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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1998)
M A Y 5,1998 Page A4 (Elje |Jnrtlanò ffîbseruer Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views O f (Ebe |Jn rtla n b (iPbseruer Attention Readers! Please take a minute to send us your comments. W e're always trying to giveyou a better paper and we can't do it without your help. Tell us what you like and what needs improvement... any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. We take criticism well! Get your powerful pens out N O W and address your letters to: Editor, Reader Response, P.O. Box 3157, Portland, O R 97208. (Tljc ^lortlanb (iDbserucr (U S P S 9 5 9-680) E stablished in 1970 Charles W ashington P ublisher A Editor Mark Washington Distsribution M anager Gary Ann Taylor B usiness M anager Larry J. Jackson, Sr. Director o f Operation Tony W ashington A ssista n t Editor lesha Williams Gruphic Design Contributing Writers: Professor McKinley Burt, Lee Perlman, Neil Heil pern Joy Ramos 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Bivd., Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015 Email: Pdxobservf« aol.com Deadline fo r all subm itted materials: Articles:Friday, 5:00 pm Ads: Monday, 12:00pm POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes To: Portland Observer, P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208. Periodicals postage p a id at Portland, Oregon. Subscriptions: $60.00 p e r year The Portland O bserver welcomes freelance submissions. Manu scripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned ifaeeom panied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. < 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITH OUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland O bserver—O regon’s Oldest Multicultural Publica tion—is a m ember o f the National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Ine, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. S ubscribe to £ i | c $ b r t i a « h <if)h s e w e r The Portland Observer can be sent directly to your home for only $60.00 per year. Please t ill out, enclose check or money order, and mail to: S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137 P or i land , O regon 97208 Name: Address: City, State: Zip-Code: T h an k Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver P 6 C t 1 r e s / c r When Reality Is Real, Not Virtual, II 1 ment and tools, electronics, optics, astronomy and the like, i am goingto use the same successful approach I used in The Dalles, Oregon in sup port to kid’s science club (1966). At the tim e I had transferred from the accounting and data pro cessing division to the electronics departm ent. I had ju st won a N a tional Science F o u n d a tio n aw ard for The D alles Junior B$ P rof . High School- M c K ini ,EY my m athem at ic s-c o m m u n i Bl Rl cations project w as the first tim e in th e country “on-line com puter term i nals w ere placed in a ju n io r high classroom and data interchanged with Portland and other cities." Un fortunately I was never able to see the Portland School D istrict on the concept, though I was able to get the m anager o f the A ssociated Press to aid me in developing the struc ture. So here are some sources for many types o f the equipment and instru ments that would be relevant to the operation o f youth science clubs o f various ages. Just one o f the reasons been an inspiration to some curious students. An interest in inventors as people working to improve condi tions for humanity and not necessar ily personal gain, speaks well ofyour influence on these young people. As a side effect ofy o u r visit, “si lent” Norman has become more com municative and has caught up on all his w ork, he even ran for Stu dent Body Presi den t and a l though hed id n ’t m ake it, he tried.” T h a t is the kind o f stuff that enables your to “keep on, keepin’ on” through the years. Especially when you accumu late them from diverse and sundry locales; Oakland, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Chicago, Klamath Falls, W ashing ton D.C., etc. There is one thing wrong, however, those were the ‘salad days,’ but now we read depressing headlines indicating that the inner city education situation has retro gressed. We will have some rather pointed commentary in later issues. Right now, it seems that there is a significant problem in identifying