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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1997)
•X ■ * V. . P age A5 T he P ortland O bserver • A rrie 30, 1997 Business not as usual n by .P ro ». ■■ >r n M c K inley B i hi You are quite right, those enthu siastic readers who kept me up Sun day evening and started right in again Monday morning: Indeed, I have taken the business game a step higher with the series appearing in my ‘ Perspectives” column (p.2) “ Business Information You Can Trust.” See the Observer, April 16, 23, 30 & May 7. Over the years I have learned that no matter how excellent a particular “How To” book may be in respect to the formation or operation of a com- mercial enterprise, there always seems to be a critical step or para digm that is missing. In this case, most are not likely to notice the absence of a planned correlation of business basics with certain stan dard information formats published by federal and state governments. Nor could a neophyte be expected either to comprehend or effectively integrate the parallel concepts. Af ter all, one becomes aware of the usefulness and ubiquitous, nonstand ard applications of the governmen tal materials only through years of experience (And for some of us, that never happens). This is the reason for my introduction of standards. I pioneered in university courses: “Gales Encyclopedia of Associations - Thomas’ Register of Manufactur ers - Standard Industrial Classifica tion Manual - Dictionary of Occupa tional Titles.” There are so many new business persons on the scene - and not just minorities and women - that I now . . . wish I had early on written a book or manual on this integrative tech nique However, I am well along in achieving that goal. Interestingly, I have heard from several government employees who compile and/or use these standard manuals in their origi nal mode; they are absolutely flab bergasted at the extended applica tions, and to contemplate a business enterprise. Let me say something here that may be surprising to those who may consider me constantly to be on the case of the establishment media. The Oregonian newspaper now publishes some excellent ar ticles on small business operations, the kind I began here over a de cade ago — and would complain that you could seldom find these in the daily press. We may pre sume that the climate for change is generated at the very top, Fred A. Stickel, publisher. Let me com bine that happy thought and a supporting example with a particular model from one of those governmental standard for mats — see today’s “Perspectives”, p 2. The Sunday Oregonian, April 27, 1997 has just such a supportive ex ample on page 4 of the business section, “ Banking On The Store.” Detailed is the small-business part nership of two women in the first year of a gift shop. Already, close attention to detail and customer in teraction is producing the “profit able niche within’ a major industry group.” I hope the males are not getting - somewhat ..U«.«v<»4 -»•■ atiAM vexed « or even tumori-Cltf turned-ofl by some of my material that seems heavily dedicated to the distaff do main. Women are m oving up strongly in this enterprise game and it will be to all our advantage to observe how swiftly they are learn ing the game Inventions, innova tions and profitable modifications of the tried-and-true are surfacing ev ery day. Don’t jump hostile, join them; harmony is the song of com merce. Be sure to check out page 34 of the May issue of National Geographic magazine: “New Voices, New Vi sions, New problems.” I was fasci nated with the details of “The Self- Employed Women’s Association” of India. Recently I have written articles here on innovative aids to economic development (Small is Beautiful-Small lending - Etc.) but this regional self-organized service for indigenous women bears some intense study and evaluation. What components could be transferred to the hood with or without modifica tion? It is an impressive effort, provid ing insurance, health care, legal aid, shelter, childcare, job training and other services to 220,000 members. Got some ideas ladies? need some help? Call! Which reminds me; you’ve been reading here from time to time about my success in working with women inventors. I’d like to see a full-scale organization with industry support components. Can we do it? My number is 284-7080, Fax 284-0484. Homicide/Arrest on N. Mississippi On Monday, April 21, 1997, at approximately 9:00 in the evening. Northeast Precinct Uniform Offic ers were contacted and directed by people on the street to the area of the 5600 block of N Mississippi Avenue. There officers found 28- year-oid Stanley Eugene Winston, Jr., (MB, 112968) suffering from a stab would to the chest. Winston was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he died as a result of his wounds. Taken into custody, without inci dent near by, was 4 1 -year-old David James Kelly (MB, 032156). Kelly was charged with Murder and lodged without bail in the Justice Center Jail. According to investigators, the incident stemmed from an argu ment between Winston and Kelly, who knew each other. The inves tigation is continuing. Growth Benefits Cited In Study A new study on growth not only uses inappropriate methodology to reach its findings that growth does not pay for itself, it also completely ignores the taxes, revenues, fees, and income generated by new home con struction and paid by new home buy ers. “The claims made in this report aboutthe costs o f grow th are sim- ply not c re d ib le ,” said K ent C olton, executive vice president and ch ief executive officer o f the N ational A ssociation o f Home B uilders referring to the report released by the Carrying Capacity Network this week. “The methodology used to deter mine the cost of growth is flawed, and the other side o f the equation, the benefits ofgrowth, weren’t even taken into consideration. This is a one sided