P age A6
J uly 31, 1996 • T he P ortland O bserver
Swimming With Sharks! How Virtual Reality Works
by P rof .
M c K inley B urt
These actually are the two titles o f
some excellent material for your read­
ing list. I ’ ve combined them into a
heading for this article because the
two concepts seem to address the
current economic rat race in a very
realistic and unromantic manner
The first book, “ Swimming With
Sharks," Harvey McKay, $6 95, is
about how to preserve one’s socio­
economic life and limb in a world o f
predators, I developed some rather
realistic metaphors in a coffee house
discussion with some former stu­
dents; “ think about Albina as the old
‘Ethiopian Sea’ and that you have
some rather voracious creatures cir­
cling your life raft.”
That statement elicited a bit o f
laughter because it was in reference
to a time in my Black History class
when I was having difficulty docu­
menting that today’s so-called “ Per­
sian G ulf” was known by the an­
cients as the “ Ethiopian Sea” just as
the A tla n ta was know n as the
“ Ethiopic Ocean".
This had seemed a perfectly natu­
ral state o f affairs to ancient histori­
ans and cartographers since at the
time these bodies o f water were sur­
rounded by or adjacent to lands o f
black cultures and people;m races
who navigated these seas and who
conducted commerce and military
Campaigns all over the areas. The
Greeks even adopted the pantheon
o f gods and goddesses o f many o f
these peoples.
When other faculty (white) vehe­
mently denied these facts while my
students were in their classes, I felt I
had my reputation to protect, I
promptly got in touch with my corre­
spondents at Campbridge University
in England, the Vatican Scientific
Translations in Cairo, Egypt.
W ith a month I was able to provide
photocopies o f ancient maps o f these
oceans with their African appella-
tions-as well as citations to the few
American publications bold enough
to print these facts. You can guess
what happened when my students
hit these other instructors with the
facts. For months a afterwards when
I entered the Portland State Univer­
sity faculty cafeteria, there was a
sudden silence before the chatter and
Wanted Subject
Suspect Dennis Smith
unknown stranger who also a s-’
saulted him.
Detectives are handling the case
as a homicide, and an arrest warrant
has been issued charging Smith
with Murder in the First Degree.
Dennis Keith Smith is described
as a 34-year-old white male, with a
date o f birth o f February 19, 1962.
Smith is 6 ’ 3" tall, weighs 220
pounds, with blue eyes and gray­
ing brown hair. Smith has tattoos
covering both arms.
C rim e Stoppers is o ffe rin g a
cash reward o f up to $ 1,000 fo r
in fo rm a tio n , reported to C rim e
Stoppers, w hich leads to an ar­
rest in this case or any unsolved
fe lon y crim e, and you need not
giveyournam e. Call C rim e Stop­
pers at (503) 823-H ELP
Portland’s Old Town Drug-Free Zone
A cco rd in g to a re p o rt title d
" P o lic e B u re a u g ets fe d e ra l
g ra nt" in the July 11 O regonian
(p.B 2 ), “ A grant to ta lin g more
than $1.8 m illio n " w ill inclu de
"$ 30 0 ,00 0 on O p eratio n N orth
Star, an e ffo rt to e lim in a te street
drug d ealing in O ld T ow n and on
the tran sit m a ll.”
C ity o ffic ia ls c o n tin u a lly tru m ­
pet how the “ D rug-F ree Z on e ” in
O ld T ow n and d o w n to w n . (The
e co n o m ic law s o f p ro h ib itio n
mean that in v a ria b ly , the dealers
o ffe r cocaine or heroin, but never
pot.) D o you th in k $300,000 w ill
e lim in a te drugs from O!d Tow n
or dow ntow n? So fa r, by d riv in g
a lo t o f dealers out o f O ld Tow n,
The p o lice have o nly spread the
trade to the nearby tra n sit m all.
