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U n i v e r s i t y o f O re
E u a e n e , O re g o n
Volume X X \ I, N im i
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nitted to cultural diversity.
December IS. 1996
____
Scholarship gives
Renfro chance to
finish college
Mel Renfro has a chance
to go back to the
University of Oregon and
finish his degree.
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See Metro, page BI.
ck
HAPPY KWANZAÄ
New Generation
Chorale
Flashy Choir conductor
Ricky Dillard's New
Generation Chorale album
is a smash.
See Arts & Entertainment, page BI.
(Elie HïoriÎattit (©bseruer«
$300,000 invested future workforce
Major donation to state’s leading reading program challenges others to “Get SMART”
Foundation to help implement their long-
range plan for expanding SMART state
wide.
The bank challenges the community to
collectively match this $300,(MX) during this
same three-year period to bring SMART to
children throughout Oregon.
“Encouraging children to read and enjoy
books at an early age critical to the develop
ment of important skills which will increase
their future o p p o rtu n itie s,” said John
Eskildsen. CEO and President, U.S. Bank of
Oregon “SMAR T has proven to be effective
in developing these skills. I encourage com
panies large and small, and individuals, to
“Get Smart" and join us in our support of this
outstanding program."
SMART volunteers read one-on-one with
children in grades kindergarten through sec
ond. SMART students are further encour
aged to read at home with parents or siblings
through gifts of two new books each month.
SMAR T students have received more than
140,(XX) books since the program began. The
goal of SMART is to create enthusiastic
readers who can read at their grade level
when they finish elementary school.
Currently, SMART programs are offered
in Clatsop, Crook, D eschutes, Jackson,
Jefferson, Klamath, Lane, Linn, and Mult
nomah Counties SMART area managers
around the stale have seen this program at
Court blocks execution
The Supreme Court blocked today’s
scheduled execution of a Virginia man who
gathered international support in his plea
for a new trial. The court held up the
execution of Joseph O 'D ell, who had been
scheduled to die by injection today, until it
can act on his appeal. O 'D ell, convicted of
raping and murdering a woman in 1986,
claims he is innocent and that DNA tests
will show that blood stains found on his T-
shirt were not from the victim.
Lovers plead innocent
Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson, the
18-year-old lovers accused of killing their
newborn son, will stay behind bars for now
At a court hearing Tuesday in Wilmington
Del., the judge denied a request to free the
teens on bail while they await trial, hut
scheduled another hearing to consider the
issue next month. Both Grossberg and
Peterson pleaded not guilty to first-degree
murder charges. And defense lawyers said
there were serious questions that the baby
they are accused of killing and dumping in
a motel trash bin would have lived. They
contended it had congenital brain damage
Simpson alternate
dismissed
An alternate juror at O.J Sim pson’s
wrongful death civil trial has been dis
missed. A source close to the case tells
Reuters that the dismissed alternate juror
had written in a Christmas card to a friend
that he was on the celebrity case. The friend
happened to be a deputy sheriff and he
notified thejudge. In testimony Tuesday, a
forensic expert back-tracked on the testi
mony he gave Monday. Michael Baden, a
New York State Police medical examiner,
said that two assailants might have killed
N icole Brow n S im pson and R onald
Goldman. He conceded the facts point to
only one killer.
Nursing home plan killed
The Clinton administration has killed a
controversial plan to curtail inspection of
nursing homes that care for Medicare and
Medicaid patients. The move follows a
warning from a consumer group and an
advixatc for the elderly that care could be
hurt by the plan.
Fed doesn’t change rates
The Federal Reserve has decided to keep
interest rates unchanged amid signs that the
see-saw economy is sett ling down to steady
growth as 1996 draws to a close.
Winter storm hits plains
One of the worst winter storms in recent
memory engulfed the northern U.S. plains
today, stranding thousands in their homes
amid white-out conditions and bitter cold.
Snowdrifts as high as four feet have closed
highways in the Dakotas and authorities
say many roads were reopened immediate
ly because plows have been unable to keep
up with the drifts.
Red cross says six
slaughtered
The International Committee of the Red
Cross says six Western staff members of
the relief agency were murdered in their
beds at a hospital com pound in the
breakaway Russian region of Chechnya
today. A Red Cross spokesman says two
Norwegians, one Dutch, one Canadian, one
Spaniard and one New Zealander were
killed. The Red Cross says it has suspended
all its activities in Chechnya.
