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Volume X X V II, Number 5 I
Committed to cultural diversity
Power Takes A
Loss
Merry Christ'
# ft^ ;A n d
Happy Holidays
Portland Power lose thier 4
game winning streak to
Philadelphia.
v.iuistmas
Album
See Entertainment, page A5.
■■■■■■■
Kitzhaber Visits North East Portland
B y N eil H eilpekn
NATO Urged To Boost
Responsibility
overnor John Kitzhaber was in
Northeast Portland last Wednes­
day to take the pulse o f commu­
nity leaders and their concerns.
A lew dozen people sat down with the
governor for a brown bag lunch at the Self
Enhancement Inc. facilities on Failing Street,
to discuss economic development, educa­
tion, public safety and other issues. Sam
Brooks, a local employment company owner,
urged the governor to help create more
“ ownership and wealth in economic devel­
opment, to create opportunities for small
businesses to grow, hire local people and
keep money in the community.
“ We need to get out o f the distressed
community category,” he said.
“ A lot o f people in the legislature think o f
economically distressed communities as ru­
ral, ’ answered Kitzhaber, “ and don’t think
o f Multnomah County."
Carl Flipper, an economic development
specialist, noted the low percentage o f new
businesses owned by African-Americans,
American Indians and Hispanics.
'Business ownership is a central concern
to an economically distressed comm unity,”
he said, calling for “ ownership and equity,
not just a jo b .”
Flipper called lor the hiring o f more
people o f color in state agencies and “ people
who understand the real problems in the
community. How soon can we expect to see
more people that look like us?”
Kitzhaber replied that more people had
been hired recently and recent discussions
w ith agency heads revealed they are cur­
rently reviewing hiring criteria.
Noting Kitzhaber’ s possible trade mis­
sion to China next year, State Senator Avel
Gordly asked the governor to look into the
"emerging markets o f A frica " during a pos­
sible second term. Local business and com­
munity leaders have recently traveled to
A frica to develop trade and make new con­
G
I
Secretary o f State Madeleine A lbright
pushed her 15 N A T O colleagues recently
to take a bigger share o f responsibility in
Bosnia. 'The United States w ill continue
to do its share. But in key areas such as
this, other members o f the alliance need
to do much, much more,” she said. The
N ATO leaders approved a proposal to
give m ilitary planners four options for
extending the peace mission before its
current mandate runs out in June. The
generals w ill study them and report back
next month
Mandela: S. Africa Race
War Continues
President Nelson Mandela.said recently
hat leaders from the apartheid era in
south A frica are fighting a clandestine
tampaign to destabilize the country’ s a ll­
ace government. He said in a farewell
peech to the African National Congress
hat the National Party, which still repre- I
ents the Afrikaner m inority of Dutch- I
lescended white settlers, remains “ im-
»risoned by notions o f white supremacy."
The National Party implemented apart- I
leid but eventually abolished it.
Clinton Announces
Science Funds
President Clinton honored Medal o f
-ience and Medal of Technology win- I
:rs with announcement o f new, $96 m il-
an government-assisted programs to
:velop chip-sized supercomputers, hand­
ed videophones and radio-transmitting
> cards to locate lost children. The $96
¡Ilion, already provided by Congress
r this budget year, combined w ith in-
stry funds, would leverage roughly $2(X)
illion for research and development,
inton said. The Defense Department I
and semiconductor industry are teaming
up to pay for long-term uni versity projects.
Gov’t Says Microsoft in
Contempt
The Justice Department asked a federal
judge to hold M icrosoft in contempt of an
earlierordertoquit forcing computer mak­
ers to install its Internet browser as a con­
dition o f buying the popular Windows
software. The federal request is the latest
tacts, she noted.
Kitzhaber said he liked the idea and would
be open to creating a "set o f criteria” for an
African trip.
The group also discussed concerns about
people being taken o ff the welfare rolls when
they obtain low income level jobs that take
them just above the federal poverty levels but
don t alleviate fam ily economic problems.
“ Our purpose isn’ t just to get them o ff
welfare, said Kitzhaber, "but make them
independent.”
M ildred Olee, of Portland Community
C ollege, noted that educating a person to
land a jo b was not sufficient, but the process
must "make an appreciable difference in the
that person’ s life .”
