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Volume XXVII, Number X
Blimpie Subs And
Salads opens at
Walnut Park
Committed to cultural diversity
■tfFF
Alvernon & Bonnie Bagley,
Owners o f Blimpies at
Walnut Park.
See Metro, page BI.
February 19, I99T
Truth Becomes
Drama
“The Dltchdlgger’s
Daughters”
movie audiences will have
the chance to look into a
newly revealed part o f
America ’s history.
See Arts & Entertainment, page B2.
Airs on Sunday, February
23rdfrom 7pm to 9pm ET/
PT (check local listings).
See Black History, page B4.
,
F ra n c e
SEI opens comi
s c b ° eri
0 < e 9 on
O r egc>n
itn
enter
Clinton defends
welfare Change
President C linton has been defend
ing his push for w elfare reform during
his visit to New York T uesday. D uring
a roundtable discussion at a church on
M anhattan’s W est Side. Black E nter
prise M agazine publisher Earl G raves
told the president it’s unfair for the
governm ent to ask businesses to “sacri
fice profit m argins in order to do the
governm ent’s jo b .” G raves told Clinton,
"unlike the federal governm ent, we can
go out o f business.”
The front of the
new Self
Enhancement
Inc. community
center
Concern
over air incident
G overnm ent investigators said T ues
day that a Feb. 5 incident in w hich an
airliner off the N ew Jersey coast m ade
an evasive dive to avoid nearby A ir
Force planes clearly raises potential
safety concerns and needs further in
vestigation.
Albright proposes
joint force
U.S. Secretary o f State M adeleine
A lbright is proposing a m ilitary p art
nership for N A TO and Russia. In a
speech to N A TO foreign m inisters in
Brussels, A lbright T uesday proposed
that N A TO and R ussia im m ediately
start to develop a jo in t m ilitary force.
Glenn reportedly
to retire
A veteran o f Capitol Hill reportedly
has decided not to seek re-election next
year. T he C leveland P lain-D ealer says
O hio D em ocrat John G lenn. 75. who is
in his fourth term in the Senate, has
decided he w o n ’t try for a fifth. G len n ’s
office is not com m enting on the report,
w hich cites D em ocratic party sources.
Aorida loses
prison term appeal
The state o f Florida has lost a legal
fight to keep violent crim inals behind
bars as long as possible. T he U.S. Su
prem e C ourt T uesday denied F lo rid a's
appeal o f a state court ruling that re
quires it to grant early good-behavior
releases to m ore than 20.000 inm ates
convicted o f violent crim es and sex
offenses.
Groups push
anti-smoking rules
U.S. anti-sm oking groups are plan
ning a cam paign to stress com pliance
with new federal rules against selling
cigarettes to minors. The group Action
on Sm oking and Health, joined by health
and education organizations, says it
will m ake sure retailers are aw are o f the
new regulations, w hich take effect at
the end o f the m onth
EDITORIAL.............. ,...A2
EDUCATION............ .... A5
FAMILY..................... .... A7
SPORTS................... .... A8
METRO.................... .....B I
ARTS & ENT........... ... B2
BLACK HISTORY.... ... B4
RELIGION................ ...,B 7
CLASSIFIEDS.......... ,...B9
by
L ee P eri . man
those dollars.” H opson says. “ I hope we
ith 10 days to go before its
d o n ’t have to go outside the com m unity for
scheduled February 22 open
every dollar we raise. Lwant the people in the
ing, Self Enhancement, Inc.’s
com m unity around the center to have the
new community center at 3930 N. Kerby
opportunity to help keep it running. I want
Ave. is a box waiting to be filled.
them to think o f this as their center.”
W
Som e features, such as the floor, chairs
prop room 6 f its 300-seat theater will be
there on opening day. In other w ays, presi
dent Tony H opson says, the social service
program for chi Idren w 111 grow i n to its 62 .(XX)
square foot digs. On opening day or soon
after, 35 staff m em bers will serve 450 ch il
dren at the elem entary, m iddle school and
high school level. E ventually. H opson says,
he w ants to expand this to 50 full tim e staff.
20 m ore part tim ers and 12(X) kids.
D oing so will take m oney and other co n
tributions. The center cost $8.5 m illion to
build, with alm ost $2 m illion m ore in in-
kind contributions, m ost o f it com ing from
large corporate and construction industry
sources O perations will cost another $4
m illion a year
"W e ’ll have to be creative about raising
In practical w ays it will be. Hopson says
that a w eight room , with exercise equipm ent
donated by the U.S Bank T ow er Club, will
be used mostly by adults, as will a locker
room , show er and sauna. (“ K ids d o n ’t show er
anyw ay,” he says.) There may also be com
m unity use o f the cen ter’s other facilities:
m eeting room s, three classroom s, cafeteria,
library, com puter lab. double gym , music
and dance studios, and theater with sound
system and projectors courtesy o f Act III
I heaters...but here Hopson draw s a firm
line.
"W h at's happened with som e com m unity
centers is that the adults have taken over
everything, and that w o n ’t happen here," he
says. “ Here kids have the right o f first re
fusal. The facilities will be used first by SEI
kids, then by other kids, ’ then
- by
y civic
------c groups
-----r “
if tim e and space is available.”
In general the com m unity, including the
Boise N eighborhood A ssociation, has en
dorsed the new center, but there has been
som e background m urm uring. Some resi
dents questioned turning over nearly h a lf o f
U nthank Park, one o f the m ajor products o f
the Model Cities Corporation, to a private
concern. (SEI holds a 50-year lease on the
grounds from the Portland Bureau o f Parks.)