and procurring relevant science equip- You are quite right, those o f you who said this 'reality’ series is an excellent and necessary follow up to that “Identity and Motivation” se ries. A number o f parents say you are “right on, for there is nothing like emphasizing a ‘connection’ to the resulting economic gain.” D on’t let your kids move from adolescent to obsolescence. A parent who was a teacher at Madison High when I was on their career program, February 1987, now has two teenagers o th e r own who are- involved in our Black Inventors Motivation Program. She still has several o f the hand-outs I distrib uted.. One in particular is o f special significance to her; “ I used the ap proach to revitalize a flagging inter est in school work among my own kids The reference was to several hun dred copies o f a testimonial I had received form eighth grade teacher, (Mrs.) Fern Morey at Kellog School. It was written October 13, 1970. “ I want to thank you for coming to Kellogg and talking to our 240 seventh and eighth grade stu dents. Character shows from within, and your message about self disci pline and attitudes was most timely. Yourbook, “Black Inventors,” has sPrtta ‘(Po Uir (PUP/Mr ing together to find a resolu tion to Garlington’s current financial situation. On April 3,1998 Garlington received $108,393 to pay staff salaries through April 30, 1998. The mutual agreement and con ditions imposed were to fulfill receipt of the $108,393 and not intended as a part o f a “bridge grant option.” The most recent financial projections re- ceived from Garlington continue to show a deficit. As a result o f this situation, Garlington lacks sufficient funds to pay their May 5,1998 payroll. Therefore, on April 23, 1998, the County terminated their contractual agreement with Garlington Center. Ensuring that clients in North/ Northeast Portland continue to re ceive culturally competent services is Send your 'cuci* lo ih« Fd.'u» Io: Fd.ü< f’û R«<» I I 17. Portbrul OR 972IW Dear Editor, I wish to respond to the Portland Observer’s April 22nd articled on the Garlington Center. It is critically im portant that the community know' that Multnomah County and the Depart ment o f Community and Family Ser vices (DCFS) are committed to main taining a stable, culturally competent service delivery system to the clients who are in need o f critical mental health services in North/Northeast Portland. For the past several weeks the Garlington Center, DCFS and the State o f Oregon’s Mental Health and De velopmental Disabilities Services Di vision (MHDDSD) have been work JM /M B01PPU$H C O A L IT IO N I C a ro lin a , T e n n e sse e , W est V ir g in ia , V irginia. * A pp ro x im ately 22 m illion people live in A ppalachia. “ D istressed" A reas For FY 1998, 97 A ppalachian co u n ties (eight in southeastern O hio) were “distressed" according to the A ppalachian Regional C om m ission. To qualify as a distressed area, a county must have all three o f the follow ing conditions: * 8.6% o f more unem ploym ent from 1994-96. U.S. unem ploym ent from 94-96 was 5.7% * 67% or less ($ 12.934) o f U.S. 1995 per capita market income (ex cludes transfer paym ents). * 150% or more 1990 U.S. pov erty level (19.7% or More). * O r two tim es the U.S. poverty rate (26.2% ) and either 8.6% un em ploym ent or 67% per capita m arket income. Health Care in A ppalachia T w e n ty -fiv e o f tw e n ty -n in e counties in Appalachian Ohio have been designated as health profes sional Shortage A reas (H PSA ), defined as a com m unity with inad equate access to prim ary care phy sicians. * A dam s C ounty, OH has a resi dent to physician ratio o f 4,555 to I. * Vinton C ounty, OH, with a total population o f 11,951 people, has only one physician. Education In A ppalachia R eseg reg atio n o f schools and r e d u c tio n o f o p p o r tu n ity a re b ased on a real e sta te tax base - class. So w h eth er A ppalachian or urban C h icag o , our ch ild re n and a re u n d e rse rv e d u n d e ru tiliz e d . * V inton C ounty (O H ) High School does not have a lunch room. If a student does not have any m oney to buy lunch at a nearby restaurant, that teenager m ust get his or her subsidized lunch at the elem entary school, and sit dow n and eat with the little kids. Many students choose hunger over shame. D o e sn ’t A p p alach ia A ttract C haritable G iving? O ne m ight think that because the needs are so great, A ppala