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T he P ortland O bserver • J uly 23, 1997
0 Science
ROBOT MISSION TAKES CLOSE LOOK AT MARS
■
NASA engineers were taking
steps to preserve good communi­
cations with the Mars Pathfinder
after losing contact with the
plucky spacecraft over the week­
end.
Controllers were back in touch
Monday with the spacecraft after
communication problems held up
weather data and pictures from
the red planet.
“ W hat a difference a day
makes," said project manager
Brian Muirhead at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.
Engineers used the renewed
contact to radio up new software
to avert the computer resets that
plagued the mission on July 10,11
and 14. Then they spent hours de­
ciding which rocks the Sojourner
rover would visit after moving
away from a whitish rock called
Scooby Doo.
Plans for the martian day that
began Monday night and ended
this morning included retrieving a
chemical analysis of Scooby Doo,
more of a 12-color panoramic view
of the Mars landscape, and new
images of Mars’ moon Phobos.
Some of those images and scien­
tific data were to be released at a
news conference today.
■»
Muirhead said the weekend’s
problems, unrelated to the computer
resets, were caused by “a bunch ol
subtle things” on the ground, most
involving the Deep Space Network
of radio antennas in California,
Spain and Australia.
Muirhead said controllers de­
cided that from now on, after turn­
ing on the spacecraft transmitter,
they will wait a bit longer to turn
on the antennas. That should im­
prove their chance of catching the
spacecraft’s radio signals.
Muirhead noted the network is
using a new, state-of-the-art digi­
tal receiver that can bring down
t 'k t il
t i l i t i t tl.S N
twice as much f data,
but it has to
be “very precisely tuned, like a
high-performance automobile.
Scientists got no science data
Saturday because of a problem
with the way they were using the
antennas. On Sunday, they got
only a weak Pathfinder signal
and then, hours later, only si­
lence.
Controllers regained commu­
nications w ith the Pathfinder s
low-power antenna Sunday night
and the high-power antenna on
Monday m orning. Scientists
didn’t actually lose any data; they
just need to retrieve it.
Medical lawsuit follows sex change operation
A transsexual has sued her former
em ployer in a bid to have a hormone
condition resulting from her sex
change declared a federally protected
disability.
The condition is hypoestrogenism,
which means there is dim inished es­
trogen in the bloodstream. It is com ­
m on in w o m en , but M a rg a re t
O 'H artigan, a 44-year-old trans­
sexual, said she became afflicted
because of her 1979 sex change op­
eration.
O ’Hartigan and the Oregon Bu­
reau o f Labor and Industries believe
she was discriminated against when
Handy Food stays
with liquor battle
Continued from front
renewed. The commission agreed,
but ordered restrictions imposed.
The Dewalds appealed.
Even G lenn D ew ald d o e sn ’t
know how much the family has spent
on legal fees (‘‘a lot”), but he says it
was worth it even though he wound
up back where he started.
“It’s important that OLCC abide
by the guidelines given to them, and
not abuse their power. It’s im por­
tant that guidelines be applied with
an even hand, rather than singling
out operators and applying restric­
tions for no apparent reason.”
D urin g th e a p p eals p ro c e ss
OLCC adopted a new Alcohol Im­
pact Area Rule, allowing them to
oppose restrictions on all liquor li­
cense holders in a given problem
area. The restaurant, liquor and con­
venience store industry opposed the
rule. Dewald saw it as vindication.
“It was an acknow ledgem ent by
OLCC that imposing restrictions on
individual licensees isn’t fair, he
says. “OLCC has never imposed
these rules against large chain
stores.”
M iller disputes this, although he
can cite no examples. “Many large
stores have cooperatively removed
p ro b le m p ro d u c ts fro m th e ir
shelves,” he says. “We never re
ceived such an offer from Handy
Food M art.”
The D ew alds’ relationship with
the Piedmont Association, never
cordial, is also heating up. Glenn
Dewald says the group has refused
to allow him to speak at their meet­
ings, but did allow M iller and other
officials to discuss the matter at
their June Meeting.
Piedmont president Nancy Lea
says the group asked Dewald to
defer discussion until the August
board meeting. The matter was not
on the June agenda, but Miller did
answer questions at the meeting,
which Lea did not attend.
