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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1996)
” 'f *,*■ on Volum e X X V I, N um ber 46 Committed to cultural diverit N ovem ber Io. 1906 Her mother gave her away The secret of the lamp FRONTLINE takes viewers on a journey across the racial divide. Community service awards given Aladdin discovers his magic lamp at the Tears o f Joy Theater. The late Joyce Washington, past publisher o f the Portland Observer, was the recipient o f the I 996 Neil Kelly Award See Family, page A 7. See Metro, page BI. i A See Metro, page BI. (The ^ a rtla n h Black leadership rallies Texaco shareholder has sued officers of the company, includ ing its chairman, over alleged racist remarks and destruction of docu ments sought in a discrimination suit, a lawyer in the case said Friday. The suit, filed in federal court in White Plains, N. Y., where Texaco is based, was the latest fallout from a scandal over tape record ings in which Texaco executives discussed purging key evidence and disparaged minor ity workers as "’niggers” and "black jelly beans.” Earlier this week lawyers said that federal prosecutors had begun a criminal probe into whether evidence had been destroyed by the executives. They also predicted Texaco would be hit with other lawsuits, including share holder actions. On Wednesday Texaco Chairman Peter Bijur, who is a defendant in the share holder suit, announced that the company suspended two current executives and cut the benefits o f two former senior employees in volved in the matter. The law suit, w hich w as filed Wednesday, is what is known as a sharehold er derivative action, in which the plaintiff “stands in the shoes" ofthe corporation to sue its officers. The plaintiff, shareholder Nathan Kaplan, alleges he is suing on behalf o f and for the benefit o f Texaco. Kaplan’s lawyer, Joseph Weiss, o f New York’s Weiss and Yourman law firm, said the suit sought unspecified damages based on the directors' alleged breaches o f trust and fiduciary duty to Texaco and its sharehold ers. He said the alleged pattern o f illegal con duct has subjected Texaco to negative pub licity, the alienation o f employees and cus tomers and could possibly cost it revenues, earnings and capitalization. In addition, the company could also be hit Texaco in North/Northeast Portland may face boycott, over executive tape scandel. with a large damage award, criminal and civil fines and huge legal fees. inating against them in promotions and fos meetings, including former treasurer Robert Weiss said the tapes could also open the tering a hostile environment since at least Ulrich. door to claims by plaintiffs in other lawsuits early 1991. Both men are quoted in court papers as against Texaco who have suspicions that the The tapes were turned over by Richard making racist remarks and discussing docu company had not produced documents in Lundwall, who was the senior coordinator ment destruction. their cases. for personnel services in Texaco’s finance “All o fth e directors have long known of The tapes recently surfaced as part o f the department. Lundwall was dismissed from the wrongful acts at issue and have done legal proceedings in a suit that was filed in the company in August. nothing cognizable or tangible to remedy the 1994 by six black employees who alleged He is named as a defendant in the share harm to the company,” the lawsuit states. th a t! exaco had been systematical lydiscrim- holder suit, along with others attending the "Instead, the directors have fired the em- A Clinton eases stand President Clinton eased his opposition to a ll.S . constitutional amendment requir ing a balanced budget — a top Republican goal — before a meeting with leaders o f the Republican-run Congress. The Demo cratic president said he could accept such an amendment if it were flexible enough to cope with a recession. Mistrial in Kelly rape trial The judge in the Connecticut rape trial o f Alex Kelly, who was a national symbol ofprivileged youth in trouble with the law declared a mistrial Tuesday when the jury failed to deliver a verdict. The jury told Superior Court Judge Martin Nigro they remained deadlocked despite three days o f deliberations last week. 3 Charged at Army base Three U S . Army soldiers at the Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., training base have been charged with sexual misconduct, said the Army. The Army said the three sepa rate cases were pending court martial Charges against the three noncom m is sioned officers ranged from consensual intercourse to indecent assault. TV talk show verdict A jury in Michigan this week found a television talk show guest guilty o f sec ond-degree murder for killing a man who revealed a homosexual crush on him dur- inga tapingofthe show. Jonathan Schmitz, 26, had been charged with first-degree murder in the shotgun death o f Scott Amedure, 32. The killing happened three days after Amedure revealed his homosex ual affection for Schmitz during a taping o f the “Jenny Jones” show. Canada may lead Zaire force Canada emerged as the likely leader of a multinational intervention force to aid starving refugees in eastern Zaire. U N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said he expected more than 12 countries would make up the Canadian led force and hoped that the United States would pro vide logistical support in the operation to help some 1.2 million refugees fleeing fighting between Tutsi rebels and Z aire’s army. 100 Million Chronically III Roughly 100 million Americans suffer from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease or arthritis, researchers said. The experts said the U S. health care sys tem is not designed to treat their growing ranks and costs because it is based on “an acute care system that emphasizes "curing’ disease.” 