P age A4
S eptember 6, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
Simpson Judge Rules Jury
Can Hear Racial Slurs
Vancouver Conducts Citizen Survey
A spokesman for Vancouver’s
Cultural Commission says the new
commission is looking forward to
getting public comment about the
arts and cultural identity o f Van
couver.
After several meetings to de
fine its mission statement, goals
and priorities, the cultural commis
sion is planning a public survey this
fall using either a telephone ap
proach or a clip-out-and-send-back
coupon in the newspapers.
The survey results will help
define what the Vancouver com
munity thinks is important and what
they would support financially. One
question will be about building a
performing arts center.
Michael Kissinger, a Vancou
ver resident, works as executive di
rector o f the Mid-Valley Arts Coun
cil. Other commission members are
Larry Swatosh, chairman; Marlia
Jenkins, Ethel Lehman, David Tang,
Leslie Durst, Harriet Wilson, Jan
Oliva and Allan Weinstein. The nine-
member commission was appointed
by the mayor and city council in
October 1994 to serve in an advisory
capacity to city council on matters
relating to arts and cultural events
and activities.
The survey will tell us what peo
ple think is a community priority,
what links this community tether
culturally and what they are willing
to support,” says Kissinger.
Another project for the com
mission is development o f a cultur
al plan.
The cultural plan is an action
plan listing what the community has
as cultural assets and resources, what
it wants and how it will approach
getting what it wants.
Citizens can participate by re
turning the survey this fall and by
sending comments and concerns to
the commission at P.O. Box 1995,
Vancouver, WA 98668.
Thomas Completes Management Course
Sylvester Thomas o f Vancou
ver has successfully completed a
new food service management cer
tificate program d ev elo p ed by
Elagstar Companies, Inc. The inten
sive 9-week program was designed
to recruit and develop minority can
didates to management positions in
the Flagstar restaurant chains which
include Denny’s, Quincy’s Family
Steakhouse, El Polio Loco and the
largest Hardee’s franchise.
Thomas, a manager at Denny’s
in Vancouver, will return to his man
agement role at the restaurant. He
joined Denny’s in August 1994.
Flagstar’s comprehensive man
agement certificate program covers
all aspects o f restaurant operations,
including human resources, finan
cial and facilities management, busi
ness communications, marketing
principals and leadership skills. The
S y lv e s te r T h o m a s
course work for the program which
ran June 1 2 -Aug. 11, was conducted
at Flagstar’s learning center facili
ties in Spartanburg, S.C.
The studies included food safe
ty and utilized team exercises, class
projects and hands-on application
o f management principles.
“As part o f our overall business
strategy, Flagstar has a number of
initiatives underway aimed at increas
ing minority participation in our com
pany,” said James B. Adamson, chair
man and chief executive officer of
Flagstar. “The Food Service Man
agement Certificate Program is a way
of developing people within our com
pany as well as those who have an
interest in management careers in the
food service industry.
T w elv e c a n d id a te s , both
Flagstar employees and college stu
dents from across the U.S., were
selected for participation in the pro
gram based on the recommendation
o f their restaurant supervisor or
col lege professor and an assessment
oftheir potential success within the
food service field.
Minority Business For Year 2000: Part II
P rof . M c K in ley B urt
The response o f the readership
to Part I o f this series (8/30/95) indi
cates that there is a definite need to
i evisit some o f the earlier concepts
put forward. While certain basic prin
ciples o f successful entrepreneurship
will always hold true, a rapidly chang
ing economic and social climate re
quires timely adjustments and new
techniques.
Interestingly, when I recently
introduced just such an approach to
several neophyte minority business
persons, I realized (as always) that
there is nothing new under the sun,
even as I spoke. As I enthusiastically
distributed some out-of-town phone
directories to the group, directing
them to look in theclassifted sections
o f types o f businesses novel to Port
land - deja vu set in with a vengeance.
This was one o f the more suc
cessful innovations I introduced to
my Portland State University busi-
nessclassin 1973. Lshould point out,
however, that more white than mi
nority students pursued the techn ique
to the point o f opening the doors of
an actual enterprise. I closely studied
cases o f both outcomes. The differ
ence was found to be as much a
cultural one as a matter o f opportuni
ty or racial barriers; more on this at a
by
later date.
O b v io u sly , if y o u ’re bold
enough, such an approach will get
you around the constraints imposed
by the establishment or their inept
minions to keep African Americans
confined to “traditional” businesses.
And, above all (as I said last week),
you have got to read the relevant
business journals and guides (and
explore the not-so-relevant material
for new and important concepts -
never mind what the school system
has done to you; force yourself to
read and like it).
