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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1997)
K , .'fr Volume XXVII, N um ber 47 NOV. 26, 1997 Com m itted to cultural ‘d iversity. Seahawks miss field goal, playoffs still possible Strong support for a community problem solver The vital health services of the Garlington Center are praised at annual dinner and awards banquet. It's a heartbreaker in the Kingdome as Seattle falls to the Kansas City Chiefs. See Sports, page B2. See Metro section, inside. W JJnrtiauò ©bseru _____________________________ ___ On the abuse of power Hill warns of resistance to hearing victims Iraq crisis not over B v N eh .H eii . pern U.S. officials are questioning B aghdad's prom ises o f cooperation despite unhin dered search o f Iraqi 11 sites by U.N. w eapons inspectors. D efense Secretary W illiam C ohen said the strong U.S. m ili tary presence in the Persian G u lf will rem ain until Saddam H ussein proves he is com m itted to getting rid o f his w eapons o f mass destruction. hen A nita Hill cam e io tow n last w eek, it w ould have been tem pting to express her anger against S uprem e C ourt Ju stice T hom as lo r alleged sexual harrassm ent and relive the gory details. Instead, she used her experiences as a stepping stone to give an audience at P ort land State U niversity a historical p erspec W Agent killed in shootout m e, hut an opportunity to clear C larence T h o m as’ nam e.” A ccused of creating a "sleazy c a m paign," Hill recalled feeling "I had been slim ed and felt com pletely isolated." C larence Hill pictured h erself as a victim who was re-victim ized in the press, by po liti cians and people w ho insisted she lake a lie d etector test when her accused abuser was not asked for the same. 'Sexual harassment is not new and neither is the resistance to being heard,' Up to a dozen men arm ed w ith sem iau tom atic w eapons attacked M exican c u s tom s agents who were holding people suspected o f sm uggling m oney from the United States. A M exican custom s agent and a gunm an were killed in the gunbattle, said an officer at the M exican consulate along the A rizona border. - Anita Hill F-15 crashes, pilot saved A n F -15 fighter crashed into the A tlan tic Ocean M onday and the pilot ejected safely and w as quickly rescued, the A ir Force said. The plane w ent dow n off the coast trom O ceana Naval A ir Station. Report: Iran eyes nukes Iran is reportedly trying to buy part of South A fric a ’s nuclear pro g ram . T he Jerusalem Report m agazine said Iran is interested in portable uranium -enrichm ent facilities and know ledge that w ould speed up its drive to build nuclear w eapons. Iran is one o f Isra el’s m ost im placable foes, and Israel has warned that T ehran is ju st a few years aw ay from reaching nuclear capability. Anita Hill gives a historical perspective on the abuse o f power as she speaks to a crowd at Portland State University. (Photo by Neil Heilpern} tive on the abuse o f pow er. Her story goes back to the 1991 Senate confirm ation hearings w hen T hom as was nom inated to the high court. In a controversial case w here it w as her word against his, Hill accused T hom as ot repeatedly harassing her with suggestive and lewd rem arks when she was his assistant at the Equal Em ploym ent O pportunity C o m m ission. His supporters claim ed Thomas w as the victim o f '"a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks" and attacked the A frican-A m erican woman. "It is painful to be h eard .” said Hill, noting the necessity o f talking against abuse ol all kinds, because "w e are a society capable of growing.” "I was denounced by people w ho never actually heard from m e,” she said. "They w eren’t looking for an opportunity to hear T his was the “pain o f not being heard after going through sexual harassm ent" w hich many w om en have suffered for ce n turies, said Hill, determ ined to raise the consciousness o f A m erica by continuing to speak out. "T oday it is reported daily in the press, and I keepon talking," shesaid,pointing out tliat a recent 1.022 page law text book only devoted 12 pages to sexual harassment. "Sexual harassm ent is not new and nei ther is the resistance to being heard," she exclaim ed. She told o f a slave w om an, repeatedly raped hy her w hile slaveholder, birthing three o f his children and eventually killing the man. "She had a public defender but we will never hear C e lia’s voice." said Hill. "A s a CONTINUED TO PAGE A2 FDA approves obesity drug The Food and Drug A dm inistration has approved the first in a new class o f obesity drugs, the first prescription alternative since two pow erful diet drugs w ere banned in S eptem ber. Knoll P h a rm a c e u tic a l’s M eridia appears to cause a m odest w eight reduction w hen taken together w ith diet and exercise. But the FDA urged doctors to use caution in prescribing M eridia, w arning that som e patients m ay ex p eri ence a dangerous rise in blood pressure. Ban on ivory relaxed