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O bserver • D ecember 13, 1995
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The Black College: Its Fate In The Twenty-First Century
U I’ k oi . M< K islev —
dozen
so participants
-------- dozen
or so or participants
(onlv (only
two two best best
o f circumstances
th» flnanoin*,
of circumstances,
the financing
No, I have not been in touch with
were white) seemed tom between
o
f
a
college
education
is
serious busi­
a friend on the Psychic Hot Line”
evaluating the basic concept o f a
ness
for
just
about
all’
American
fam­
who is in possession o f the last word
“ Black College” separate from any
ilies.
And,
then,
you
have
it
that
this
on that subject-rather, over the week­
practical educational needs o f local
has
been
a
much
more
critical
concern
end I was assailed buffeted attacked
minority youth—and giving pragmat­
to minorities. And, if that is not enough,
and defended at a local coffee house
ic considerations in balancing “for­
the
nation’s economy (and salaries)
for expressing views on the future of
eign” institutions o f higher learning
has
been
shrink-wrapped by mergers,
the classic Black C ollege’.
against local ones.
consolidations, outsourcing and lay­
I think it would be better put to
This has got to be the most inter­
offs - 50 the matter is o f grave concern
say that the spirited discussion (argu­
esting (and productive) impromptu
to the multitude.
ment by any other name) was or
dialogue I’ve engaged in for several
So it was that the energetic, w ¡de­
should have been, about available
years. The situation seems to have
issue ranging discussion centered for
post-secondary education for Port­
become more than “academic” argu­
a while on the situation o f State of
land's African American Youth. The
ment (pardon the pun). Under,he very
Oregon institutions o f higher learn-
f ’ o lic e N e w s
America’s Imprisoned Rate Soars
Nearly seven percent o f all
I American black male adults were in
| jail or prison last year, compared to
less than one percent o f white male
adults, according to a recent gov-
| ernment report.
The report, released by Justice
Department, also found that by last
June the number o f Americans be­
hind bars soared to a recorded I . I
million, having grown by nearly
90,000 or nine percent from June
| 30, 1994.
The increase was the largest
I one-year gain since 80,000 inmates
were imprisoned in 1989-90.
The statistics were especially
stark when broken down into racial
| terms, with the number o f black
inmates in 1994 surpassing the num­
ber o f whites in state or federal pris­
ons and in local jails for the first time.
The report said the proportion
o f black males in the United States
incarcerated was almost eight times
higher than for whites, while the pro­
portion o f black females incarcerat­
ed was seven times higher than for
whites.
Comparing incarceration rates,
the report found white males and
females has remained little changed
over the last 10 years while the level
for blacks has climbed steadily.
The report offered no explana­
tions for the racial disparities, but
civil rights leaders have complained
that tough new federal drug and sen­
tencing laws have had a dispropor­
tionate impact on blacks.
The report gave no reasons for
the overall explosion in the prison
population, which dates back to
1980. But experts have cited more
arrests for drug offenses, more vi­
olent crimes in inner cities and
harsher sentencing laws as key fac­
tors.
The report said state prisons
held approximately a million in­
mates at the end o f June and the
federal prison system contained
about 100,000 criminals.
In addition about 400,000 peo­
ple were held in local jails at the
end o f 1994, awaiting trial or serv­
ing less than a one-year sentence.
The total number o f people
held in prisons and jails has almost
tripled since 1980.
Neighborhood Robbery
Portland Police Bureau De­
tectives, in cooperation with Crime
Stoppers, are asking for your help
in identifying and apprehending the
suspects responsible for two rob­
beries.
On Thursday, November 9,
1995, at about 10:00 in the evening,
tw o su sp e c ts e n te re d
the
McDonald's Restaurant at 2875 SE
Powell Boulevard. The suspects
confronted the manager at gunpoint,
and placed the employees and a
customer in the freezer. The two
forced the manager to open the
safe.
A similar robbery took place on
Sunday, November 5,1995, at about
6:00 in the evening, at the Kentucky
Fried Chicken Restaurant, 8131 SE
Powell Boulevard. In that case two
subjects entered the store at gun­
point, and took money from the cash
registers. The m anager was also
forced to open the safe.
Both suspects are black males in
their teens or early twenties.
One suspect is described as be­
ing tall, while the other is described
as being short and stocky with a
shaved head.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash
reward o f up to
$ 1,000 for infor­
mation, reported
to Crime Stop­
pers, which leads
to an arrest in this
case or any un­
so lv e d felo n y
crim e, and you
need not give
your name. Call
Crime Stoppers at
(503)823-HELP.
Burglaries
The Portland Police Bureau,
in cooperation with Crime Stop­
pers, is asking for your help in
identifying and apprehending the
person or persons responsible for a
series o f residential burglaries.
