MAR. 3, 1999
Page A4
'Pnrtlanò <®b«ruer
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views Of
(Clje JlarH anit (0bseruer
National Poll Of People’s Fears
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Spurred by Growing Popularity
o f Horror Films, Novels
Afraid o f the number 13? O f cats
or bats? Does being along— riding
in elevators—or picking up ordi
nary pins and needles—make you a
little uneasy?
And what about sounds in the
night— or simply the unknown?
In a nationwide poll o f 1,500 re
spondents— including several writ
ers skilled in making people afraid
o f the dark—the syndicated cable
TV show. Dateline: USA, found that
approxim ately 30 percent were
frightened most by what they de
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(Winchester, Va., February 25,
1999) - It is certainly awful that the
person holding the office of Presi
dent is, in the words o f his fellow
Démocrates, "reprehensible.” It is
disappointing that he was allowed
to get away with breaking the law
because the U.S. Senate could not
convincingly threaten to remove
him from office to force him to
make a meaningful plea bargain. It
is frustrating that the opinion polls
seem to indicate that, with every
revelation o f wrongdoing by the
President, his job approval rating
goes up. S till, these are not
suffcient reasons to be despondent
as is Paul Weyrich o f the Congress
Foundation.
First, our democratic form o f
government is not based on the
premise that the majority is right,
for what is right transcends any ma
jority. It is based on the premise
that majorities change. As long as
our elections are open, as long as
we have free speech and freedom
o f the press, majority opinion w ill
change in response to the actual
results o f public policies. If, for
example, the Great Society pro-
It is my p leasu re to w rite
and let you know about my
s tr o n g s u p p o r t fo r K a r la
W enzel, an ex cep tio n al can d i
date for the P o rtlan d P ublic
School B oard. K arla, in my
view , is a h ig h ly in te llig e n t,
com petent and en erg etic p er
son who un d erstan d s ed ucation
and cares about the w ell being
o f all ch ild ren . She also has
th e a b ility to b r in g a b o u t
change and m ake a d ifferen ce.
P ortlan d is fo rtu n ate to have
one o f the b est urban d istric ts
in the country. H ow ever, the
D istric t is faced w ith som e
v ery u n iq u e c h a lle n g e s th a t
could have an a sto u n d in g im
p act on the q u a lity o f e d u c a
tio n , student access, and stu
dent achiev em en t. W e n eed a
strong School B oard th at re p
resents ou r com m unity and that
w ill co n tin u e to raise e x c e p
tio n s, re sp e c t d iv e rs ity , im
prove acad em ic ach ie v e m en t
and be acco u n tab le.
K arla is a b rig h t lead er w ho
is honest, a rtic u la te s, a c a re
ful liste n e r, and is c le a rs in h er
o pinions and ideas. She cares
about ed u c a tio n and is com
m itted to h elp in g all k id s have
a m ean in g fu l and su ccessfu l
ed u catio n . As citiz e n s w e w ill
be w ell serv ed b y h av in g K arla
on the b o ard tack lin g the tough
issu es, liste n in g to o u r c o n
cern s, and in v o lv in g us in the
so lu tio n s.
I stro n g ly u rg e you to c o n
sid er jo in in g me on M arch 9
and v oting for K arla W enzel
fo r P o rtla n d S c h o o l B o a rd ,
Zone 1.
Condolences from
Lucy Vazaquoz to
the
grams actually worked in alleviat
ing poverty, an increasingly large
m ajority w ould have em braced
them. Instead o f alleviating pov
erty, they trapped people into
unfulfilling lives, and eventually we
took the first steps to end the en
titlement system.
Second, the majority at this time,
as indicated by the only poll that
counts, is conservative. Bill Clinton
was elected in 1992 with 43 per
cent o f the vote. That election was
a fluke! He was re-elected in 1996
with 49 percent o f the vote. An
other fluke!
In 1998, for the third time in a
row, the Republicans won control
o f both houses o f the Congress -
the first time this has happened since
the 1920’s! In 1998, when you add
up the votes received by Republi
can canidates for the U.S. House of
Representatives all across the coun
try and the votes received by the
Democratic candidates, you find
that the Republicans received more
than the Democrates. Yes, I know
the liberal m edia declared the
D em ocrates the w inners o f the
election. This so-called victory
was because the Democrates beat
the point spread, not because they
Mystery Scene magazine editor
Ed Gorman said his own, occasional
fear o f being alone in a house at
night isn’t helped much by reading
novels like K ing's “Misery,” “Fear”
by Hubbard, or Robert B loch’s
“Psycho.” All o f these stories, he
noted, involved frightening things
that happen to ordinary people in
ordinary settings.
