U titta
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Volum e X X V I, N um ber 31
Committed to cultural diversity.
Upward bound
A nuusi 14, 1996
Oregon’s helmet
law
PSU 's student program
brings together a team o f
svelt scholars to win
competition and prove eight
minds are better than one.
Drummer time
A legend in his field, Obbo
Addy raindances his way
through two local
performances this weekend.
Finding the glitches in the
state s statistical data.
See Education, page A4.
See Metro, page BI.
See Entertainment, page B3.
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Katz
rules
baseball
REVIEW
GOP convention
under way
The Republican Party's 1996 presiden
tial nominating convention is under way.
Some 2,000 party delegates have gathered
at the San Diego convention center to
| ratify a pre-determined conclusion: anoint
ing former Senate Majority Leader Bob
Dole as the party’s standard-bearer for the
Nov. 5 presidential election. Highlights of
| the first day’s events will include speeches
from party luminaries such as former Joint
Chiefs chairman Colin Powell and former
Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford
Lamm, Perot chase
reform votes
Texas billionaire Ross Perot yesterday
asked the Reform Party that he created to
send him on a second quest for the presi
dency of the United States. Addressing the
inaugural convention o f the Reform Party
in Long Beach, Calif., Perot said, “I want
to be your president.” He’s expected to
win the nomination.
Portland Mayor, Vera Katz
Multnomah “Civic” Stadium was once the proud site o f Pacific Coast League Baseball. Now Mayor Vera Katz Hopes to
bring major league baseball to greater the Portland Area with the help o f private funding.
Photo by Timothy Collins
NATO orders
bosnia security
NATO today enacted an emergency
security plan for its forces in Serb-held
Bosnia, ordering isolated troops to with
draw to defensible bases. Today’s order
followed several days oftension prompted
by the refusal of Bosnian Serbs to let
NATO inspect a military site— a violation
o f the Dayton peace accords. Observers
say the emergency security move would
allow the alliance to take action against the
Bosnian Serbs.
Chechnya truce
possible soon?
Russian security chief Alexander Lebed
says he and Aslan Maskhadov, the chief of |
s ta ff o f rebel forces in breakaway
| Chechnya, have agreed on holding cease
fire talks. The sessions would be aimed at
halting the seven days o f fighting that has
rocked Chechnya’s capital city, Grozny.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Lebed
says representatives for Russia and the
rebels are working out details of a truce.
Russian train
bomb kills one
At least one person has been killed by a
bomb that exploded on a crowded passen
ger train today as it left a railway station in
I the southern Russia town of Trubnaya.
Several others were injured in the blast, the
latest assault on Russia’s transportation
network.
TWA probe centers
on fire damage
Investigators say the probe into the crash
ofTWA Flight 800 has turned to the center
of the plane where heavy fire damage has
been detected Robert Francis, vice chair
man ofthe National Transportation Safety
Board, said at a briefing yesterday that
investigators are interested in the area
around the center fuel tank, but are still
searching for much of that section.
Former President builds
Hungary homes
Former president Jimmy Carter is work
ing hard today in Hungary. The former
American leader is building low-cost hous
es in Hungary as part o f a program spon
sored by Habitat for Humanity Interna
tional, which builds low-priced houses for
needy people throughout the world. The
project in Hungary is the charity's first
“blitz build” in Europe.
FRONT
S E C T IO N
EDITORIAL
A2
A strong arm in politics
J
lexing its political muscle, Al
Evans of Lansing, Mi., said, it’s time for
pha Kappa Alpa (AKA) says it
African-Americans to maximize the power of
will deliver more than one-half
the ballot. “Simply voting is not enough any
million Black votes in the November
more; we have an obligation to make sure that
election. “Take 5" is the strategy the
our brothers and sisters also vote,” Evans said.
140,000-member public service group’s
AKA made no endorsements, but Evans
will employ.
told her members to consider the choices.
F
The action is one o f several mandates
flowing out of the group’s biennial meeting
which concluded here July 19, with AKA
also vowing to publicly decry the rash of
black church burnings, curtail violence in
African American communities, and make
the national marrow donor registry a project
goal. Also, the group donated $ 150,000 and
unveiled a statue of its founder.
Noting the import of the election for the
Black community, AKA prexy Dr. Eva L.
Determine,” she said, “which of the candi
dates is more likely to put in place initiatives
which will result in appointments, awards,
and policies that recognize this country’s
diversity, and communicate that significance
to voters.”
“Not only will we get our people to the
polls, but also, we will ensure that they make
an informed choice," Evans said
AKA’s seriousness was illustrated by the
number of key events Evans set aside for
political action, including a week-long voter
registration-education effort, a town meeting
with Congressional Black Caucus members,
and speeches by Secretary of Energy Hazel
O ’Leary and NAACP CEO Kweisi Mfume.
AKA is also distributing brochures, flyers,
and posters to aid chapters in getting out an
informed electorate.
Characterizing the rash o f black church
burnings as “cowardly and criminal acts of
hate mongering,” delegates voted to issue a
public statement calling for swifter action
and prosecution of persons responsible.