T hat $300,000 w ill lead to tens
Top Sports Marketers
Court UO Students
Look behind the scenes at
Oregon’s top sports venues this sum­
mer and yo u 'll find more than a
dozen students and graduates o f the
University o f Oregon's Warsaw
Sports Marketing Center on the job.
“ The Warsaw Center is the hot­
test program at the UO,” says Adam
Borgens who snagged a paid intern­
ship this summer with Team N orth­
west Racing in Portland.
Other Warsaw Center graduates
are working behind the scenes for
thePortlandTrail Blazers,Ml Bach­
elor Ski and Summer Resort, the
United States Basketball Academy,
the National Basketball Associa­
tion and the 1996 Summer O lym ­
pics in Atlanta.
Portland’ s fledgling Women's
Basketball Association franchise be­
gan looking at Warsaw Center stu­
dents for summer internships after
General Manager Linda Weston sat
in on a student presentation o f a
marketing plan proposal for her new
term.
Five Warsaw Center students are
working for the N IK E W orld Mas­
ters Games, helping to promote the
event that is expected to draw 25,000
to Oregon in the summer o f 1998.
“ The Warsaw Center candidates
knocked our socks o ff,” says Laurie
Bloch, director o f administration
forthe NIKE World Masters Games.
They were prepared, poised and
well versed in what we do. Their
resumes were superior to those o f
other applicants and their presenta­
tions were even better.”
That isn't idle talk. Bloch asked
some o f the Warsaw Center interns
to come back next year. She also
nvited graduates to extend their
summer internships to a full year.
We need their energy and intel­
ligence,” says Bloch. “ We want to
develop the best young set o f sports
managers in the Pacific Northwest.
We found them a the Warsaw Cen­
ter.”
What give UO students the edge
the competition for sports mar­
keting jobs? Maybe it's prepara­
tion. Students start with solid course
work in professional business prac­
tices at the Charles H. Lundquist
College o f Business, then spend
year concentrating on the ins and
outs o f sports marketing at the
Warsaw Center.
Networking is another key. The
center regularly brings in top pro
fessional such as Gary Jacobus, Na
lional Football League senior di
rector, and Reggie W illiam s, Walt
Disney W orld Sports vice presi
dent, to share their real-world expe
rience with students.
“ We felt from the beginning that
the placement o f students in jobs
was a critical part o f what the War
saw Center is about,” says director
Michael Ritchey. "W e ’ re not oper
ating from an ivory tower here
We re preparing students for real
jobs in the competitive world o f
sports marketing.”
Ritchey attributes much o f the
Warsaw Center's success to its Io
cation w ithin a college o f business
and to its blend o f traditional aca­
demics and full-tim e instructors
drawn directly from the sports mark­
ing world.
W ith courses in sponsorship, li­
censing, sports marketing commu­
nications and sports marketing law,
the Warsaw Center has aggressively
sought to inspire its students to seek
employment in a growing industry
estimated to produce more than
$150 b illion a year in U.S. rev­
enues.
I t ’ s a formula that's paid o ff in
dream jobs for students. Warsaw
graduate Julie Fields w ill work this
summer on event management for
the 1998 N IK E W orld Masters
Games.
"This is an unbelievable oppor­
tunity. I want to specialize in event
management and here I am working
on the w orld’s largest event o f its
kind," enthuses Fields.
Christie Wise, a journalism ma­
jor, came to the UO because o f the
sports marketing program.
“ The Warsaw Center is the best
sports marketing center in the coun­
try,” says Wise, who graduated from
the UO in June and reported for work
with the Portland Trail Blazers in
under conditions sim ulating real
planes and airspace. Now, we see
surgeons simulating operations, res­
cue workers ‘responding’ to disas­
ters, architects 'w alking through'
building's they have de-signed. and.
of course, kids playing all sorts of
games.
But what was rea lly interesting
at this little coffee house co n ­
clave was the increasing number
ol people who are com ing around
to my early way o f th in k in g about
the w orld being a sta ge -a n d that
one had better ‘ read’ the actors
and props as w ell as the media
One women o ffe re d, "Y o u have
to check out the 're a l' v irtu a l re­
a lity w hich is what goes on a ll the
tim e ." It w ou ld sure help in A l-
bina today.