U.S. Bank of Oregon recently committed $300.000 to the Oregon Children's Foundation SMART (Start Making A Reader
Today) program, Oregon's leading program dedicated to increasing literacy among elementary school students. John
Eskildsen, president and CEO o f U.S. Bank o f Oregon (far left) and Neil Goldschmidt, former Oregon governor and founder of
the Oregon Children's Foundation (far right) learned first hand how to "Get SMART" from northeast Portland Woodlawn
Elementary School students (left to right) Celia Orduna, Dominique McCallister, and Robert Conde.
s one of Oregon's top ten em-
ployers, U.S. Bank has commit
commit-
ted $ 3 0 0 ,0 0 0 to the Oregon
Children's Foundation SMART (Start
Making A Reader Today) program, Ore
gon's leading program dedicated to in
creasing literacy among elementary
A
school students. U.S. Bank's challenge
grant marks the largest donation re
ceived by SMART since it began In
1992.
"U.S. Bank's contribution gives us the
framework to greatly expand SMART and
meet our goal of reaching more than 200
schools statewide," said Neil Goldschmidt,
former Oregon governor and the founder of
the Oregon Children's Foundation. SMART
currently serves 78 schools in 10 counties,
involving 3,900 students and volunteers.
Over the next three years, U.S. Bank will
provide $3(K).()()() to the Oregon Children’s
work.
“SMAR T generates tangible, immediate
results and offers kids positive adult role
models," Mary Jubitz, Executive Director
Oregon Children's Foundation. “We can ac
tually measure improvement in a child’s ac
ademic performance as a result of the extra
attention focused on reading skills.”
Area businesses or individuals interested
in supporting SMAR T through a contribu
tion of dollars or time are encouraged to call
Jubitz at (503) 721-7175.
NORPAC annual m eeting draws pickets
emanding the same rights and
respect that American workers
enjoy, Mexican farmworkers and
their supporters gathered Tuesday in
Salem to speak out against repressive
labor practices by Willamette Valley
growers.
The protest by more than 40 people was
led by Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del
N o ro este (PC U N ), O re g o n ’s union o f
farmworkers. Bearing red flags, placards and
banners, the demonstrators met outside the
Quality Inn on Market Street, host to the
annual m eeting o f N O R PA C grow ers.
NORPAC, a group of 250 growers who own
several canneries as well as an international
marketing and distribution system, is the
largest food processing company west of the
Mississippi River.
Among the demonstrators were several
members of the Oregon Farm Worker Minis
try. Religious supporters have lately played a
key role in the Oregon farmworker struggle.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO),
representing 2,(X)0 churches and 17 denom
inations throughout Oregon, voted Novem
ber 13 toendorse PCU N ’s national consumer
boycott of NORPAC products sold under the
labels “Flav-R-Pac” (frozen fruits, vegeta
bles and juices) and “Santiam ” (canned fruits
whether they want union representation, a
and vegetables). Also, members of two Meth
right that workers have in NORPAC canner
odist churches in Salem assisted workers
ies. NORPAC has ignored these requests and
protesting low wages, lack of job security and
also refused to agree to a policy of non-
the collection of $3.00 per day from each
retaliation against workers who openly orga
worker for rides to the field at Five Oaks
nize on their farms, according to Leone
Farms, owned by NORPAC board member
Bicchieri, PCUN Boycott Coordinator. In
Jerry D itchen. D itchen eventually paid
the summer, many workers will begin har
$ 10,5(X) in compensation to workers after
vesting fields at 7 a.m., work all day, take a
extensive negotiations between his attorney
shower and work the swing shill at a NORPAC
and an attorney and an attorney representing
cannery.
the workers.
The NORPAC boycott has been in effect
EMO has repeatedly called on NORPAC
since 1992 and has received the official en
to respect farmworkers' right to vote on
dorsement of more than 50 lixal, regional
D
Farmworkers
picketed
NORPACs
annual
meeting in
Salem
and national organizations, including the
United Farm Workers of America, the Na
tional Synod of the United Church of Christ,
Oregon Public Employees’ Union and Coun
cil #75 of the American Federation of Slate,
County and Municipal Employees PCUN is
also working to get companies to respect the
NORPAC boycott. Currently. Wholesome Si
Hearty Foods, maker of “Gardenburgcr” and
a company that promotes itself as socially
responsible, is being boycotted because of its
distribution contract with NORPAC's busi
ness group
An important concern for workers along
with wage and hour issues is pesticide expo
sure. “In the strawberries, there’s a white
powder that when we're picking it gets in my
eyes and makes rashes on my hands”, said
Hermilio Herrera. 32. of Molalla, one of the
workers at the protest. Strawberries are one
of the crops with the heaviest use of pesti
cides.
Between the boycott and field organizing
pressure, and the experience at Five Oaks
Farms, growers are now "thinking the un
thinkable ” "It's no longer a matter of ‘if’
unionization will occur in Oregon agricul
ture", a prominent grower recently told a
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