White I definitely want as much
feedback from readers as possible in
our effort to structure a viable minor
ity business format for the year 2000,
let my say that I don’t want attention
diverted by any controversy around
individuals in the community whose
“business” (?) activities appear less
than desirable (exploitation o f pris
on labor - and selling minority tem
porary workers as the “low wage, no
benefits” solution for business prof
its.)
Your concerns are well taken, it
is ugly business. But get this dia
logue into the “Letters To The Edi
tor” section and let the community
join in. The same with many o f the
very excellent suggestions many o f
....
* ■
> z
you are making in respect to prob
lems encountered in financing, leas
ing, sales techn ique and types o f pro
prietorship. There is not enough room
in an article, I need a book! Hmmm?
Speaking o f “types o f propri
etorship,” I believe it would serve the
community very well if there were to
be conducted intensive seminars on
“cooperative” for profit enterprises
and capital formation enterprises. Not
only should we be looking at mutual
funds for personal investment and
4 0 1-K, but as the type o f financial
structure which could be used to sup
port businesses in our community.
Certainly my articles (and others)
have revealed that we have innova
tors o f useful and marketable prod
ucts right here among us.
Two generations ago, African
Americans did it right here and suc
cessfully, as I have documents time
and time again. It will be a further
revelation to you when the “African
American Historic Sites” project is
completed in the near future. I have
been a participant in this effort and
can assure you that many o f the ac
complishments o f Portland black pi
oneers are truly amazing - in both
the business and social realms. What
has been done before can be done
again, the genes are still here.
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In a stunning blow to the de
fence in the O.J. Simpson murder
trial, jurors will be exposed to only
two o f the 4 1 taped excerpts in which
Detective Mark Fuhrman, a key pros
ecution witness, utters racial slurs.
Judge Lance Ito, in a crucial
ruling issued late on Thursday, also
rejected defence efforts to introduce
18 portions ofthe so-called “Fuhrman
Tapes” that depict the now-retired
detective as a rogue cop who tortured
suspects and fabricated evidence.
Simpson lead attorney Johnnie
Cochran reacted with scathing criti
cism, calling it “one o f the crudest,
unfair decisions ever rendered in a
criminal court in this country.”
But D istric t A tto rn e y G il
Garcetti appeared pleased with Ito’s
ruling, saying, "Now let’s get on with
this trial and get it to the jury.”
St i 11 to come, ho we ver, is a court
room drama in which the prosecu
tion will see one o f its star witnesses
— the man who reported finding a
bloody glove on Simpson’s estate —
depicted to jurors as a liar.
Fuhrman, described by the de
fence as a racist who planted evi
dence to frame the black football
hero, testified five months ago that
he had not used the word “nigger”
anytime in the past 10 years.
But perhaps as early as Friday,
the mostly black jury will find out he
uttered the racial epithet twice when
transcripts o f audiotaped interviews
with aspiring screenwriter Laura Hart
McKinny are prsented in court
Ito also ruled that McKinny can
take the witness stand and tell jurors
that Fuhrman used the word “nigger”
41 times during the interviews, which
were conducted from 1985 to 1994.
Legal analysts bel ieve that alone
could bolster Simpson’s chances o f
being acquitted on charges that he
murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown
Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman
the night o f June 12, 1994.
But experts contend that the
prosecution case would have been
decimated if Ito had allowed the jury
to hear all, or even a large part, ofthe
tapes in which Fuhrman brags at one
point about beating black suspects’
faces into “mush.”
When the tapes were played on
Tuesday with the jury absent from
thecourtroom, Fuhrman’s monotone
voice echoed through the downtown
courthouse and across Los Angeles,
exposing racial divisions in the city
and the police force.
“The prosecution has every rea
son to be relieved,” said Karen Smith,
a professor at Southwestern Law
School in Los Angeles.
Still, Deputy District Attorney
Chris Darden was less than thrilled
with Ito’s ruling. “All black people
are offended when they hear those
words,” the black prosecutor said.
But Simpson’s defence team was
livid. “For the judge to rule that only
two o f those incidents are admissible
is outrageous, is specious and it’s
unspeakable,” Cochran told report
ers.
As the grand finale before rest
ing their case, the defence had hoped
to play the tapes before recalling
Fuhrman to the witness stand, where
famed trial lawyer F. Lee Bailey was
expected to attack him as a perjurer
Fuhrman has contended that he
was only play acting for McKinny to
lend dramatic flavor to her screen
play. Prosecutors had accused de
fence lawyers o f trying to “hijack”
the trial.
Now, legal experts say, the de
fence may decide to forgo further
testimony by Fuhrman, whose attor
ney recently said he might refuse to
answer questions by invoking his
constitutional right against self-in
crimination.
In one o f the two excerpts ad
mitted by Ito, Fuhrman says, “ We
have no niggers where I grew up.”
