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T he P o r tlan d O bserver » S eptember 25, 1996________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Community problem
requires community
response
Social Security: A Demographic Crisis
Neither President C lin to n nor
contender Bob Dole have addressed
the unsustainability o f unchecked
entitlement spending for the exist
ing social security structure.
A t the root o f the social security
problem is dem ographics. In the
past, there were enough workers in
relation to recipients to allo w gen
erous benefit payments in com par
ison to actual contributions. But all
o f this is changing as the vast "baby
boom generation" approaches re
tirement
The number o f workers per ben
eficiary fell from 4.0 to I in 1965 to
3.3 to I by 1995. B y 2010, when the
first wave o f boomers retires, it is
est i mated that th i s rat io w i 11 dec I ine
to 2.9 to 1. In the subsequent 20
years, as the entire baby boom gen
eration moves into retirement, this
ratio w ill decline to 2.0 to 1 by
2030. It doesn't stop here, as growth
o f the w ork force slow s due to low
er birth rates that follow ed the baby
boom years o f 1946-1964.
In addition, life expectancies are
expected to lengthen, m eaning re
tirees w ill be co llecting benefits for
a longer period o f time. L ik e it or
not, there is a financial c risis brew-
ratio o f w orkers to retirees has fa ll
en, it is still high enough to result in
an excess o f taxes collected relative
to benefits paid Th e treasury bor
rows the surplus from so cial securi
ty to finance part o f the overall
federal budget deficit. T h is means
that there is no reserve for the future
and it is estimated that by 2012,
benefits w ill start to exceed actual
cash flo w ing into social security.
T h is means that the system w ill
begin a process o f insol vency, reach
ing unsustainable levels by 2029.
A t this time, social security w ill not
have enough incom e to pay prom
ised benefits.
T h is news should serve as a warn
ing that people w ill increasingly
need to establish their own retire
ment plans to supplement their so
cial security. Le gislatio n has been
enacted encouraging and enabling
us to sa v e m o n e y in a ta x
advantagous manner. In future arti
cles I w ill be discu ssin g some o f the
methods that we can utilize to pre
pare ourselves for retirement.
on Hie
ing.
S o cial security is financed on a
"pay as you go" basis. In other
words, payroll taxes are collected
from today's w orkers to pay benefits
to today's retirees. Although that
M aurice Valdivieso can be
reached at Merrit Lynch in Lake
Oswego at (503) 699- 7201 or (800)
667-9346. Se hablu Espanoi.
A-Boy Stores
welcomes Spanish-speakers
dem ographics in the Greater Port
land M etropolitan A rea— where A -
B o y operates nine stores— has taken
steps to w elcom e Spanish-speaking
custom ers and develop the lasting
in te rp e rso n a l re la tio n s h ip s that
are the hallm ark o f A - B o y ’s com
mitment to p ro vid in g excellent ser
vice.
A -B o y Stores, a Portland-based
electrical, lighting and plum bing sup
ply company, is recogn izing H isp an
ic Heritage Month by im plem enting
a marketing program that utilizes the
language sk ills o f its b ilin gual em
ployees.
Dan D olan, President o f A -B o y
Sup ply, reco gn izin g the changing
■
Bt ;
9b -J’B j
Jn'
iu l
s ’ -h
i * 9r *
A - B o y ’s largest store, located at
7365 S W B a rb u rB lvd ., is now staffed
by three b ilin g u a l sa le sp e o p le :
V atolino Bravo, Steve H aw ks and
Ro dn ey Kent. In H illsb o ro , Pete
Perez w ill handle Spanish-language
business, and Jessie Ram os w ill do
the same at S E Foster Road in Port
land.
I
/ w /
- ...........jfiwsy
/
"
*
by S ean C ruz , E ditor
T he P ortland O bservador
S to rie s a p p e a rin g last w eek in
O re g o n ’ s la rg e st d a ily n e w sp a
per and se v e ra l o th er recen t d e
ve lo p m e n ts have b ro u g h t me to
m ake som e la st-m in u te c h a n g e s
in the co nten t o f th is issu e o f the
O b se rv a d o r So m e to p ic s are not
d ir e c tly H is p a n ic , but n o n e th e
less a ffe c t the L a t in o c o m m u n i
ty-
S u r e ly yo u are aw are o f the 13-
y e a r-o ld L a G ra n d e g ir l w ho w as
ch a in e d to a tree fo r tw o d a y s by
her m oth er as a r id ic u lo u s fo rm
o f d is c ip lin e . T h is p o o r c h ild has
su ffe re d abuse and n e g le c t at the
hands o f her a d o p tiv e p arents fo r
her e n tire life , and the c h ild se r
v ic e s sa fe ty net w h ic h w e as a
c o m m u n ity re ly u p on to p ro v id e
p ro te ctio n a g a in st situ a tio n s su ch
as th is fa ile d her to o , re p e a te d ly .
