Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, April 22, 1998, Page 6, Image 6

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    A P R I L 2 2 , 1998
Page A 6
(Elie ÿ tir tla n b (Jib s cru er
Advertise Your Church In
Jonesboro! Who Forgot To Pay
The Piper: Conclusion
litical quick fix. It did not get in
this shape overnight, but there
always seemed to be other pri­
orities for the public monies - no
matter who held the purse strings.
C ongress, state leg islatu res,
counties or urban jurisdictions.
As suggested here last week,
instead of more “Urban Renewal”
and the rem oval’ o f even more
housing until neither the poor nor
most middle class can afford
rents - why not utilize those bil­
lions planned for more inner city
highways and subsidized rail line
to restore a collapsing education
structure. Both adm inistrators
and politicians are well aware
that our school systems are no
where near meeting those highly-
touted “Year 2000” standards.
And continuing to plan the state’s
academic future around the less-
than predictable income from a
state lottery does not meet the
test for reasonable expectations.
Some o f my form er PSU stu ­
dents who are out there in the
district teaching under unbe­
lievable handicaps o f both re­
source and organization point
out that the frenzied media blitz
about such program s as Satur­
day Academy, TAG, Etc. are
a b o u t a p ro c e s s in s titu te d
twenty years late; “You told us
teaches, tens of billions to mod­
ernize older school buildings,
funding to keep schools open for
youth activities after - hours on
school days, and many millions
for school safety projects”. It
sounded oh so good, and the
media took hold with a vengeance
and ran with it. Perhaps the Piper
would return our children.
But it all went up in a puff of
smoke, didn’t it? It seems that
the entire schem e to rescue
A m erica’s educational system
was predicated upon the receipt
of that gigantic windfall from the
national tobacco settlement ex­
pected to close momentarily. So
much for the best laid plans of
mice, men and true-believers.
It may not come as a surprise
that many educators felt that the
sheer monetary shock of that
large, a shot-in-the-arm might
well have been more than an edu­
cation system on life support
could handle in an orderly and
efficient manner. No doubt some
were recalling what happened
when there was that sudden infu­
sion of funds, first with the “new
Math”, and later with “the Met­
ric System.” did you’ buy in?
Sufficient to say that the light
of education in these United
States is not amenable to a po­
B y P rof . M ckinley B urt
As was to be expected, the
Arkansas school violence has
been reflected across the coun­
try, though the incidents were
far less traumatic. While diffi­
cult to identify a chain o f
casuality, the sheer number re­
ported would indicate more than
increased media attention to the
problem.
There have been hostages
held for cigarettes, pizza, pop
and chips, firearms used in sui­
cides and a sudden peak in the
‘normal’ data furnished Presi­
dent Clinton: the Education
D epartm ent e s tim a te s that
schools nationwide experienced
11,000 fights in which weapons
were used, 4000 rapes and other
sexual assaults, and 7,000 rob­
beries.
A gain, the P re sid e n t is
prom pted to pro m ise som e
rather grandiose reform s in
those parts of the education pro­
cess he sees to be at fault. Abso­
lutely certain that ‘the Piper has
not been paid’, C linton has
‘urged’ Congress to pass a bud­
get that would far exceed an
appropriation for a squadron of
BI Bombers - the system is in
need o f urgent repair. “ How
about an additional 100,000
early on from your experience
th a t i f in d u s try w ere not
brought into the education sys­
tem to prom ote science and
m athem atics, we would once
again be turning to Europe for
the skilled technicians needed
And it has come to pass” .
But right now, there is an­
other recurring concern being
voiced by m inority parents and
teachers across the country. In
last Saturday’s Oregonian we
find an Associated Press dis
patch with the headline, “Ex­
periments On Boys Under In­
vestigation” . “A government
funded study in which poor A f­
rican and Latino boys were
given a now recalled diet drug
to test for violent tendencies is
being criticized as risky and
racial” .
Those concerned had already
expressed fears that with all the
media saturation on ‘school vio­
lence’, the ‘establishm ent drug
dealers’ would renew their as
sault on minority children sup
posedly “genetically inclined to
violence” .
All should read the frighten­
ing revelations in “the War
A g ain st C h ild re n ” , Peter
B reggin, M.D. St. M artin ’s
press, 1994. Pay the Piper!
(Tin* ^»Inrtkiith lO h scru cr
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City Soliciting New Downtown Parking Proposals
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footprint for . the
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much
smaller.
PDC is interested in hearing
from property owners and devel­
opers of property in the down­
town retail core—the area from
Park to First and Salmon to Wash­
ington Streets.
The Commission will also re­
visit prior proposals including
the Greyhound block and a sur­
face lot at 3rd and Washington
Streets as well as consider buy­
ing or leasing existing garages
for conversion to Smart Parks.
The goal is to have a new park­
ing garage available in 2000 soon
.
r»
for parking downtown and are
now actively soliciting parties
interested in selling property or
co-developing parking projects
in the retail co re,” said Les
P rentice, PDC D evelopm ent
Manager.
PDC will consider mixed use,
high density proposals and is still
pursuing automated parking op­
tions.
“Automated parking is cheaper
and safer and w e’re convinced it
is technologically reliable," said
Prentice. “ It's like valet parking
with out a tip.” Another benefit
of automated parking is that the
The Portland Developm ent
Commission (PDC) and the Bu­
reau of General Services are re­
newing their efforts to find a site
for an additional Smart Park ga­
rage in the downtown retail core.
Negotiations with Tom Moyer for
a 430-space Smart Park garage
in the new Fox Tower ended laet
week when Moyer elected to
move his upper floor parking to
the basem ent, displacing the
Smart Park. The new upper floors
will include more office space
and a movie theater.
“ We’re still very committed
to meeting the growing demand
•
.
Help Find Photos of Three Missing Former Mayors
the Oregon Historical Society, and the
city archives. Mayor Katz is hoping that
relatives, historians, photo collectors or
other residents will be able to help com­
plete the search. Photos of the three
mayors can be sent to the May or ’ s Office
to the attention of Carol Winkel, 1220
SW Fifth Ave., Rm 303, Portland, Or­
egon 97204. If you have any leads to
share with Carol by phone, you can reach
her at 823-4120.
office will hold pictures of all the former
mayors of Portland—almost.
The Mayor’s Office has managed to
gather all but three of their photos. Still
missingareSimonB.Marye.W.H. Farrar
and Hamilton Boyd, all mayors during
the mid-1800’s. In those days, mayors
only served oneyearterms, which makes
the photos even more difficult to find.
The Mayor’s Office has already
searched the Multnomah County I .ibrary,
The City of Portland has decided to
;o public in their search for three previ-
>us mayors ot the city. “We have ex-
tausted all of our sources and have been
inabletolocatethem. Our last hope is the
¡itizens,” a city insider reported.
What the city is searching for are
>hotos of three elusive Mayors to join
heir colleagues in Portland’s newly
enovated City Hall, set to open in just
>ne week. A wall in Mayor Katz s
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While light rail, the transit mall
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