T he E uropean C om m ission has relaxed bans on im porting live elephants and e l ephant products from three African coun tries. Under the new EU regulation, travelers from Zimbabwe can bring ivory and elephant- skin souvenirs into the EU as long as they don’t try to sell them. Hunters will be able to import elephant trophies from Zimbabwe. Botsw ana and Nam ibia. The three nations say su c cessfu l con serv atio n effo rts in recent years have produced m ore elephants than their land can sustain. Leaders eye Asian bailout President Clinton and Pacific R un lead ers are trying to devise a financial bailout plan for Asian governments struggling with market and currency tunnoil. It promises to be one of the most complicated financial bailouts in history. In advance of this week’sopening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation con ference, President Clinton suggested that the econom ic problem s are a “few little glitches in the road.” Reno urged to end probe U.S. Justice D epartm ent officials say prosecutors have recom m ended that A t torney G eneral Janet Reno not request an independent counsel to investigate fund raising calls by President C linton and V ice President Gore. The officials say pros ecutors from the Justice D ep a rtm en t's public integrity section recom m ended that R eno endaprclim inary investigation w ith out taking any further action — because there are no "re a so n a b le ” grounds for further investigation. y ■• rí J»A-< Governor reads to children at Applegate 7 IM* B v N n t H i ii t*i its hen a g o v er h ilf t < > nor finds him self in a ro o m fu ll o f s c h o o l childlren and a hum ongous book in his hands, w hat's he supposed to do. If it's John K itzhaber, he pushes aside the chair provided him for the day's story tell at A pplegate El e m e n ta ry S c h o o l a n d hunkers dow n on the floor, cross legged, ju st like one o f the kids and starts his story. The governor was one o f several notables to visit the school last w eek as part o f the S tart M a k in g a Reader Today (SM A R T ) program . E arlie r in the week Police C h ief C harles M oose was the reader. "G oodw ill student am Jëm ëntâr^cnôôrs reading program. (M o to by Neil Heilpern, bassadors" Sionc M oala io ^o n rn sit^h a b e ^isit^T o rtn P o rila n i and Noah Powell both tilth know il the governor lived in a house as big graders, greeted K itzhaber in the parking lot as the president's and ushered him inside to m eet Principal As th e c h ild r e n h e a d e d back to th e ir LaV erne Davis. ro o m s an d th e g o v e r n o r w as p r e p a rin g In the library, the g o v ern o r's lace lit up at to le a v e , k in d e r g a r t e n s tu d e n t A le x the site o f children poring over volum es. As Jo h n s o n b ro k e ra n k s , ran d o w n th e h a ll, part o f the Reading is Fun program during p u sh e d a d u lts o u t o f the w ay an d lo o k e d National C h ild ren 's Book W eek, donated u p at th e g o v e r n o r larger than himself. It w as “The l ittle Mouse. books w ere provided for the children to A b a rra g e o f q u e s tio n s fo llo w e d , lik e "W hat is your new b ab y 's n a m e ’" the The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Hungry a p re ss c o n f e re n c e o f th e m o st s e a select and keep. youth asked M arvin Francisco (2nd grade) show ed so n e d r e p o rte rs d ig g in g fo r tru th T h ey B ear." K itzhaber later told The Portland O b K itzhaber his "Just G o to Bed book, and He slopped reading occasionally to co m ra n g e d from th e friv o lo u s " D o y o u lik e server that he has been reading to his infant ment "Share! T h at's an important word kids s tr a w b e rr ie s ? " to o n e th a t s to p p e d th e A iea Johnson (4th grade) shared " The Box son. L ogan, "but he isn 't responding y e t" G o v e rn o r an d m o st o f th e a d u lts in th e Principal Davis invited the children to ask C ar C hildren" story with him T he governor left, and most ol the c h il room co ld . K itzhaber adm ired art work on classroom the governor questions dren w ere back in their classro o m s ex "C an you change M easure 11 and let my doors, depicting each cla ss's favorite book A m om ent of silence follow ed as they cept fo rC h ristin o L opez w ho c o u ld n ’t w ait brother out o f prison?" asked kindergarten Inside the gymnasium, a few hundred high- pondered topics Finally, a voice blurted out to get hom e, p lopping dow n in the hallw ay student W illie Miller. K itzhaber deferred to pitched voices squeeleil. High G o v ern o r'" "D o you have a bodyguard and starting to read his new book. "T he the legislature for that one K itzhaber pointed to a m ale aide in the K itzhaber read from a book that was so S o rc erer's A p p ren tice.” Second grader A rthur N elson w anted to large it looked like a child reading a book back of the room W If it's John Kitzhaber, he pushes aside the chair, hunkers down cross legged just like one of the kids, and starts his story.