3,000 Evacuated in Mexico Fire A state oil worker died o f burns and more than 3,000 people were evacuated from their homes as firefighters battled an inferno raging in three huge fuel storage tanks that exploded just outside Mexico City Tuesday. At least 14 other people were injured, four o f them critically, in yesterday’s disaster. The fire flared up when workers from state oil monopoly Pemex were repairing a valve in a tank containing 80,000 barrels o f fuel at a stor age facility, but the exact cause was not known. ployee who brought the illegal conduct to light and approved the expenditure o f many millions o f dollars in legal fees and expenses to attempt to cover-up their wrongdoing in litigation brought by others.” The suit alleges that the directors misrep resented in T exaco’s 1995 annual report that the com pany’s commitment to diversity “ is an inclusive process, grounded in our core value o f respect for the individual and in our long-standing policies o f equal opportunity for all employees.” Texaco’s stock lost 75 cents to $95.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. The following are remarks by Peter I Bijur (Chairman and CEO, Texaco Inc. November 12,1996) following his meet ings with Kweisi Mfume, Head of the NAACP at the NAACP’s headquarters in Baltimore; and with Rev. Jesse Jack- son and other National black leaders, as follows: "These discussions have been a signif icant help to Texaco, a n d ! "m gratified that these leaders have been able to make lime to jo in with us. " I ’m grat ijied bee ause Texaco is facing a difficult, but vita! challenge. I t ’s broader than a single lawsuit, larger than any taped conversation In any organization o f2 7,000 people worldwide, unjortunately/ there are bound to be people with unacceptable atti tudes toward race, gender and religion ( hit- goal is to eradicate this kind o f thinking wherever and however it is fo u n d in our company A nd our challenge is to make Texaco a company o f limitless opportunity fo r all men and women. "I've already announced a number o f steps to start us on this mission, and we are exploring still others. We are reaching out. in meetings like today "s.for ideas and perspectives that will help Texaco succeed in our mission o f becoming a model o f diversity an d workplace equality. As / also said in the discussions, it is essential to this urgent mission that Texaco and African American leaders work to gether to help solve the problem s we fa c e as a company — which, after all, echo the problems fa c e d in society as a whole Discrimination will be extinguished only i f we tackle it together — only i f we jo in in a unified, common effort Furse, Hatfield, Wyden, Blumenauer commended ity Council awards legislators for protecting Portland's drink ing water Today the Portland City Council and May or Katz presented awards to Rep. Furse and three other members o f the Oregon delega tion for their work in Congress to protect the C Bull Run Watershed, which supplies Port land's pristine drinking water. “Oregonians have a right to know that when they turn on the tap their water will be clean and pure,” said Representative Eliza beth Furse. “ I am pleased that the my work with Senator Hatfield. Senator Wyden, Rep African Burial Ground: An American Discovery mericans confront their painful past in The African Burial: An American Discovery, an original mini-series airing on The History nel this November. Telling the true and timely story o f lower M anhattan's African Burial Ground, recent ly unearthed in an archaeological dig, this fourpart docum entary covers the burial ground’s discovery, relates the history o f African Americans in early New York, wit nesses how modern-day citizens are chang ing government handling o f the area, and delves into the discovery’s meaning for mod ern-day America. This special presentation airs on History Showcase, the network’s forum for local films A about culture, community and tradition, that started on Monday, November I Ith, and con tinues on the 18th and 25th at 9 am ET/6 am PT. Chan Narrated by acclaimed actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, The African Burial Ground: An American Discovery tells the dramatic story o f a people whose history was not recorded or preserved, the African Ameri cans that lived in the New World as far back as 200 years before the creation o f the Un ited States and helped build the new nation. Nearly one out five colonial New Yorkers was African American, most o f them en- slaved-but until the 1991 discovery o f the burial ground deep beneath M anhattan’s streets, historians knew little o f the way they lived and died. resentative Blumenauer and the City Council resulted in succesful legislation to protect the Bull Run.” The final Omnibus Appropriations Act, which passed in late September, contained a provision to protect the Bull Run, which provides drinking water to more than 750,000 Portland area residents. The legislation was championed in the House by Representatives Furse and Blumenauer, and in the Senate by Senators Hatfield and Wyden. “There was one person who real ly kept our eyes focused on this effort...and who kept looking for ways to move this forward Building bridges between Portland and Vancouver GTE Directories and the Portland Trail Blazers invite the public to take part in “Building Bridges Between Portland and Vancouver” on Satur day, November 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. This event will take place at the Georgia Pacific Room adjacent to the Memorial Coliseum. The activity will benefit the Port land and Vancouver Public Schools. Spectators can try their hand at bridge-building with yellow legos and help us crea te a P ortland and Vancouver mural, while elementary students construct bridges to be judged by local “celebrities”. Other attractions include bridges built by local university engineering students, and a book drive for the schools. Parking and food will be available for attendees. The event is being planned around the launched of the new Portland/ Vancouver GTE The Everything Pages telephone directory that is the first to combine the cities of Port land and Vancouver. The bridge-building theme de notes the building of bridges between Portland and Vancouver, and also GTE Directories building bridges to the community. EDITORIAL EDUCATION HEALTH OBSERVADOR SPORTS ARTS & ENT. RELIGION A2 A4 HOUSING A5 A6 B2 B3 B4 B5 CLASSIFIEDS B6
