Volume XXVI, Number 23
Committed to cultural diversity.
Students Honored
More than 40
underrepresented minority
scholarship graduates
honored fo r academic
achievement.
Teens Learn
About Street Life
Celebrating
Solstice
14 kids spend the 30
hours living as homeless
part o f a Salvation Army
project.
Solo performance blends
contemporary issues and
ancient traditions in story,
music and commentary.
See Art and Ent., page B2.
See Education, page A 6,
See Metro, page BI
M rs . F ra n c e s S c h o e n -N e w s p a p e r
U n i v e r s i t y o f O re q o n L i b r
E u q e n e , O re q o n
97403
Navy Plane Downed
Military officials say two crewmen
1 aboard a U.S. Navy plane shot down today
by a Japanese destroyer in the Pacific are
safely aboard the USS Independence and
appear to be in “good health.” The Penta­
gon says the A-6E “Intruder” was “dam­
aged inadvertently” by gunfire while it was
towing a target for ship-to-air gunnery
practice during a six-nation military exer­
cise. The crewmen ejected and were picked
up by a Japanese Navy vessel. Japan is
apologizing for the incident. It’s the sec­
ond time in eight months the Japanese
military shot down a friendly aircraft.
| Clinton Proposes Tax Credit
President Clinton proposed a $1,500
refundable tax credit today to offset tuition
costs for two years of college, and called
for an array of revenue raisers to pay the
$7.9 billion price-tag. Clinton was to out­
line his election-year plan, which the White
House christened as “America’s HOPE
scholarships,” in a commencement speech
at Princeton University. Its unveiling came
as Senator Bob Dole reportedly was mull­
ing a call for an across-the-board tax cut to
energize his presidential campaign.
Peres, Netanyahu
Shake Hands
It’s the first step in Israel’s government
transition. Prime Minister-elect Benjamin
Netanyahu met today with outgoing Prime
Minister Shimon Peres to talk about the
handover o f power. It was their first get-
together since the right-wing leader upset
Peres in last week’s election. Netanyahu
won by less than one percentage point. His
first task is to assemble a governing coali­
tion. He has 45 days to do that. He’s
promising tocontinue the Middle east peace
process, although he’s also vowing to en- j
sure Israel’s security.
Power Of Knowledge Emphasis
At Blacks In Government Conference
F
our dozen or so people sat in a
dark room last Thursday, star­
ing at a computer screen pro­
jected on the front wall.
An instructor causally, informally pulled
up web pages, discussed browsers, servers
and other information. Suddenly the internet
became less mysterious, less threatening and
a more accessible resouree.
“I’ve worked with computers on my job
lor years, but recently we’ve started using the
internet to review the resumes of potential
job applicants from around the world,” said
Denise Freeman, a personnel analyst with the
City of Seattle. "It’s now critical that I know
how to best utilize it.”
Knowledge is why Freeman and about 800
other African Americans from four states
attended the Blacks In Government Regional
Training Conference in Portland May 29-3 I.
In all, 56 workshops ranging from manage­
ment and leadership to computer technology,
and economics were offered at the three day
event. Most of the trainers, including the
computer instructor were African American.
“ I he instructor gave the information in a
way that, I was an African American female
with little technical background can under­
stand, " said Freeman. “The comfort zone
with a black instructor makes learning a lot
easier. There’s no pressure here.”
But pressure in the government workplace
is greater than ever for African Americans
according to Blacks in Government Region
10 President Remond Henderson. Nation­
wide downsizing efforts, along with attacks
on affirmative action programs pose a real
threat to people o f color.
“Just because you’re there today, doesn't
New Kennedy Film Found
Secretary o f State
Phil Keisling and
newly appointed
State Senator
Robert Boyer at
swearing in
ceremony. Boyer,
former coordinator
o f the King
Neighborhood
Facility, will fill the
balance o f late Bill
McCoy's term
representing the 8th
Senate District.
New Crash Find
Recovery workers have made a promis­
ing find in the Everglades — a second hole
inside the maincraterwhere ValuJet Flight
592 crashed. They’ll be searching the hole
again today. It has yielded the largest piec­
es of wreckage found so far, as well as
more remains of the 110 victims. Before
yesterday, less than half of the jet had been
recovered and only 24 o f the victims had
been identified. Separately, a truck driver
has been charged with taking pieces o f the
wreckage home as souvenirs.
Freemen Ranch Now
W ithout Power
It was darker than usual at the Freemen
compound in Montana overnight. The FBI
has shut off the electricity. Only a single
light could be seen in one of the anti­
government group’s houses. It’s not clear
whether that was being powered by the
Freemen’s generator. Cutting off the pow­
er is the latest step federal authorities have
taken to increase pressure on the Freemen
to end the standoff that’s been going on for
nearly three months.
Efforts on to Avert Strike
Talks are scheduled today to try to avert
a strike by more than 6.000 machinists at
McDonnell Douglas. Negotiators for the
aircraft company and the machinists union
are scheduled to meet in Hazelwood, Mis­
souri. Federal mediation officials called the
session. The union rejected the company ’s
four-year contract offer. The union has au­
thorized a strike to begin tomorrow at plants
in Missouri, Nevada and California.