Speaking o f reality, let me be quite
clear about the business model I cited
in last week’s article, "Let The Games
Begin." The full name of the organi­
zation from which I obtained the in ­
formation on how to set up a finance
company for the used car dealers on
Union Avenue, was the "National
Association o f Automobile Finance
Companies (in 1949).
This is important because I al­
ways emphasized to business stu­
dents that there was a wealth o f ex­
perienced-based inform ation (no,
virtual) to be obtained from the ‘trade
associations' o f those people actu­
ally involved from day-to-day. The
public library has books which list
thousands o f them; try “ Gales.”
Low-Income families receive surplus food
Crime Stoppers
Investigators from the C lark
County, Washington Sheriff’ s O f­
fice, in cooperation withCrime Stop­
pers, are asking for your help in
locating Dennis Keith Smith. An
arrest warrant is on file charging
Smith in the disappearance o f a
Vancouver, Washington, woman.
Shortly before midnight on No­
vember 11,1995, Smith left Omar’ s
restaurant and lounge in Orchards,
Washington, withCarolyn K illably.
K illably's car was later located in
the parking lot o f the restaurant. No
one has seen K illa b ly since.
When questioned shortly after
the disappearance, Smith admitted
leaving with K illab ly, but claimed
that she was dragged o ff by an
clatter began again You don what
you have to.
The second book, "H ow Virtual
Reality Works," by Joshua Eddings,
about $ 15.00, Is the best I ’ ve found to
date on these new adventures in
Cyberspace where you can pul on
this strange hcadgear--and have ad­
ventures where you ain’ t’ . This well
written and illustrated manual pub­
lished by Ziff-D avis Press gives very
precise definitions: “ Virtual Reality
(VR) is the use o f computers and
other special hardware and software
to simulate an alternate world.”
What is real, o f course, are the
many very practical applications o f
virtual reality; most o f us being fam il­
iar with the television documentaries
which show airline pilots being trained
o f m illio n s o f d o lla rs in c o u rt
and inca rce ratio n costs fo r the
c ity , co un ty, state and federal
g overnm ent w h ile p ro v id in g a
price support to the vast m a jo rity
o f more discreet dealers w ho es­
cape arrest or enter the trade in
the fu tu re . M ore people w ill be
attracted to the drug trade, more
peo ple w i ll be in tro d u c e d to
drugs, and the results w ill be en­
tire ly co u n te rp ro d u c tiv e .
W o u ld more people use these
drugs i f they were a va ila b le to
adults through licensed m edical
p ra ctitio n e rs? An evening report
by P o r tla n d ’ s N B C a ffilia te ,
K G W N orth w e st N ew sC hannel
8, on Tuesday, Ju ly 16, reported
that one local agency dealing w ith
h e ro in a b u sers had seen its
caseload increase fro m 100-plus
to 9 00 -p Iu s in the past year. That
w ou ld suggest c u rre n t p o lic ie s
c o u ld n ’ t do much w orse. One
w ould th in k there w ou ld c e rta in ly
be á lo t fe w e r p ro fit-m o tiv a te d
people s e llin g such drugs i f they
were placed back under the co n ­
tro l o f the m edical profession.
Community Basket, a new program
sponsored by Oregon Food Bank in
the N/NE neighborhoods, is a volun-
leer run membership program.
Community Basket w ill provide its
members with informational services
concerning nutrition, job opportuni­
ties, community projects, parenting,
self-help information and various
community programs, on a monthly
basis. Members also receive a bonus
package o f food and non-food items
once a month.
By paying a $ 15 annual fee or a $5
quarterly fee (every four months)
members w ill receive a newsletter with
information and community services
and a bonus bag(s) o f food and non-
food items once a month. The first
fifteen members tojoin w ill get $5 o ff
the annual membership charge for
the first year.