She observed that people o f color are
often tagged with labels such as "learning
disabled and find themselves facing “ exces­
sive barriers” to a complete education.
Some people urged Kitzhaber to lake a
closer look a, how education dollars are
spent, to strengthen teacher accountability
for the outcomes desired.
"W e definitely need to tie dollars in the
budget to the outcome desired,” said the
governor. “ I f the Portland School District
asks for more money, I want to see how it
would be spent to improve student perfor­
mance.”
Issues o f student harassment based on
race, gender and national origin were also
brought up and the governor was asked if his
office could initiate statewide forums to dis­
cuss the subject.
Kitzhaber noted that racial tension is more
of a problem in Oregon than most people
Gov. John Kitzhaber and Joyce Harris, o f Northwest Regional Educational
Laboratory during brown bag discussion at Self Enhancement, Inc. facilities
December 17, 1997.
(Photo by Neil Heil pern)
Mediation Program Seeking Applicants
In hopes to recruit a committee of eight to twelve
he c ity is p u ttin g together a
staffer. Mary Forst, has been awarded a con­
co m m itte e to decide the future
tract to create a plan forthe program's future.
o l the em battled N eighborhood
Forst told a p u b lic gathering last week
M ediation Program, and is seeking that
mem she
­
hopes to re cru it a com m ittee o f
bers fo r it.
e ig h t to 12 interested people that w ill
City Council voted last spring to cut the
develop a d ra ft plan by February, f o l­
program's funding for the current fiscal year
low ed by p u b lic review .
from $330,000 to $2(X).(XX). and to have it
Whether the program w ill continue under
transition out o f city operation by year’s end.
city direction, combine w ith some other pro­
F o llo w in g the death last m onth o f d i­
gram or agency, or become an independent
recto r Em m anuel Paris, and a related
non-profit corporation has not been deter­
g ro u n d sw e ll o f support fo r the program ,
mined, she said. “ We can’t do a quality job if
C o u n cil a ppropriated $93,000 more to
all the options aren't on the table," she said.
operate it u n til next June.
Mediation staffer David Little, who c riti­
Former staffer Jamie Damon has been
cized the decision to cut city funding at Paris'
appointed acting director. Another former
funeral service, took O N A director Diane
T
Linn to task tor not seeking other funding
sources.
For instance, he said, money could have
been requested from the Portland Police Bu­
reau or Multnomah County Animal Control,
which regularly refer disputes to mediation.
“ The reason we d id n ’ t do that durin g
the budget c risis was
that every other bureau was lo o k in g
fo r d o lla rs ," L in n re p lie d . “ We have put
people on notice that we w ill be aggres­
sive in pursuing th is in the fu tu re .”
L in n la te r said that i f the program
hoped to operate p rim a rily through p r i­
vate fu n d in g it m ig h t be best to do so
outside the c ity structure, since people
are reluctan t to c o n trib u te funds to p ub ­
lic agencies already supported by tax
d o lla rs.
L ittle said c ity a ffilia tio n is im p o r­
tant in m aking the process w o rk because
it gives the program “ c r e d ib ility .” O th ­
ers said that c h argin g fees fo r services is
undesireable because it makes parties to
disputes re lu cta n t to p a rtic ip a te .
J e ff Bauman, a m ed ia to r already re­
c ru ite d to the co m m itte e , said, “ I speak
fo r everyone in v o lv e d that not having a
m ed ia tio n program is no, an o p tio n .”
Those interested in p a rtic ip a tin g on
the com m ittee are urged to ca ll the m e­
d ia tio n program a, 823-3152.
Sleigh Ride
With Santa And
Santa’s Workshop
One Christmas Day!
2:00-4:00 E lf- T im e !
Two Locations For toys!
Portland Miracle Revival Church
4828 N. W illiam s Ave just south o f
Alberta
For the little Northeast Elves
and The Housing Authority o f Portland,
8920 N. Woolsey Ave,
Columbia V illa
For the little North Elves
We need donations o f m ulticultural dolls,
non-violent toys, action figures!
All Donations Tax Deductible!
For more information call Head E lf in
C harge, Lisa at 284-6152 or Mrs Santa at
287-8577 SOS, an E lf-H elp Program
Children celebrate the holiday season at St. Andrew's Church. This years event was sponsored by Angel Tree, and
Lake Grove Presbyterian Church.
(Photo by M. Washington)
i