FRON T EDIT°RIAL
S E C T IO N
A2
State Representative Ave! Gordtey; Tony Hopson, Executive Director of Self-Enhancement Inc.
and Metro councilor Ed
Washington at Blacks In Government Conference luncheon
*
Photo by Duane Lewis
mean the next day you won’t be,” said
McCloud, a former senior managing attorney
Henderson. You're as vulnerable there as
for the Federal Communications Commis­
you are in private industry. The reductions
sion, told the group that they have the tools
are going to occur, so protecting your posi­
and the knowledge and improve conditions
tion is all about learning. You can never
for all African-Americans in the workplace.
know enough.”
“We need empowered people, and em­
Learning, goal-setting and becoming a cat­
powerment is more than a buzz-word for the
alyst for positive change were dominant themes
90s,“ said Russell-McCloud. "Empower­
of the conference titled -- Affirming Positive
ment means that we understand that knowl­
Power Through Unity. Organizers hoped to
edge is power, and information is a positive
foster a spirit at the conference that was found
response toa negative threat," said McCloud.
Photo by Duane Lewis
ong-lost television footage of
scenes before and after the as­
sassination of President John F.
Kennedy has been unearthed and
intriguing new evidence on the case.
L
The 45 minutes of black-and-white film
cl ips do not catch Kennedy’s motorcade com­
ing under fire as it drove through Dallas on
Nov. 22, 1963 and provides no new answers
to major questions about the assassination.
But it does show police taking several
initial suspects and witnesses into custody,
assassin Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas
police station after his arrest and Kennedy
and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy holding
hands before stepping into the convertible in
which the president was shot dead.
Police and witnesses are seen running
toward a rail yard to search for an assassin
immediately ater the shooting. And the foot­
age also shows Oswald's killer. Jack Ruby, at
offers
a press conference with Oswald on the night
of the assassination. Ruby shot the assassin
two days later.
“The film gives us some important, previ­
ously unavailable views which could add
significantly to our understanding of what
happened immediately after the assassina­
tion," said Richard Trask, an archivist.
I he newspaper said the 16 mm footage
was secretly rescued from a wastebasket at a
local TV station by an employee named Roy
Cooper, who kept the original and made a
copy for his best friend. Eli Sturges. They
tried but failed to sell it secretly and the copy
was stashed under Sturges' home for years.
Manditory Sentences Face Criticim From Community
BY
C’C J a < k S ( ) \
easure 11, Oregon's 19 9 5 Crime
bill Is under fire because of it's
costs, both in the state coffers
and in human lives.
M
The Oregon Legislature will face a short­
fall in school funding because of the cost of
housing people serving mandatary sentenc­
ing. It is estimated that the prison population
will increase by approximately 10,000 by the
year 2005.
This money, many say, could be better
used for education. In addition the lowing of
the minimum age of those tried as adults to 15
under the measure has sparked concern among
parents, educators and government officials.
Concerned Portlanders met May 29. at
Portland Community College Cascade Cam­
pus to discuss what the measure can mean to
area youth.
Guest panalists included Beverly Stein,
Multnomah County Chair; Charles Moose,
Portland PoliceChief; Margaret Carter, State
Representative and Democratic Party Chair
SPORTS
EDUCATION
and Alcena Boozer, Jefferson High School
principal.
Under the measure a 16-year-old driving
under the influence of alcohol or drugs who
causes an accident and someone dies will
automatically be remanded to prison for 10
years. There will be no probation, no parole
and no early release, and neither the record
nor character of the 16-year-old will have any
bearing on the sentence
When 760,507 Oregonians voted to man­
date minimum sentences for 16 crimes, most
thought about it only in terms of incorrigible.
In some cases the measure has put violent
people behind bars for longer periods but it is
also sweeping up lesser offenders. It makes
no distinction between career criminals and
first timers.
“There’s very few of these folks that com­
mit these kinds of crimes that don't deserve a
real good boot in the bottom," says William
Keys, Chief Criminal Judge in Multnomah
County Circuit Court in an interview with
Willlamette Week. “The question is on the
METRO
S E C T IO N
FAMILY
measure 11.
Photo by Duane Lewis
lower levels of Measure 11 crimes with peo­
ple with no record I am personally disturbed,
at times, at some of the sanctions imposed.
Because these people are not without hope.”
Keys, w ho cannot be accused of being soft on
crime, reflects the opinions of many in the
judicial system.
The measure's opponents site the recent
ARTS & ENT
HEALTH
slayingofflvc people in a Bandon trailer park
as an example. Girley Crum, accused of the
killings, would face the same sentence as he
would before the measure passed. They also
say that even if he was sentenced to Measure
I I ’s 7 years for the 1988 conviction of rob­
bing and stabbing a Gresham man, he would
still have been out at the time ofthe murders.
“When you take non-violent people and
throw them in prison with people who are
violent, they sec brutality on a day to day
basis. They are taught crime 18 hours a day,”
says Wilbur Smith, a Portland defence law­
yer. “They are desensitized to all norman
human feeling. When you k ic k them out six
year down the road, what are they going to
say? I learned my lesson'.’ No, the longer they
stay in an institution, the meaner and more
intractable they become ”
Still with all the criticism, when legislators
proposed to remove some crimes from the list
and add some, only the additions passed.
Politically it makes people feel better to think
they arc doing something to eliminate crime
HOUSING
CLASSIFIEDS
i ’ji'VÍfr’Ü