In the second example, McKinny
asks Fuhrman why black Moslems
live in a certain part o f Los Angeles.
“That’s where niggers live,” he re
sponds.
Ito sa id he w as b a rrin g
Fuhrman’s remarks about pol ice mis
conduct because the defence had
fai led to prove that the inc ¡dents ever
occurred and had not produced any
evidence o f their claims that he plant
ed the bloody glove.
Radio Help
And Kid
Kare
Decals.
Oregon Steel Appeals
$1.4 Million Fine
Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. has filed an appeal o fa $ 1.4 million fine levied
by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division.
The fine, the largest every levied by the agency, followed 20 charges
o f occupational safety and health violations in the sale o f a sandblasting
abrasive made o f recycled sttijl mill air pollutants.
The abrasive breaks down into dust, releasing toxic lead, cadmium and
arsenic, the state agency says. Company officials say the agency misunder
stands the chemistry o f the sandblasting material.
Jan Wagner, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the appeal will goto
an informal conference and then to an administrative law judge if neces
sary.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has joined
the state in issuing a “hazard alert” on the material.
C r im e S t o p p e r s
Wanted Subject
The Beaverton Police Depart
ment, in cooperation with Crime
Stoppers, is asking for your help in
locating Thomas Anthony Williams.
An Arrest warrant is on file in
Phoenix, Arizona, charging Williams
with Failure to Appear on Fraud and
Theft Charges. Locally, Williams is
wanted on a felony parole violations.
Thomas Anthony Williams, also
known as the “Sweetheart Swindler”,
has been known to befriend women,
and then disappear after bilking them
out o f money.
Williams, who is known to speak
in a fake Australian accent, may be
calling him self “Tom the Rancher”,
or Dr. Tom Chalinor, and may be
staying in area motels.
Williams is described a white
male, 40 years o f age, with a date o f
birth ofM arch 29, 1955. Williams is
6 ’ 1 tall and weighs 160 pounds, with
brown hair and haze I eyes. He may or
T h o m a s A n th o n y Williams
may not be wearing glasses.
Crime Stoppers is offering acash
reward o f up to $ 1,000 for informa
tion, reported to Crime Stoppers,
which leads to an arrest in this case,
or any unsolved felony crime, and
you can remain anonymous. Call
Crime Stoppers at (503) 823-Help
Bicyclists Peddle To
Tri-Met Record
Bicyclists have nearly doubled
their use o f Tri-met buses and Max
light rail trains over a year ago.
Spurred by completing the in
stallation o f bicycle racks on all Tri-
Met buses last February, cyclist rid
ership raced to more than 78,000
boardings, up from the previous
fiscal year’s nearly 4 1,000.
Max light rail alone carried
more than 35,000 cyclists.
Bikes on Tri-Met permit sales
jum ped to nearly 5,000, up more
than 2,000 over the prev ious report
ing period.
Tri-met began allowing permit
holders to take bicycles on eight bus
routes and Max in June 1992.
Since then, ridership and the
program itself has steadily grown
and now includes bicycle racks on
all o f Tri-M et’s 600 buses serving
some 600 square miles in the tri
county area.
The program has been simpli
fied and improved along the way,
with other efforts like the addition
o f a youth permit for those 8-15
years old.
“ W e’re pleased to offer more
transportation choices to the com
munity,” said Bob Post, Tri-Met
deputy general manager. All per
mits cost $5 are good for two years.
For more information, cyclists
can call 239-3044.
Young people heading back to
school and motorists along the high
ways have a netw ork o f friends
throughout the area -- Pacific Power
employees who drive vehicles dis
playing Radio Help and Kid Kare
decals.
The programs offer a safe haven
for children who are frightened, or
bothered by strangers; and commu
nications for the public in general
from the scene o f an accident, fire, or
other emergency, or a less critical
need -- a stranded motorist or person
needing directions.
Pacific Power general business
manager Carl Talton said Kid Kare
was created by the International
Brotherhood o f Electrical Workers
and Pacific Power, for use through
out company service areas in Cali
fornia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho
and Montana.
“The Kid Kare decal on the side
o f most Pacific Power vehicles is a
symbol to a child that the operator is
a friend and provides a safe place to
wait for help to arrive,” Talton ex
plained.
Radio Help was initiated by Pa
cific in 1985,asam eansofproviding
communications between the scene
o f an emergency and agencies re
sponsible for providing such servic
es.
Since inception. Radio Help has
expanded to include 235 private com
panies, public agencies and other
utilities throughout the western Unit
ed States, all willing to offer commu
nications in an emergency -- be it
major or minor.
“Both Kid Kare, for Pacific Pow
er vehicles only,and Radio Help, for
a growing number o f organizations
throughout the west, are symbols o f
a commitment to serve the public,”
Talton pointed out.
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