Lea says Piedmont has taken no
position on D ew ald’s latest request,
but that the group is glad that the
restrictions have been imposed
She doesn’t know if conditions
near Peninsula Park have improved,
as Dewald contends.
the Americans with Disabilities Act
to protect some voluntary conditions.
Lehrman said a 1993 ruling in Rhode
Island said morbid obesity is a pro­
tected
disability.
transsexuals.
What
O ’Hartigan must prove is
The former secretary filed a fed­
that
her
disability
substantially im­
eral lawsuit last week against the
paired
a
major
life
activity, such as
P o rtla n d law firm V a v R o sk y ,
working,
Lehrman
said.
The law firm
MacColl, Olson, Doherty & Miller.
has
denied
discriminating
against
She wants the court to declare her
O
’Hartigan.
condition a disability protected by
W ithout tw ice-a-m onth injec­
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
tio
ns
of
D e p o - E s tr a d io l,
The ADA specifically excludes
O
’H
artigan
said
she becom es em o­
transsexualism as a disability, but
tional
and
easily
upset. She said
O ’Hartigan said Tuesday that the law
she
paid
$25
per
m onth for hor­
doesn’trefer to physical impairments
m one treatm ents during the 19
resulting from sex changes.
m onths at the law firm.
I ’m legally fem ale... my Oregon
Now unemployed, she receives
driver’s license says I’m female, and
the
treatment through the Oregon
I’m denied health coverage for fe­
health
plan for the poor.
males,” she said. “What happens if I
This
spring, the state labor and
develop breast cancer? Am 1 going to
industries
bureau found substantial
be denied surgery to save my life
evidence
that
the law firm discrimi­
because I’m a transsexual?”
nated against O ’Hartigan because o f
A favorable ruling could mean
her disability and fired her in May
other medical conditions stemming
1996 in retaliation for complaining
from voluntary acts would be cov­
to the state.
ered under disability law, said Ken
The agency also found that the
Lehrman, an attorney and the direc­
firm
hadn’t tried very hard to find an
tor o f the University o f O regon’s
insurance company that would cover
equal opportunity office.
her needs.
Courts already have interpreted
her employer provided insurance that
covered hormone treatments for other
women, but wouldn t purchase in­
surance that covered the therapy for
Happy
Birthday
Honey!
a unique way this summer.
Youth form north and northeast Portland will visit
beauty salons, barbers shops and nail patrols in the
neighborhoods to spread the word about the dangers
fish at home.
.
The waterway contains sewage, pesticide runoti
and industrial chemicals that pose a threat to
human health as well as the natural environm ent
The Urban League’s Summer on the Columbia Slough
Program empowers north and northeast Portland
residents to become effective advocates for this
polluted waterway and other environmental justice
Lot
o further than your Concordia
neib ,rhood. St. Michael's Lutheran
Church Early Childhood Center offers a
safe. Christian learning environment. St.
Michael's Preschool admits students o f any
race, color, or national or ethnic origin.
For inform ation on class sessions
call th e church office a t
282-0000
T hat special tim e has com e
again for my “ G ood S um m er
R eading” act. Lets begin w ith an
extrem ely interesting article in
'H a rp e rs M a g a z in e ’ for July:
“ Black Letters O n A W hite Page,”
V ince Passaro, contributing edi­
tor.
This peripatetic critic, using
what is described as a new co m ­
pendium o f A frican A m erican
Z iteratur, a w orld o f P o litics” ,
attem pts a tour de force in the
j genre but is lim ited by sp a c e m a n
occasionally perceptive com m en­
tary on his favorite black authors.
Several are ‘bigger than life ’ and
we agree w ith him - too big: and
too prolific to be taken as seri­
ously as their insight m ight p ro p ­
erly w arrant.
Henry Louis G ates Jr. is said to
sit atop “the w orld o f A fro-A m eri­
can studies w hich over the last
tw enty years had becom e e n o r­
mously influential w ithin A m eri­
can universities and, m ore re­
cently in the culture at large.”
I’ll reserve an opinion on that
but will agree w ith this contribut-
l ing editor o f H arper’s M agazine
a
From your love, family
and friends
that G a te ’s-edited, “T he N orton
A nthology o f A frican A m erican
L iterature” has had “an enorm ous
success; at least am ong the re­
view ers (W .W . N orton. 2,665
pages $49.95).
