Volume XXV, Number 3
Committed to cultural diversity
Join In Celebrating Our
Lawyer Likes The
Hood
Everybody’s
Special
Dan Russell leaves fancy
downtown offices to others
Neighbor Maggie Stewart
and Mister Rogers celebrate
diversity’.
See Metro, Page BI
(viewer-
WEEK
IN
President Clinton Weighs In On Affirmative Action
Portland To See
Olympic Flame
Portland has been chosen as a host c ity
P
fo r the 1996 O lym p ic Flame to m ark the
summer O lym pics in Atlanta, Ga. The
Rose C ity is on the 1996 O lym p ic Torch
R elay’ s route across the U nited States
Clinton made the pitch last week after a
six month study of the preference programs
for women and minorities.
The statem ent also follow ed attack
on affirmative action from conservatives,
prim arily Republican presidential can ­
didates.
Clinton said he supports affirmative ac-
Drug-Related
Deaths Soar
M ore than 250 Oregonians have died
in the past 18 months because o f H eroin,
methamphetamines and other illegal drugs,
according to the state medical examiner.
The current death rate from the drug over­
More People
Riding Max
T ri-M e t says the annual lig h t ra il rid ­
ership has increased nearly 5 percent over
a year ago. O ffic ia ls say same more people
are using M ax fo r shopping and recre­
ational outings and more employers are
o ffe rin g transit benefits to employees.
Max Extension
Begins Construction
A crane hoised o f f the span o f an old
B u rlington N orthern railroad trestle was
used last week to make way fo r construc­
tio n o f the 6 m ile H ills b o ro extension
segment o f Westside M ax lig h t-ra il. When
fin ish e d in 1998,comm uters w ill be able to
travel 18 m iles from dow ntow n Portland to
the W ashington C ounty city.
Smith Guilty Of
Drowning Kids
A U nion, S.C. ju ry Saturday found
Susan Smith g u ilty o f m urder by dro w n in g
abducted her boys on Oct. 26, but later
adm itted sending them and her car to the
jo tto m o f a lake.
Contractors
Applaud Clinton
M in o rity contractors are cautiously
o p tim istic that President C lin to n ’ s posi­
tio n supporting a ffirm a tive action w ill p ro ­
tect inclusion o f m inorities in the A m e ri­
can economy. O ffic ia ls o f the N ational
A ssociation o f M in o rity Contractors last
week said they w ill continue to respond
against the legal and legislative assaults on
a ffirm a tive action on the federal, state and
local levels.
Portland Schools
Set Now Standards
The Portland School D is tric t is tig h t­
ening the requirements fo r its students. It
w ill expect each student to meet rigorous
new admission standards fo r O re g o n ’ s
colleges and universities whether o r not
the student is college-bound.
Welfare Reform
Plan Presented
Republican presidential candidate Phil
Gramm, R-Texas, last week introduced
one o f the toughest welfare overhaul plans
to date, thw arting the efforts o f M a jo rity
Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., to w o rk out
deep differences among party members
behind closed doors and tossing the issue
into Republican presidential politics.
î
middle class; women as major wage earners;
higher education for women, racial and eth­
nic minorities; and police departments across
the country reflecting the diversity of their
community.
Clinton said affirmative action hasclosed
many gaps in economic opportunity, “but we
still have along way to go."
The Portland Observer salutes diversity,
See pages B5 - B9, inside.
doses is now at three people per week,
compared to one a week in previous years.
her tw o boys, ages 3 and 14-months. The
ju r y now must decide i f she w ill receive the
death penalty o r life in prison. Sm ith firs t
w ove a tale about a black car-jacker who
resident Clinton, said 2 5 years
Major milestones have been achieved
of affirmative action has been
with affirmative action, the president ob­
good for America, and urged
served.
the nation to “mend it, not end It.”
He cited the emergence of a true black
Tom Le Pley is pari of the construction crew that will make the Blazer Boys and
Girls Club a reality. Our roving camera was at the project site on Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. this week. The $2.2 million, 27,000 square feet club will include a
gymnasium, education wing and teen center. Support for the club came from the
Portland Trail Blazers, other corporations and individual donors..
lion "done the right way.
"Affirmative action has been good for
America. But that does not mean it has al­
ways been perfect," he said. "That d-jes not
mean it should go on forever. Affirmative
action should be retired when its job is done
and I am resolved that day will come But the
job is not done."