O th ers q u estio n w h e th e r n eig h b o rh o o d
streets can handle the traffic, and the 43-
space parking lot the cars, generated by the
center
H opson, obviously w eary o f the discus
sion. points out that when SEI m ade its
proposal drug dealers and gangs virtually
ow ned the park. This w inter the Park Bureau
and SEI are doing m ajor renovations on the
rem aining land, giving the neighborhood
“ basically a brand new park." The city has
rem oved four traffic diverters on the p ark ’s
perim eter, m eeting a longstanding com m u
nity request and easing traffic m ovem ent.
The
ce n te r's » conditional
use pvniiii
perm it inline
lim its
• ••» **■■**■
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the num ber o f m ajor events it can hold per
year In addition, Hopson says, “ W e’ve held
m eetings with the folks within a tw o-block
radius. I hope that if there is a problem ,
they II see it as a problem am ong neigh
bors.”
S e lf-E n h a n c e m e n t, Inc. w o rk s w ith
school-age children, som e o f whom wish to
develop leadership skills, som e o f whom are
having problem s with schoolw ork or behav
ior. They com e on their own or are referred
by teachers or counselors. They receive tu
toring and counseling, and engage in group
activities. They take field trips to career
centers such as the O regonian or M entor
G raphics w here they “see at a young age the
dress code, language and behavior you need
to use to succeed in America, and you c a n 't
wait until you get to col lege to learn." Hobson
says. As a requirem ent o f the program they
docom m unitv service projects. G ood grades,
good perform ance in self-enhancem ent,good
deportm ent in general earns the students
privileges such as concert or Trail Blazer
gallic
uvrxciv
¡tame tickets.
Hatfield to speak for equal Opportunity
Judge Mercedes Deiz and Kenneth Lewis to be honored
etired U.S. Senator Mark 0.
H atfield w ill be the guest
speaker at the Urban League of
Portland's Equal Opportunity Dinner
February 2 7 ,1 9 9 7 at the Portland Hilton.
R
The d in n er will also feature the presenta
tion o f th e L eag u e’s Equal O pp o rtu n ity
A w ard to Judge M ercedes F. D eiz and K en
neth L ew is for their contributions to ad v an c
ing equal opportunity in O regon. The event
is b e in g s p o n s o re d in p a rt by K aiser
P erm anente. Legacy H ealth System , and
Providence Health System Marty Brantley,
President and G eneral M anager o f K PTV-
O re g o n ’s 12, is C hair o f the event.
T hro u g h o u t his long career in public ser
vice, S en ato r H atfield has been know n as a
leader w ho votes his conscience, even w hen
his stan d s w ere unpopular. As a young state
r e p r e s e n ta tiv e in 1953, h e s p o n s o re d
O re g o n 's Public A cc o rtu n o d atio n s Law ,
w hich m ade discrim ination in public places
based on race, religion or national origin
illegal. H e w as an early critic o f the V ietnam
W ar and took a lonely stand against the
proposed balanced budget am endm ent in
the first C linton adm inistration
RetiredCircuitCourt Judge D eizisO reg o n s
first A frican American w om an attorney and
judge. She becam e active in the Urban League
o f Portland soon after she arrived here from
New York in the 1940's. She was appointed to
the bench by G overnor Tom M cCall in 1970
and w as re-elected to her fourth term in 1990
Judge Deiz has been honored, with the O r
egon State B ar's Affirmative Action Award
and the O regon W om en I aw yers' aw ard
W
s s
O l ì
K * W . *
S e n . M ark 0 . H atfield (R etired )
nam ed in her honor for her “outstanding
contribution to the advancement o f m inori
ties," especially in the legal profession
K enneth Lew is is chairm an o f the na
tional "I Have A Dream" Foundation and a
co-founder o fth e foundation'sO regon chap
ter. w hich sponsors college educations for
w hole classes o f inner city elem entary chil
dren who graduate from high school There
are four classes o f "dream ers' in Portland,
including 410 students.
Mr Lewis has been active in several civil
rights battles, including the No on M easure
N ine C am paign and work with the A m eri
can Jewish Com m ittee The retired presi
dent o f Lasco Shipping is a past president o f
Tem ple Beth Israel. Port o f Portland. O r
egon Ballet Theatre and the World Affairs
Ju d g e M e rc e d e s D eiz
Council o f Oregon O ther volunteer activi
ties include serv ice on the boards o f O regon
Com munity Foundation. O regon Peace In
stitute. and Tri-Met
"W e invite the entire com m unity to com e
celebrate individuals and organizations that
dem onstrate equal opportunity and equal
access for alI ( )regon ians," said Urban League
President Law rence J Dark "T he achieve
m ents o f Judge Deiz. Kenneth Lewis and
Senator Hatfield show how much difference
one person can make in opening doors for
others to achieve."
1 he dinner theme is “ Equality At W ork."
The program will include a video show ing
how the Urban League w orks with jo b seek
ers and em ployers to build w orkforce d iv er
sity I he evening w ill also feature entertain-
K e n n e th L ew is
ment by local students and the presentation
o f $1.000 scholarships to tw o students se
lected by the aw ard w inners
D inner tickets are $ 150 per person, $ 1500
for a table o f ten Dinner proceeds support
and enhance the league's agenda for eco
nomic and social justice through education,
em ploym ent, and equality The evening be
gins with a reception at 6 pm follow ed by
dinner at 7 pm For m ore inform ation, co n
tact the Urban League at 280-2615
The Urban League o f Portland is a non
profit, com m unity-based human service, eco
nomic and social justice agency serving
youth and fam ilies, students, jo b seekers,
and seniors in the m etro area The League is
one o f 115 local affiliates o f the N ational
Urban League