chia w ould receive a dispropor tionately high share o f charity. The sad truth is it does not. The D onors Forum o fO h io re cently analyzed the rate o f growth o f new private foundations and found: * Betw een 1989 and 1992, foundations in A ppalachian Ohio accounted for only I percent o f all new grants. * A p p a la c h ia n O hio re p re sents 13% o f the s ta te ’s p o p u la tion and a m uch h ig h e r sh a re o f the s ta te 's p oor. Rev. Jackson co m m itte d to help e sta b lish a F o u n d a tio n fo r A p p a la c h ia n O hio to sp u r c o n trib u tio n s and d e v elo p m en t. Rev. Ja c k so n stre sse d that in a tim e o f such g ro w th , w ealth, p ro sp e rity , and w ith the stock m ark et b re a k in g re c o rd s d aily , “ W e a re le a v in g far too m any A m e ric a n s b e h in d and in the m a rg in s .” He u rg e d th a t we adopt the M arine creed - “ Leave no A m erican B e h in d ." a top priority o f the County and State. It is my hope that the Garlington Board will focus its en ergy on assisting the County and the State in developing a transition plan to assure that these services remain viable in North/Northeast Portland. Sincerely, Lolenzo T. Poe, Di rector Department o f Community and Family Services To Leave No American Behind This past w eekend. Rev. Jesse Jackson traveled to O hio U niver sity in A thens, OH in an attem pt to refram e the national debate and focus attention on the class gap: the gap betw een the stock w ealthy and the sw eat poor. H orizontal gaps o f race and gender are based upon laws and custom s that can be closed if the present laws are enforced. Includ ing race and gender is not a zero- sum gam e. Inelusion invariably leads to grow th. But it is the vertical class gap that is leaving too m any A m eri cans behind. W ith deregulation, the ro o f is o f f for the w ealthy. T he floor has been rem oved for the poor. The m iddle class is anx io u s f a c in g d o w n s iz in g , o utsourcing, and loss o f benefits. T he m iddle class feels the giant sucking sound o f g rav ity 's dow n w ard pull. The very issues that seem ra cial in content when viewed from the lens o f a place like Chicago turn out to be class when view ed from the lens o f A ppalachia. As Rev. Jackson said, “ If I w ere to give the sam e speech in Harlem , A m erica w ould miss the point. Race w ould have been used as a d eco y .” W here Is A ppalachia? W ho Is A ppalachian? A ppalachia extends from New Y ork to G eorgia and includes all o r part o f 13 states: * A la b a m a , G e o rg ia . K en tu c k y . M a ry la n d , M ississip p i, N ew Y o rk , N o rth C a ro lin a , O h io , P e n n s y lv a n ia , S o u th (just one) 1 joined the "Association o f Oregon Industries (AOI)” was to meet those in the science and tech nology field who could provide real time advice and assistance in this field. I found out how valuable that was when working at the Aluminum plant in The Dalles, Oregon. Write for the following catalogs” The best supplier for beginners through college Junior: Pelescopes-Mircroscopes-Optics- Biology-Physics-Motors-Magnets Edmund Scientifics 1998 catalog for Science and Engineering Enthu- siasts-C'onsumer Division, 800-728- 6999, 101 East Glaueester Pike. Barrington NJ 08007-1380 (much unobtainable in Portland). Micro Mark, The Small Tool Spe cialist (for metal working-also have many model kits) 1-800-225-1066, 340 Snyder Ave.. Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922-1595. The Woodworkers Store, 1-800- 279-4441. 4365 W illow D rive, Medina, MN. 55340. Every type of equipment for metal and woodworking Harbor Freight Tools, 1-800-423-2657, 3491 Mis sion Oaks Blvd. Cam arillo, CA. 93011-6010 The rest o f this story will be con tinued next week. P ro g ra m s F o r tu n a te ly , th e re still re th a t m ains a safe yo u r fam ily’s val haven ues. on television. OPB, W e're th in k any b u d - and w e ’ve got B a rn e y We d o n ’t ■ d in g y o u n g a rtist fun, nonviolent shows lik e r e in f o r c e should be inspired by & i v io le n c e . D o y o u ? Friends, T h e Puzzle O P B . Part o f a happy Place and now A rthur, c h ild h o o d for all part o f the R ead y to over a q u a rte r L earn Service on O PB . o f a century. PBS T his I s W hy T here ’ s OPB. OPB I h r Ready to I earn Service on PBS is brought to voti m P',r’ Its Where You Belong uww.opb.org ( " l P” r-U|,’ n fnr PuMn Hmadcasting