The President said the central challenge
as the nation approaches the 21st Century is
to restore the American Dream opportunity
and find common ground amid a great diver­
sity of opinion and experience.
The governm ent, he said, should
strengthen its com m itm ent to “equal op­
portunity for all, special treatm ent for
none.”
He also directed ail federal agencies to
comply with a recent Supreme Court deci­
sion which applies four standards to the fair­
ness of affirmative action programs.
The court ruled affirmative action poli­
cies must not contain hiring quotas, cause
reverse discrimination, give preference for
unqualified individuals or continue programs
that have met their goals.
The recent review of the government’s
affirmative action programs found that they
are an effective tool to expand economic and
educational opportunity.
The unemployment rate for African
Americans, the president contended, remains
about twice that of whiles, women still only
make 72 percent as much as men, and the
average income for a Hispanic woman with a
college degree is less than that of a white man
with a high school diploma.
He noted, a recent Glass Ceiling
Report found that women in the n ation’s
largest com panies hold less than 5 p er­
cent of senior m anagem ent posts. A c­
cording to the report, the num ber was
even lower for A frican-A m ericans, H is­
panic and Asians, who hold less than I
percent each o f those positions.
The statistics revealed that in 1994, the
federal government received more than
90,000 complaints of employee discrimina­
tion based on race, ethnicity and gender.
And hate crim es and violence were
still ugly realities in the lives of many
Americans.
"We must not become the first genera­
tion since the end of Reconstruction to nar­
row the reach of equal opportunity," Clinton
said. "We must continue the struggle toward
equal opportunity for all and special treat­
ment for none. America cannot afford to
waste a single person as we confront new
challenges.”
Kids Hungry In Oregon
A
t least 36,0 0 0 children are hungry In
Oregon and another 1 3 1 ,0 0 0 are at
risk of being hungry, according to a
new national study.
Taken together, 167,000children underage 12
or 25 percent of the young people in Oregon, are
hungry or at risk of being hungry.
The findings were released last week by the
Food Research and Action Center in Washington,
D.C. The community childhood hunger identifica­
tion project was the most rigorous and comprehen­
sive study of childhood hunger ever conducted in
the United States.
Researchers analyzed 5,(XX) responses from
families in eight states. The data was then used to
make projections for all 50 states.
“Data from this study mirrors our figures," said
Rachel Bristol Little, executive director for the
Oregon Food Bank. “In fact, during the last year,
159,000 children under the age of 13 received
emergency food boxes from our member hunger-
relief programs."
Nationally, the estimate of low-income hungry
children under 12 reaches 4 million, with 9.6 mil­
lion in that age group estimated to be at risk of
hunger. The figures add to 13.6 million American
children or 29 percent of the population currently
hungry or at risk of being hungry.
The report found that the hunger at tecting most
low-income families is not a one-time or infrequent
occurrence. It is characterized by food shortages in
the household and chronic insecurity about whether
the family will have enough food.
Ellen Lowe, chair of the Oregon Hunger Relief
Task Force, said the findings have serious policy
implications.
“For Congress to even consider cutting or block
granting critical and successful child nutrition pro­
grams, such as school meal programs, food stamps
and food reimbursements for day care providers, is
not only foolhardy but dangerous to the health of our
nation’s children and they include 13 1,000 Oregon
children,” Lowe said.
Jack Kennedy, who runs the Northeast Emer­
gency Food Program in Portland agrees.
"We see individuals and families every day who
are trying very hard to feed their families on increas­
ingly meager resources. Many are working but only
making minimum wage.
Some can’t find work that will support their
family. And some tread that fine line between being
middle class and, due to unforeseen circumstances,
falling into poverty," Kennedy said.
He said it does no good to blame the victim.
"I see the victim s every day. and denying
them services will not make them or the co ndi­
tions causing th eir problem s, d is a p p e a r,”
Kennedy said.
Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore. and Nicholas Johnson, 10, learn about
PORTAL S, a multi-media information technology system for area
libraries and the Internet. Portland State University and the Oregon
Historical Society received a $1.5 million grant by the U.S.
Department of Education for the system. It will put thousands of
documents, photos, maps, objects and other items over the
computer on-line to state and local libraries.