To q u a lify, household income
guidelines must be met ( 185% o f pov­
erty level) and a proof o f address
showing that you live in Multnomah
County is needed. Anyone who quali­
fies for any other services: W.I.C.,
food stamps, Head Start, etc., w ill
certainly qualify forCommunity Bas-
ket.
Each site w ill have a volunteer coor-
dinator responsible for scheduling vol­
unteer shifts, arranging home deliver­
ies, supervising the site, and re-bag­
ging food. Anyone interested in vol­
unteering can call Khalil Edwards at
282-0555 for more information.
Beginning August 1st and the first
Thursday of every month following,
individuals and families in the N/NE
neighborhoods can register at the fol­
lowing time and place and receive their
first newsletter and bonus bag(s) of
food: August 1, 1996 (1 st Thursday of
each month) 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and
w ill be held at Child’s Path, 3808 N.
W i 11 iams Portland, Ore 97227.
USA Today Endorses Medical Marijuana
USA Today, the nation’ s most
widely read daily newspaper, has en­
dorsed access to medical marijuana.
The endorsement stemmed from a
USA Today editorial entitled “ A n ti­
drug focus keeps marijuana from the
ill” and came just two days after the
newspaper featured a major article on
aCalifornia ballot initiative that would
allow seriously ill patients to use
marijuana as a therapeutic agent with
a doctor's recommendation.
Calling marijuana “ one o f the least
toxic medical compounds in the world,”
the editorial cited both marijuana’s rela­
tive safety when compared to other
legal drugs and medicines and decades
o f scientific and anecdotal research
maintaining its medical efficacy.
“ It id entirely possible to fight the
drug was without harming innocent
civilians in the process,” concluded
the USA Today. “ But lawmakers must
be careful to choose the right battles.
Therapeutic marijuana isn’t one of
them.”
“ The statements made by USA
Today in support o f medical access to
therapeutic marijuana should have a
positive impact on America's views
toward this issue and may translate
into a significant number o f votes
among California citizens in favor o f
the Medical Marijuana Initiative,”
slated NORML Deputy Director Allen
St. Pierre.
Denny Smith 's
campaign tour
fo r the Senate
seat vacated by
Mark Hatfield,
stops at the
Albina Youth
Opportunity
School.
State workers union ballots delayed
Continued from Metro
▲
“ This is the first time ever any side
had gained control o f a significant
number ofballots and delivered them
to the ERB,” Stiteler said.
Spence said OPEU is still analyz­
ing what its next step is. However,
the election now comes down to the
E R B’s ruling on the 61 ballots.
“ There w ill be a hearing conduct­
ed,” Stiteler said. He doesn’t know
when it w ill be. Arguments for and
against unionization vary .
“ I ’ ve seen too many things hap­
pen to too many people,” M iles said,
“ We need someone to go to bat for
us.”
Spence said the management’ s ar­
gument against unionization focuses
on the management’ s a bility to look
out for the w orker and “ do the right
thing" for them.
I f the election ends in favor o f
unionization, Spence sees many ad­
vantages workers w ill earn. “ They’ ll
have the a b ility to collectively bar­
gain for wages and benefits, and have
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a voice in their workplace on a vari­
ety o f issues,” Spence said.
W ith unionization, negotiations
between workers and management
become more structured, Cooper said,
“ but, you’ re never sure you get your
money’ s worth when paying union
dues.”
This is the court workers' closest
election yet, which can be attributed
to many causes.
“ There was Measure 8, a less than
satisfactory change o f management,
cutting back o f personnel, overload­
ing o f current personnel and no raise
in the past three and a h a lf years,”
Miles said.
The OPEU is a 60-year-old orga­
nization. It represents a wide variety
o f workers, from white to blue collar,
Spence said. The 22,000 workers in
the union m irror the state’ s m inority
representation.
The court workers are different
“ (M in o rity representation) is amaz­
ingly small," Amy Stear, OPEU's
Director o f External Organizing, said
“ I was surprised.”
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