The burglaries occurred be­
tween September 7, and October
16, 1995, in northeast and south­
east Portland. The homes o f recent­
ly deceased individuals appear to
have been targeted.
Investigators believe the sus­
pect or suspects burglarized the
houses after learning o f the own­
er’s death in local newspaper no­
tices.
I n most cases entry was gained
by breaking out a pane of glass in a
door or window. Items taken in­
cluded antiques and jewelry, with
other valuables left behind.
Crime Stoppers is offering a
cash reward o f up to $1,000 for
information, reported to Crime
Stoppers, which leads to an arrest
in this case or any unsolved felony
crime, and you can remain anony­
mous. Call Crime Stoppers at (503)
823-HELP.
Police Officer Faces Theft Charges
A Multnomah County Grand
Jury has charged a Portland Police
sergeant with seven counts o f felo­
ny theft.
Sgt. Michael Barkley is ac­
cused o f stealing money from three
long-time associates. The charges
follow a Portland Police Bureau in­
vestigation.
Barkley has been on paid ad­
ministrative leave since Nov. 9, a
status that will continue until Dec. 15
when he will be placed in a non-paid
status, officials said.
Hit And Run Suspected
In 5-Year-Old Death
Portland Police homicide de­
tectives are asking for help from
the commun ity in investigating the
1990 death o f an elderly man with
Alzheimer’s disease.
The remains o f 76-year-old
Wallace E. Cushway were discov­
ered Nov. 28 on a small hillside
behind theC’apri Motel nearNorth-
east 82nd Avenue and Halsey
Street.
Detectives said Cushway was
suffering from Alzheimer’s dis­
ease and was reported missing in
October 1990 after walking away
from an adult care facility in south­
east Portland.
A fo ren sic a n th ro p o lo g ist
from the O regon M edical E x­
a m in e r's o ffice, w ho exam ined
the sk eletal rem ains, b elieves
that C ushw ay may have been
stuck by a v ehicle.
Anyone who may recall seeing
Cushway in October 1990 or who
has information on the investiga­
tion, is asked to call Detective Dav­
id Schlegel at 823-0479.
Comic Relief VII Picelo
Comic Relief VII Highlights
Specials Slated For Dec. 18 And 19
The live all-star comedy even,
Comic Relief VII struck a responsive
chord with HBO viewers when it was
presented Saturday, Nov. 11 (9:00
p.m. - 2 :13 a m. live ET, tape-de­
layed PT). The Comic Relief organi­
zation has announced that pledges
for the show have topped $5.6 mil­
lion as o f noon, Tuesday, Nov. 14.
the pledge total does no, include the
gate receipts for the live performance,
which was held at the Universal
Amphitheater in Los Angeles.
TwoComic ReliefVIl highlights
specials will be presented, on Mon­
day, Dec. 18 (12 :15 -2 :15 a m . ET),
and Tuesday, Dec. I9 (I l:35 p .m .-
1:35 a.m. ET). Both shows will again
feature the Comic Relief toll-free
800-num ber o n screen, enabling
viewers to make immediate pledges.
The pledge total wi II be updated after
these airing. The Comic Relief num­
ber ( I -800-528-1000) remains open
for pledges and donations 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. The Comic
P o lice bureau re p re se n ta ­
tives said M ayor V era K atz and
P o lice C h ie f C h a rle s M oose
h a v e b e e n f u lly in f o r m e d
th ro u g h o u t the c o u rse o f the
in v estig atio n and w ere aw are
o f the charges.
h
__________ _____
¡ng. Most agreed that this was neces­
sary to establish a frame o f reference
for comparing the options; ( I ) an
academic experience a, an Oregon
College or University, or (2) enroll­
ment at one o f the 4 1 traditional
black colleges.
Everyone seemed to have an
evaluation mode at the tip o f their
tongue, usually and quite naturally
biased by personal experience. Some
cited information derived from O re­
gonian news articles; "New Econo­
my-New Education” (Lawrence J.
Wolf, In My Opinion, 11 /20/95, pro­
fessor and president o f Oregon Insti­
tute o f Technology). Prof. W olf em­
phasizes that the T echnological
School and the corresponding work
place must be about coordinating
their activities in this age o f technol­
ogy transfer—the post-industrial rev­
olution.
It was a clique o f three high
school teachers and two engineers
(one an adm inistrator),ha, built their
case for an in-state higher education
on a very emphatic statement by Dr
Wolt. prospective employers are said
to perceive a technology system that
does not meet their needs "W hy?
Because the philosophical, political
and financial support for technolog­
ical training and education is uneven
geographically and fragm ented'
between the secondary, community
college and higher-education sectors.