She w as—and is - o n e o f those w ho
fa ll th ro u g h the c r a c k s .
The parents don't have a clue
T h e p rob lem is that sto rie s such
as th is are a ll too co m m o n , and
too m an y o f them end in so m e
o n e ’ s s e rio u s in ju r y o r d e ath ,
g e n e ra lly the c h ild ’ s. T h is sto ry
p r o b a b ly w o u ld n ’ t h a v e e v e n
made the n e w s— c e r t a in ly not the
front p a g e — i f the g i r l ’ s p arents
had used an y o f the d o ze n s o f
m ore co m m o n fo rm s o f ab use in
w id e sp re a d p ra c tic e th ro u g h o u t
our c o m m u n ity .
T h is is m ore a c a se o f ab use by
attem pting to break a c h ild ’ s s p ir
it and by d e n y in g he r the o p p o r
tu n ity to fo rm a s a t is f a c t o r y
re la tio n s h ip w ith her c o m m u n ity
than it is about ab use in the t r a d i
tio n a l se n se — v ic io u s b e a tin g s,
s c a ld in g s and o th er fo rm s o f to r
ture.
Malparenting
B u t th is is e x a c tly the so rt o f
p a r e n t in g — c a ll
it
m a lp a re n tin g — that is the p re c u r
so r fo r the in c r e a s in g ly v io le n t
b e h a v io r that e x is ts in e p id e m ic
p ro p o rtio n s in o u r s o c ie ty , and
w h ich le ad s us to an e x a m in a tio n
o f the ro le o f the m ed ia and the
c o m m u n ity in b e in g le ss part o f
the p ro b le m and m ore part o f the
so lu tio n .
T h e h e a d lin e to p ic fo r th is
w e e k ’ s O b s e r v a n d o is d ra w n
from a co m m e n t m ade re c e n tly
by Lie u te n a n t D e r r ic k F o x w o rth
o f the P o rtla n d P o lic e B u re a u
re g a rd in g the e s c a la tin g v io le n c e
that is — no q u e stio n about it—
d e s tro y in g the q u a lity o f life in
o u r n e ig h b o rh o o d s.
B u re a u o f f ic ia ls are g re a tly
co n c e rn e d about the in c re a s in g
fre q u e n c y o f h o m ic id e s, the p a r
t ic u la r im p a ct v io le n c e is h a v in g
am o n g p e o p le o f c o lo r , and the
nature o f h o m ic id e and p re c u r
so r v io le n c e , w h ich is c h a n g in g
in w a y s that are far m ore th reat
e n in g to the co m m u n ity than in
the past.
An open and continuing public
dialogue is needed
P o rtla n d P o lic e C h ie f C h a r le s
M o o s e r e c e n t ly a s k e d f o r a
re c rip r o c a l co m m itm en t from the
O b s e rv e r/ O b s e rv a d o r re g a rd in g
these issu e s. C h ie f M o o se and
h is s t a f f b e lie v e that no so lu tio n
to the e p id e m ic o f v io le n t c rim e
is p o s s ib le w ith o u t an “ open and
c o n tin u in g p u b lic d ia lo g u e in this
a re a .” (S e e a c c o m p a n y in g sto ry
on page C I ).
Reporting is not enough
T y p ic a lly , the m ed ia w ill re
port on the re su lts o f v io le n c e —
a n e c e ssa ry ro le o f the m e d ia —
but the nature o f the b u sin e ss
p re ssu re s us to re p o rt “ fre sh ”
new s, and we tend to m o ve on
q u ic k ly to an o th er to p ic w ith ou t
o ffe rin g s o lu tio n s to the p ro b
le m s we d e sc rib e in p rin t or on
the a ir. O c c a s io n a l in -d e p th fe a
tures are h e lp fu l in p r o v id in g
co n te x t and p e rs p e c tiv e , but do
not g o fa r e n o u gh in re a c h in g fo r
s o lu tio n s
The community must get
involved....
The Portland O bserver/Observa
dor intends to support C h ie f Moose
by o ffering in its pages space to
develop and maintain a publ ic forum
on violence and its root causes, and
to find solutions as a comm unity.
....and stay involved
T h is is a lo n g -te rm p ro b le m
that can o n ly be s o lv e d by a lo n g
term and w id e -r a n g in g c o m m it
m ent from e ach o f us. N o one
can a ffo rd to liv e in is o la tio n any
m ore.