G a te s, C h a ir o f th e A fro -
A m erican Studies D epartm ent at
H arvard U niversity had a co -edi­
tor on this anthology. Cornel W est
(“ Race M atters” ), but that con­
nection is the only attribution pro­
vided in the entire six page ar­
ticle. I beg your pardon, W est is
credited as the co-author of, “an­
other b o o k ” , Period!
The litany o f G ates’ pro d u c­
tions goes on for paragraphs: The
I dictionary o fG lo b a l C ulture, ed.,
stylist and a reliably intelligent if
rarely skeptical critic..."
I certainly agree w ith the last
com m entary. G ates puts it out
there with the sm ooth, com m and­
ing advocacy one would expect
o f a H arvard departm ent head at
the zenith o f his literary career,
b u t being a “ rarely skeptical
critic ” is the price one pays in the
eyes o f a d em an d in g p u b lic ,
“ m aintaining the position o f chief
spokesm an for such a heavily in­
s titu tio n a l
m ovem ent
as
m ulticultural literary studies also
demands a continual quick-footed
dance w ith political orthodoxy..."
Passoro w raps up Gates w ith the
com m ent that, “the black artist,
w riter, politician cannot define
him self freely...w orks w ithin a
role established for him .”
H arper’s resident critic turns
to A lbert M urray, Ralph Ellison
and Jam es Baldwin: “they forced
th e m se lv e s b e y o n d the c o n ­
straints o f w hite culture; they
understood in a deeper sense their
true relation to it (thus can A lbert
Murray admire Thomas Mann and
E llis o n c a n p ra is e W illia m
Faulkner).
They cam e to value their own
w orth and to recognize the highly
individual and essential nonra-
cial difficulty o f know ing their
own souls. (G ates and W est do
T hirteen W ays o f L ooking at a
Black M an; R eading Black, ed;
Reading Fem inist, ed; the C om ­
p le te W o rk s o f Z o ra N e a le
H urston, ed., Schom burg Library
o f N in e te e n th -C e n tu ry B lack
W om en W rite rs, ed; A fric a n
A m erican W om en W riters 1910-
| 1940.”
In an unusual inversion o f the
critics role, Mr Passaro w ould
seem to dam n G ates not w ith the
conventional “ faint praise , but
with a paroxysm o f super-praise;
“G ates ranks as the m ost able
w riter and critic in his field, and
o n e o f th e b e s t in lite r a r y
academ ia. He is a sm ooth prose
EXPIRES 7/29/97
SAFEWAY
FOOD & DRUG
Look For tour
Beef Rib Eye Steak
not?)
Readers may rem em ber that
on June 26 and July 3 o f last year
I w rote a tw o -part article for The
P ortland O bserver, “The Blue
D evils o f N ada.” This was a re­
view o f the book by that name
published by Albert M urray (pan­
theon).
Here is a black m an whose
lifetim e m editation on the blues
is both intellectual or earthy as
required. W ashington Post Book
W orld had the follow ing to say
ab o u t M u rray w ho has been
O ’C onnor Professor o f L itera­
ture at Colgate U niversity and
W riter In R esidence at Emory.
“A lbert M urray is one o f the
best kept secrets in contem po­
rary A m erican literature. He is
our prem ier w riter about jazz and
the blues, and incisive literary
critic, a social com m entator o f
wide -ranging vision.”
A nd V in ce P a ssa ro p a in ts
M urray as “ suspicious o f the re­
action to such lovable black fig­
ures as the poet M aya A ngelow -
and the aw ard o f a N obel Prize to
T oni M o rriso n ” . T his m an is
w orth reading, M urray.
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GREAT VALUES!
The battle to warn local residents about the
polluted Columbia River Slough is being waged in
upcoming Community Outreach Days.
Fish consum ption form the slough persists de­
spite findings that toxic chem icals in the fish pose
a serious human health hazard. While getting infor­
mation out to those who fish continues, new strat­
egies call for reaching out to those who prepare the
by
Larri,) Gibson
Toxicity talk
o f eating fish from the slough.
Friday and Saturday, 45 middle and high school-
aged kids will gather at the Northeast Community
School to participate in interactive training with
the Portland Bureau o f Environm ental Services
and other experts in the fields o f com m unity health
and environmental quality. The Urban League o f
Portland is sponsoring the effort as part o f the
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