As for fear o f the number 13, the
Dateline: USA poll found that vir
tually everyone surveyed has expe
rienced some feeling o f unease
about it. But no one could say ex
actly why.
crazy, was listed by another 20 per
cent.
World Fantasy Award winner Tim
Powers (“Earthquake W eather” and
"Last Call”), who listed the unknown
as one o f his personal bugaboos,
told the Dateline: USA survey that
fear o f the unknown—o f "the heard
but unseen” - can be intensified for
him by reading a “truly scary story."
He said that nearly any Stephen
King novel can turn the prosaic into
a nightmare, and that a horror clas
sic like “Fear” by L. Ron Hubbard
can “scare the daylights out o f you
with a hat, or a stairway.”
Burt
Family
To the Portland Observer I
would like to say thank you for
such a wonderful person such as
Professor Burt. 1 was dumb to our
history until 1 spoke with Mr. Burt
and read his articles. He will be
missed by me. I grew up dumb to
our History and I now try to edu
cate my family more about our
slave experiences. Growing up in
LA, my parents didn’t allow us to
be around them when they talked
o f our history, but I saw the pain in
my father’s face and now I know
why.
Thank you,
The Portland School District
faces huge issues both in terms of
funding and educational achieve
ment. The new team the district
has essembled is top notch and
needs a top notch Board. We are
enthusiastically supporting Karla
Wenzel for the Portland School
Board. Karla will be the strong,
focused, and pratical addition the
Board needs. She will work as
part o f an effective team with other
Board members, teachers, parents
and other community members.
Karla has the broad support of
teachers and business leaders. She
has budget experience and proven
problem solving skills. Karla also
has two preschool children and
will work for a quality education
for all Portland's children. What
impresses us the most is that she
cares and is deeply committed to
education.
Please vote fo r Karla
Wenzel fo r School Board.
Lucy Vazquez
divorce, and abortion are falling. We
have ended the welfare system and
the revolving-door criminal justice
system. We have deregulated the
banking transportation, and commu
nication industries, and we are in the
process o f deregulating electricity.
Advances in science and technology,
in medicine and in business are bless
ing us with greater longevity, higher
standards o f living and more per
sonal freedom.
We will surv ive the next two years,
and then pass Bill Clinton like a gall
stone from our system. For liberals.
Bill Clinton is a Buffon who con
firms their prejudice against white
men in power and their agenda o f
using the government to end what
they call “the patriarchy.” For con
servatives, he should be a reminder
that government attracts egomani
acs, megalomaniacs, and liars, and
this should caution us against allow
ing those in government to accumu
late power. It is good to feel sick
thinking ofBill Clinton, but the proper
response is not to give up on the
country. It is rededicate ourselves to
the ideals for which this country stands
- both o f which is falls short - those
high ideals “of liberty and justice for
all.”
won.
Our small margin o f victory in
1998 was due to the attempt by the
Republicans to hold Bill Clinton
responsible for his lying under oath
and obstruction o f justice. It would
have been to our political advantage
if we avoided it. Yet looking the
other way when there is evidence of
criminal wrongdoing is not what it
means to be Republicans, lam sorry
ourCongressonal leadership did not
rally our side around a positive
agenda such as ending the marriage
penalty tax. It was, therefore, appro
priate that we needed a shake-up in
leadership for failing to achieve sub
stantive policy successes. But I am
mighily proud that our Congress
impeached the President, and that
fifty Senators voted to remove him
from office. Abraham could have
saved Sodom and Gomorrah if he
had been able to find only ten just
men. We found a lot more than that.
Mabey Paul Weyrich, who believes
in term limits, should take a sabbati
cal from his duties in Washington.
Maybe he should get outside the
Beltway and return to America.
Other, things are going well. The
economy is in good shape, employ
ment is up, and the rate o f crime.
No high school
attendence no driver’s
license bill = problems
Dear Editor:
T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver
L e tte r to E d ito r
scribed simply as “the unknown” :
unseen things that go bump in the
night, or the discovery that “some
thing” that seemed normal, some
how, isn’t.