Don't be isolated
Is o la tio n is a la rg e part o f the
p ro b le m . B e c o m e in v o lv e d w ith
a n e tw o rk o f n e ig h b o rs , and lo o k
afte r one an o th er. W e re a lly are
a ll in th is to geth e r.
Post-mortem on Observador
numero uno:
W e, the o v e rw o rk e d s t a f f at
P o r tla n d ’ s o ld e st and la rg e st m i
n o r it y -o w n e d n e w s p a p e r, are
v e ry h a p p y to have heard so
m any w o n d e rfu l th in g s sa id about
o u r new p u b lic a t io n . W e have
m ade m an y new frie n d s in ju s t
the past few w e e k s, and som e o f
them h ave b e co m e su b s c rib e rs.
T h e co n c e p t o f c o m b in in g d i
verse c u ltu re s in the sam e pages
lo o k s g o o d so fa r.
M u ch as
g r a c ia s . T h a n k s fo r y o u r su p
port.
Se Habla Español
At
Natalia Cruz
helped produce
the first edition
o f the
Observador and
wrote the
accompanying
story about
Powell's
Bookstore
(below).
Photo by
Timothy Collins
P ape C3
A-Boy Stores
SW Barbur Blvd.
i
2 4 5 -0 7 1 4
Hillboro
SE Foster Rd.
6 4 8 -4 4 8 0
777 -3 8 7 7
No burger flippers at Powell’s
by
N atalia C ruz
C ordell S tott
and
Youth guest w riters N a ta lia C ru z
a n d C o rd e ll Stott, visiting the Rose
C ity fro m Utah, recently took a be
hind-the-scenes tour o f P o rtla n d 's
largest book store to lea rn about the
book trade
Residents o f Portland, O regon
should be pleased to know that they
have the “ Bookstore o f the Planet”
here, referring to P o w e ll’s C ity o f
Books, known throughout the world
for its size and selection o f books.
Em ployees believe it is the largest
single bookstore in the nation, per
haps even in the world. W ith more
than 650,000 titles, organized under
122 sections and 3,000 sub-sections,
it is the breeding ground and shop
ping heaven for book lovers, co lle c
tors, and customers taking advantage
o f the cheaper prices used books
offer. It also has a fairly large H is
panic section, w hich includes Span
ish literature (some also translated
into E n glish ) and child ren’s books.
Pow e ll’s rare books collection also
includes some Latin Am erican liter-
ature. B o o ks in this section range
from $100 to $8,300
P o w e ll’s is also a leader in com
m unity events, sponsoring anywhere
from 15 to 30 readings a month where
w ell-know n and local authors read
from their w orks. The y also sponsor
m usical events and art exhibitions,
w hich sometimes highlight the talent
ofm em bers o f their staff. W orkers at
Pow ells are not your everyday, run-
o f-the-m ill burger flipp ers; many
have Masters Degrees and are ex
perts in various subjects, such as
authorship. V ik in g s and lizards. One
can usually find them hidden behind
towers o f books. The workers, not
the V ik in g s and lizards.
Pow ell’s believes they are the num
ber one tourist attraction in the state
o f O regon, with only the T illam o o k
Cheese Factory as competition, al
though the free cheese samples hard
ly compare with the gift o f kn ow l
edge and literacy. P o w e ll’s also
reaches out to the world through the
Internet, and sends shiploads ofbooks
to schools in foreign countries.
P o w e ll’s helps comm unities by
prom oting literacy and fightin g cen
sorship. It gives running donations to
literacy groups, and helps schools
around the w orld increase child ren ’s
learning. C urrently it is fightin g bal
lot Measure 31, w hich they feel gives
government too much power o f cen
sorship. The o nly books they do not
carry are those prom oting violent,
suprem acist or separatist behaviors.
A s Matt Arnold, one o f the afore
mentioned employees said, “we hope
to be the Bookstore o f the Planet” , and
for us it is. We have never seen a
bookstore quite like P ow ell’s books.
Many other people seem to agree with
us, as crowds o f people filled the cof
fee shop and various rooms through
out the store. We feel that Pow ell’s
benefits the c ity o f Portland and is very
dedicated at becom ing the biggest and
the best bookstore on Earth.
“ L ik e Pericles said, you can amass
great wealth or be very powerful.
Bu t you a in ’t done nothin' until
y o u ’ve done som ethin’ for your city.
A n d what this city needs is a great
b o o ksto re ,” said W a lte r P o w e ll,
founder o f P o w e ll’s Bookstore.
The Oregon Hispanic community is growing
at Four Times the State Average!
Do you have an effective strategy
to win a share o f the business this vital
and resourceful population represents?
You can wait until they call you.... or call us now!
Quatra Research Group (503) 977-0358
Specialists in Marketing and Communications
to the Hispanic Community
S U B S C R IP T IO N
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