by
the industry” . O f course, those who
are experienced at information re-
trie va I w i 11 be drawi ng down no more
data than they need from the “ data
bank.”
Not to panic, though, just to be
aware. A ctually, I think the “ W all
Street Journal” has been follow ing
this w ireless personal com m unica­
tions spectrum as w ell if not better
than the com m unications media, And
certainly with a more penetrating fi­
nancial analysis- -- the controlling
dictum where the pace o f new tech­
nology must be evaluated. In these
pages, o f course, my jo b is to extract
what is relevant to you, the reader,
not to bankers. I especially like the
“ Journ al’ s” article o f M ay 11, 1995,
“ A Lot o f Little Hassles Slow Spread
o f W ireless Netw ork.”
A telecom m unications experts
writes, “ P C S prom ises to transform
the way A m erica com m unicates,
beaming phone calls and data to m il­
lions o f D ick Tracy gizm os. But as
the spats suggest, this transformation
w ill take a lot longer, cost a lot more
and prove far trickier than many peo­
ple believe. It could get snarled in
dozens o f pesky, low-tech hassles.”
So, much o f the scenario has to
be transform ed before our w rist
watches and dashboards become
m ulti-screen auditorium s for M T V ,
Stock Market reports, sportcasts from
anywhere in the w orld, remote mon­
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FEATURING
Summer
Lunches Go
Out For Kids
c lu s io n s ,” she sa id .
K n ig h t a rg u e s that the p ro ­
p o sal to m an age fo re ig n re a c ­
t o rs ’ sp e n t fu e l is based on the
n o tio n that we c o u ld m anage
o u r o w n spent fu e l in this c o u n ­
try , w h ic h she s a id w as not
true.
BAR-B-Q DINNER & CREOLE DISHES
PROPRIETORS: EDDIE AND JOSIE RICHEY
New & used books on
Business, Music, &
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POWELL'S
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9 AM - 11 PM Monday through Saturday
9 AM - 9 PM Sundays
Used books bought every day till 8:30 PM
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1005 West Burnside Street
228-4651
itoring o f industrial processes, geo­
logic disasters, crim e-in-progress,
and other type ‘ beam-me-up-Scotty’
phenomena.
W e can breathe fairly easily. We
are told that “ to compete with cellu­
lar phones, P C S pioneers must build
1 1,500 cell sites in the first year or
two - a task that took cellular rivals
a decade to com plete... it w ill be five
to six years before the companies
break even in P C S .” I talked to an old
friend in The D alles, Oregon and he
agreed with-the “ Journal” columnist:
“ The radio spectrum that w ill be de­
voted to P C S most first be cleared o f
present users. These utilities, fire
departments, police, emergency ve­
hicles, loggers and the I ike must move
to new channels.
A ll o f these w ill not be that eas­
ily persuaded top move over and it is
speculated that some big bucks w ill
be required to smooth the transition.
What many o f us fear is that in that
old tried-and-true A m erican way the
costs w ill be passed on to us little
guys, just like taxes! And it can be
done in sneaky ways, for come to
think o f it, we are all still paying for
that W ashington State Nuclear Pow­
er fiasco. Thats where the public
utilities bonds did an “ Oregon C o un­
ty” thing. W hen B onneville Power
pays its part o f the tab for that plan­
ning disaster, we all pay indirectly -
- right on our electric bill.
FCC Pioneer
DeBernardis
Honored
Dr. A m o D e B e rn a rd is, the
founding president o f Portland
Com m unity College, w ill be hon­
ored with a formal dedication ofthe
Am o DeBernardis C ollege Center
The ceremony w ill take place
June 20 at 7 p.m. at the college's
Sy IvaniaCam pus, 12000 S. W 49th
"H e Put Students First," is the
theme o fth e event, the first build­
ing dedication in the college's 34
year history.
Sponsored by the P D C Foun­
dation with an honorary committee
chaired by Gwyneth Gam ble Booth,
the dedication honors the man who
pioneered accessible college edu­
cation for thousands and thousands
o f individuals in the Portland met­
ropolitan area
P C C now serves more than
83,000 students a year and is the
largest post-secondary institution
in the state. Its district covers 1,500
square m iles in five counties.
D eBernardis served as presi­
dent o f P C C from its beginning in
1961 until his retirement in 1979.'
He guided the college through its
formative years in the 60s and
through the rapid expansion ofthe
70s.
M any c iv ic leaders give credit
to DeBernardis for the creation o f
the college’s Sylvania Cam pus in
southwest Portland, the R ockCreek
cam pus in W ashington County and
the Cascade College in north Port­
land.
He foresaw the role com m uni­
ty colleges would play in economic
development and work force train­
ing and developed strong partner­
ships between the college and busi­
ness community.
FonnerGov. Victor Atiyeh said,
"I have no doubt that the providence
o f Portland Community College is
attributed to him He built the iden­
tify and it became quite important. .
he was one o f my all-time favorites
among educators.”
A t iy e h a ls o noted the
DeBernardis intensity and said the
“ he knew education, what had to be
done and he d id n ’t tolerate those
who wanted to have things as they
w ere."
Program Gives Glimpse
Of College Life
Summer vacation plans for some
Portland students w ill include a visit
to a college campus.
Portland’s “ I Have A Dream ”
students w ill attend a residential pro­
gram at Whitman College that is de­
signed to stretch their geographic as
well as emotional and mental bound­
aries.
Some o f these youngsters w ill
be leaving their homes and the city
for the first time to participate in the
third-annual summer session on the
W alla W alla, W ash, campus.
G roups o f m iddle school and
early high school-age students w ill
visit the college throughout summer.
In addition to the classes and an
introduction to life on a college cam­
pus, students w ill participate in an
exchange with students from the
U m atilla Indian Reservation.
T h e stu d e n ts are the o n ly
“ Dream ers” in the country that travel
to a college cam pus for a summer
program.
The effort has won the praise o f
Eugene Lang o f N ew Y o rk, national
founder o f the “ I Have A Dream ”
program.