Violence in African-American communi
ties will also receive more attention Chap
ters will develop programs to involve youth
in positive actions and reaffirm the value of
family.
Senators expedite park plan
oastal S tate Senators Joan
need the amount just to keep parks open
Dukes (D-Svensen) and Brenda
throughout the year. During the 1995 legisla
Brecke ( D-Coos Bay) wrote Sen
tive session state parks received $1 million
ate Majority Leader Brady Adams today
less in state support and were directed to raise
requesting that he accelerate any plans
fees on RV’s (recreational vehicles) and parks
to prevent state park closers.
users to make up the difference.
C
“In recent public statements you indicated
that the Emergency Board will be able to
reimburse the Department for expenses asso
ciated with continued operations. The Emer
gency Board should take this action at the
September Emergency Board meeting rather
than in November,” wrote the two coastal
Senators.
State Parks are facing an immediate short
fall of $ 1.8 million in operating funds. They
Unanticipated decreases in park use and
R V registration, coupled with the decrease is
Legislative support led to the shortfall.
The $1.8 million shortfall is forcing the
Departmenttoconsiderclosing65 State Parks.
Under legislative orders, the Parks Commis
sion, which oversees State Parks, conducted
15 public forums throughout the state to
develop solutions to the current shortfall and
the expected shortfall of $3.7 million during
All-white groups
battle racism
R
emember when Malcolm X said
They are white, and they are committed to
that the best way for whites to
fighting racism by banding together to work
battle racism was to start with
on the problem.
themselves, in their own communities?
“The new wrinkle is that white people are
Well, check this out from The Austin (Tx I
American-Statesman, a major white paper in
the Lone Star State, about a new activist trend
among whites: “They are peace movement
veterans, upwardly mobile professionals,
struggling filmmakers. Generation Xers with
a cause, parents and single folks.
“But they have two things in common:
EDUCATION
HOUSING
A4
A5
forming groups that either ban members of
minority groups from participation or that
have few minority members so they can con
centrate on soul-searching on the issues of
race.
“The groups (have] names like White Al
lies: Healing the Wounds of Racism and Men
Against Racism and Sexism.”
FAMILY
A6
METRO
S E C T IO N
the 1997-1999 biennium.
“I attended the meetings in my district
about state parks. People weren’t angry;
they were there to work on solutions to the
State Parks Program. It’s unnecessary to
wait until November to solve this problem,
and its unfair to those citizens who spent
time working on these solutions,” said Sen
ator Dukes.
“South Coast residents can’t wait until
November,” said Sen. Brecke who also at
tended the meetings in her district, “we’re
losing local beach access from the North
Jetty to Cape Arago to Brookings, and we
need to fix this problem without any further
delays.”
esponding to recommenda
tions made by the Mayor’s I
Pro-Sports Task Force last
April, Mayor Katz announced mem
bers of a Portland Baseball Commis
sion and her “rules of the game” for
bringing Major League Baseball to |
the Portland area.
To describe how the Commission would I
function, Katz quoted Yogi Berra “In the
ory, there is no difference between theory |
and practice. In practice there is.”
“Our efforts must move from the spec
ulative of the concrete, from vision to
reality and we must proceed with clear
‘rules o f the game’ for bringing Major
League Baseball to Portland,” said Katz.
Katz pointed to the recently completed
Rose Garden Arena as an example o f the
kind ofprofessional sports franchise agree
ment that she would find acceptable for
bringing a new major league team to the |
area.
Katz said any potential proposal j
should include:
* Private financing to construct new sta
dium facilities;
* Acceptance o f new facilities from sur
rounding neighborhoods;
* Adequate public supportfor the project
The members of the Commission an-I
nounced today will form an Executive
Committee with additional members an
nounced in the fall. Len Bergstein, Presi
dent, Northwest Strategies and Rebecca |
Marshall Chao, President, Regional Fi
nancial Advisors, who served as Co-Chairs
ofthe Pro-Sports Task Force will co-chair |
the new Commission.
Using Katz’s “rules" to guide their work,
the Portland Baseball Commission will I
immediately begin addressing the issues
of ownership, sitting options, community
involvement, legal and financial condi-
tions and league relations.
Katz asked the Commission to make |
quarterly reports on their effort's progress.
j
$7 million raised for burnings
he National Council of Church
NCC officials said the cost of the funds
es recently announced It has
collected will go to this effort, with the rest
collected more than $7.7 mil
used to investigate the attacks, bring legal
lion in cash and kind gifts and pledges
action against perpetrators and promoting
for its Burned Churches Fund.
community dialogue about racism.
T
It will help congregations rebuild their
arsoned or desecrated houses of worship
and w o ik to address die racism underlying
the burnings.
Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Cambell, the group's
general secretary, has estimated that the
restoration of burned and desecrated Afri
can-American churches and other houses of
worship will take approximately $12 mil
lion.
SPORTS
ARTS & ENT.
B2
B3
I he NCC has been in the forefront of
investigating the more than 45 church
burnings happening during the pas, two
years-the vast majority o f which are hap
pening at black churches.
Meanwhile, Arkansas authorities at
NNPA deadline were investigating a black
church burning there.
FAMILY
CLASSIFIEDS
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B7