report designed to mislead the public,” Coltan said. The report extrapolates the public costs of supplying services and in frastructure resulting from the con struction of a single-family home all from one “representative” case in Oregon. That number is divided by an “assumed typical family size of 3.1.” That methodology assumes that every city in the country has the same level of public services as cities in Oregon, and that those levels of ser vices increase and decrease propor tionately with increases and de creases in home prices. “There is certainly no reason to believe that the cost of supplying public services in Oregon is repre sentative of the entire country, and there is certainly no reason to believe that the cost changes dollar for dollar with the cost of homes,” Colton said. In addition to the flawed method ology, the analysis does not recog nize the hundreds of thousands of dollars generated when a new home is built. Sentencing Disparities Are Unjust A sentencingpanel recommended narrow ing the wide disparity in fed eral sentencing laws that treat traf ficking in crack cocaine more harshly than selling the powdered variety. “Although research and public policy may support somewhat higher penalties for crack than for powder cocaine, a 100-to-l quantity ratio can not bejustified,” the U.S. Sentencing Commission said in a report to Con gress Tuesday. Federal law requires a five-year minimum sentence for people caught selling 5 or more grams o f crack. However, someone convicted of trafficking powder cocaine would get the same sentence only if 500 grams or more were involved. Noting that blacks make up almost 90 percent of those convicted in fed eral court of distributing crack, the commission said, “The current pen alty structure results in a perception of unfairness and inconsistency.” In 1995, President Clinton and Congress rejected the sentencing commission’s recommendation to equalize penalties for trafficking in crack and powder cocaine. But Clinton said Tuesday his ad ministration will give the new recom mendation “very serious consider ation.” “The sentencing laws must con tinue to reflect that crack cocaine is a more harmful form o f cocaine,” the president said in a statem ent is sued by the W hite House. “ H ow ever, some adjustm ent to the co caine penalty structure is w ar ranted as a matter of sound criminal justice policy.” Clinton said federal prosecutors should target mid- and high-level drug traffickers instead of low-level deal ers. He said he has asked Attorney deneral Janet Reno and drug policy adviser Barry McCaffrey to review the proposal and report to him within 60 days. Reno and McCaffrey said in a joint statement the proposal “moves us in the right direction.” They said the current policy does not adequately target federal prosecutions toward mid- and high-level cocaine sellers and also “appears to have a dispro portionate racial impact.” The sentencing commission rec ommended that for crack cocaine. Congress raise the 5-gram trigger for a five-year mandatory sentence to somewhere between 25 and 75 grams For powder cocaine, the 500-gram threshold for the same sentence should be lowered to a level between 125 and 375 grams, the panel said. Penalties fo,; selling other amounts of crack and powder should be simi larly adjusted, the panel said. And, it recommended reducing the penalty for simple possession of crack to the level now in effect for powder cocaine. Currently, a five-year sentence is required for possession of 5 or more grams of crack, while possession of powder in any amount is punishable by no more than one year in prison. “All of these drugs cause great harm to individuals and to society at large,” the commission said, but it added that violent street crime and addiction are more often associated with crack distribution. Raising the amount of crack re quired for a five-year minimum sentence will focus federal p ro s ecutions more on mid- and high- level sellers, the panel said. Sen tences still can be increased for dealers who use guns or are in volved in violence, it added. The commission said federal pros ecutions should target "serious deal ers” while leaving other prosecutions to the states. The vast majority of drug pros ecutions now occur in state courts. College Names Woman The college that in 1840 awarded the first baccalaureate degree to a woman named its first woman president on Tuesday. In WesleyanCollege’s 161-year his tory, all of its prev ious presidents have been men. Nora Kizer Bell, Ph.D., dean of the College o f Arts and Sciences at the University of North Texas, will become the 23rd president of Wesleyan. “I want, whatever I do, to serve as a model of what young women can accomplish in higher educa tion and in their communities," Bell said. She holds a doctorate from the University ofNorth Carolina, a master’s degree from the Uni versity of South Carolina and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. Bell has extensive teaching and research experience in philoso phy andbioethics, fields in which she is widely published. She is the author o f one book and a second in progress. She has received the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian award presented by the governor of South Carolina. The college’s Board of Trust ees elected Bell during a called meeting on Tuesday. Students, faculty, staff and trustees of the college attended a campuswide “town meeting” to celebrate the announcement and meet Bell. Wesleyan’s Dec 23,1836char- ter to grant degrees to women preceded that o f any other w om en’s college, including Mount Holyoke College, which was founded in 1837 as a female seminary and years later revised its charter to grant college de grees. Oberlin College, a coeduca tional institution, awarded its first bachelor’s degree to a woman in 1841, nearlyayearafterWesleyan. Clk Cleaners 1014 N.E. 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