Their position was that if this
were true for student preparation
within’ the state, “then just think of
the situation where a youth is dis­
patched thousands ol miles to secure
an education at a college that is not
Shell Oil
Called To Task
At the launch o f a campaign to
end human rights abuses in Nigeria
and Kenya, Amnesty International
USA Executive Director William F.
Schulz Thursday (Oct. 19) accused
Shell oil o f "pumping the blood o f
innocentsalongwith its gas.” Randall
Robinson, executive director o f
TransAfrica, Barbara Dudley, exec­
utive director o f Greenpeace, and
Congressman Donald Payne joined
Dr. Schulz to announce the focus on
two o f Africa’s most prominent na­
tions and to call for the release o f
political prisoners in the two coun­
tries.
Pro-government Nigerians and
those with first-hand accounts o f their
g o v e rn m e n t’s a b u se s v e rb a lly
clashed with each other at the press
conference at the National Press Club,
which was followed by a demonstra­
tion outside the legislative office of
Shell Oil USA. In explaining why
Shell Oil is a target o f protest regard­
ing Nigeria, Dr. Schulz said:
“The most powerful corporate
actor in this drama is Shell Oil. Nige­
ria depends on oil production for 80
percent o f its revenues. Shell Oil is
the major oil company operating in
the country. ...When Amnesty asked
Shell Oil USA to express its con­
cerns to its international Shell part­
ner operating in Nigeria, we were
me, with acom plete brick wall. Sure­
ly the American people want the com­
panies with which we do business to
practice responsible international
citizenship; surely we don’, want
them to collaborate with murderers.
Shell Oil is clearly putting profits
before human rights in the most self-
serving o f ways.”
Barika Idamkue, a leader o f the
Ogoni people whose land has been
devastated by more than 30 years o f
oil production, said his region has no
hospitals, no schools, no electricity
and running water, despite the fact
that over $30 billion in oil have been
pumped from the land. The Nigerian
government and Shell Oil, he said,
have turned a deaf ear to please to
return some o f the profits to the peo­
ple. In fact, peaceful protesters have
been arrested, as have journalists and
other who have spoken out against
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s
p
rs. i î i i :
Relief organization can also be con­
tacted through the internet at http://
pathfinder.com/hbo/comicrelief.
The first six “Comic R elief’
events on HBO raised more than $30
million for Health Care for the Home­
less projects in 23 American cities.
One hundred percent o f the money
raised is allocated to health care and
related services that have provided
assistance to more than a million
homeless Americans.
Comic Relief is a trademark o f
Gary Thison.
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now
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w o rd
a b o u t
*
u a im n iiiiiw iR ii
e r’s Office said she died from mul­
tiple stab wounds.
No suspects have been arrest­
ed at this time. Detectives David
Rubey and George Young are the
investigators.
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Body Found On
Sidewalk
Portland Police detectives are
investigating a Friday, Dec. 8 mur­
der involving a southeast Portland
woman.
T he body o f K ala Kim
Peterson, 30, whs discovered about
2 a m. by a neighbor on a sidewalk
near Woodlawn Park at Northeast
Oneonta and I Ith Avenue.
The Oregon Medical Examin- |
even ranked in “Americas’ Best col­
leges: 1996 Annual Guide; The Fin­
est Teaching; Business And Engi­
neering, The lo p 50 Program s”
(someone went home and got a copy
of "U.S. News & World Report” for
S eptem ber 18, 1995 (E xclusive
Rankings).
Several strong Sorority sisters’
were in counterpoint, emphasizing
that they worked hard at generating
support for sending black youth to
traditional black colleges—they cited
social and emotional support and the
building o f self-esteem The ’oppo­
sition’ fired back with quotes from a
Tony Brown program “Only 5% o f
students at black colleges have per­
sonal com puters—65% a, ’w hite’
schools.” Continued next week
p o w e r
o u ta g e s
At the demonstration outside
Shell’s legislative u f f i v e s at 14th an<
prisoners in Nigeria, including I
Saro-W iwa, and C hief Moshood
Abiola, and they shouted slogans
critical o f Nigeria’s military leader.
General Sani Abacha.
With a conga drumbeat in the
background, about 75 demonstrators
chanted, “Shell drills, Abacha kills,
“Shell and Abacha profit, the Ogoni
people pay,” “Shell Oil take a stand,
protect the people o f Ogoniland,”
and “Nigeria, Nigeria, set your peo­
ple free. Shell, Shell, you hold the
key,”
A few things to remember during power outages
Call us at 1-800-544 1795 to report it Call for recoided
updates during m ajor outages
Turn off m ajor appli
ances. Turn on a porch light to let us know when the
power's hack on Call if your neighbor's power comes on
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