The Dateline: USA survey— in
spired by the phenomenal, ongoing
popularity o f suspense and horror
films (“Psycho") and novels (“Fear.”
“Bag o f Bones,” Seize the Night") -
uncovered another 20 percent who
cited accidental death or injury by
fire, drowning or falling from high
places— such as the tops o f stairs or
trees-as their primary fear. Loss of
lack o f control or fear o f just going
Cheer Up Conservatives!
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon 97211
503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015
Email: Pdxobserv(£aol.com
S ubscribe
National Poll o f People’s Fears, Phobias
Box 3 1 37, Port l a n d. OR 97 2 0 8.
S tu d e n ts w h o d ro p o u t o f
sc h o o l w ill lo se th e ir d riv in g
p r iv ile g e s u n d e r a b ill d is
c u s s e d th is w e e k by th e S e n
a te E d u c a tio n C o m m itte e .
SB 4 8 7 , s p o n s o re d by S en.
P e te r C o u r tn e y ( D - S a le m ) ,
r e q u ir e s s c h o o l d i s t r i c t s to
in f o r m th e D e p a r t m e n t o f
M o to r V e h ic le s (D M V ) w hen
a s tu d e n t d ro p s o u t o f sc h o o l.
T he b ill th e n g iv e s D M V a u
th o rity
to
su sp en d
th e
s tu d e n t's d r i v e r ’s lic e n s e or
to p r o h ib it th e s tu d e n t from
a p p ly in g f o r a d r i v e r ’s l i
cense.
“ T w e n ty o th e r s ta te s h av e
s im ila r la w s on th e ir b o o k s.
W e st V irg in a p a s s e d th is le g
is la tio n in 1988 an d its d r o p
o u t ra te h as d e c re a s e d by a l
m ost
o n e - th ir d ,”
Sen.
C o u rtn e y to ld th e c o m m itte e .
“ A d r i v e r ’ s li c e n s e is a
r ig h t- o f - p a s s a g e fo r a te e n
a g e r. It w e can te ll o u r s tu
d e n ts th a t you h a v e to go to
sc h o o l a n d a tte n d c la s s to get
you lic e n s e s , I b e lie v e w e w ill
se e o u r d ro p -o u t ra te d r o p .”
W h ile O SB A su p p o rts re m
e d ie s to p re v e n t d ro p o u ts , SB
487 c a u s e s a s e t o f p ro b le m s
fo r sc h o o l d is tr ic ts . A c c o rd
ing to O SB S e n io r L e g is la
tiv e A d v o c a te Jim G re e n , the
b ill w ill “ m a n d a te a p a p e rw o rk
b u rd e n on s ta f f th a t th e y m ay
n o t be a b le to h a n d le .” He
a d d e d s ta tu s o f e v e ry s tu d e n t
b e tw e e n ag e 15 an d 18 to the
D M V is an im p o ssib le ta sk .
“ In s te a d o f m a n d a tin g th is
on a ll s c h o o l d i s t r i c t s , w e
s u g g e s t m a k in g it an o p tio n
a v a ila b le to th o se w ho w a n t
to im p le m e n t i t , ” G re e n sa id .
“ D is tric ts b e lie v in g th is w ill
a d d re s s th e ir d r o p - o u t p r o b
lem sh o u ld h a v e it a v a ila b le ;
d i s t r i c t s th a t e i th e r c a n n o t
im p le m e n t it o r b e lie v e it w ill
n o t a ffe c t th e ir d r o p - o u t ra te
s h o u ld n o t be r e q u ire d to do
it."
N o f u r th e r a c tio n o n SB
487 by the S e n a te E d u c a tio n
C o m m itte e
is
c u rre n tly
s c h e d u le d .
A special evening
to salute:
African-American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon / Walker Institute
in cooperation with Oregon Convention and Visitor Services, PGE and Northwest Airlines
Minority women,
business professionals
and others
Keynote Speaker:
Patricia Russell-McCloud
“One of the nation 's top five speakers ”
- Black Enterprise Magazine
Friday, April 2,1999
6:30 p.m.
Oregon Convention Center
Master of Ceremonies: Ken Boddie of KOIN-TV News ( .hannc I 0
M
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