Volume \ \ l \ . Number 3K
Committed to Cultural Divenuti
m ww. port lamlohserx er.net
September 22, 1999
B u lk R a te
Hispanic
Tualatin High School
Heritage
Dance Team Races
Month
For 4 Cure
See Focus
See A 5
U .S . P o s ta g e
PAID
Look for Popeye's
Coupons Inside!
P o rtla n d , OR
P e rm it N o. 1610
©b sewer
University ot Oregon
Knight Library
Newspaper Section
1 igene OR 97403
S ecció n en
E sp a n o l
T U E WEEKl
I IK
IIM
REVIEW
Hurricane Gert
N o in ju ries w ere rep o rted after
H u rrican e G ert sm ash ed the w alls
o f f seaside cottages and w ashed aw ay
th re e m iles o f B e rm u d a ’s p rim e
beach. T op su stain e d w in d s slow ed
to 105 m ph and ex te n d e d up to 140
m iles from the h u rric a n e ’s center.
East Timor Refugees
D ili re fu g e e s o f E ast T im o r re ­
tu rn e d to th e ir ho m e c ity to fin d it
lo o te d and b u rn ed a n d h av in g no
a v a ila b le w ate r o r e lec tric ity . A bout
3 ,0 0 0 m u ltin a tio n a l tro o p s from 10
c o u n trie s w ill be e n te rin g the p ro v ­
in c e to re sto re o rd e r w h ere th o u ­
sa n d s o f p e o p le w ere d riv e n from
th e ir h o m es a n d k ille d b y m ilitia s.
Mikhail Gorbachev’s
Wife Dies at 67
R aisa G orbachev, the sp irite d and
o u tsp o k e n w ife o f th e last S oviet
lead er, M ik h a il G o rb a ch e v d ied at
67 o f leukem ia. M rs. G orb ach ev w as
ad m ired in the W est and long re ­
se n ted at ho m e, d ie d o f circ u lato ry
and in n e r o rg an failu re afte r u n d e r­
g oing c h e m o th e ra p y at G e rm a n y ’s
U n iv ersity H ospital.
Locating 911 Calls
T h e F e d e ra l C o m m u n ic a tio n s
C om m ission w ants cell-phone com ­
panies to im plem ent technology that
allow s em ergency d isp atch ers to au­
tom atically locate som eone w ho calls
911 from a cell phone. L an d lin e
phones currently have that tech n o l­
ogy. T he FCC hopes cell com panies
w ill begin providing phones w ith call-
locator technology w ithin tw o years.
Motorola Buys
General Instrument
M otorola m ade a bo ld bet on the
future o f cable television, announc­
ing it had agreed to pay about $11
billio n in stock for G eneral Instru­
m ent, the largest pro d u cer o f cable
TV se t-to p boxes. W ith the new
equipm ent available today, the tele­
visions o f tom orrow can offer many
m ore “b roadband" cable services, in­
cluding Internet access, interactive
video gam es and telephone services.
Board Responds to
Concerns
uane Bosworth, C hair o f the
Board o f Directors o f the Urban
League o f Portland, announced
that the Board unanim ously ap­
proved the following actions:
The Board has voted to engage an inde­
pendent fiscal auditor, to conduct an audit o f
all League fiscal matters. This auditor will
report directly and only to the Board o f
Directors. As soon as that engagem ent is
com pleted, the name o f the auditor will be
released and the audit will commence.
The Board has agreed to contract with
V olunteers o f Am erica for the im m ediate
provision o f m anagem ent o f all day-to-day
financial operations and control. In addi­
tion, the B oard accepted the offer from the
V olunteers o f Am erica to serve as a lead
agency in service contracts, w ith the urban
L eague as subcontractor.
The Institute o f Non-Profit M anagement
and the Division o f Public A dm inistration at
Portland State University will conduct a m an­
agement and procedures audit concerning all
operational procedures and administrative-
Bv W ILLIA M FOREMAN______________
C
and his w ife,
M e lin d a ,
w ere sc h e d ­
u le d to a n ­
nounce it for­
m ally.
T he co m ­
m itm ent is by
far th e la rg ­
e s t fo r an y
sin g le cau se
by G ates and
is am ong the
la rg e st ev er for any ch a ritab le p u rp o se,
m atch in g a $ 1 b illio n pled g e to th e U nited
N atio n s by C ab le N ew s N etw o rk fo u n d er
T ed T urner.
G ates, the w o rld 's rich e st in d iv id u al
w ith a fo rtu n e w o rth n early $100 b illio n ,
has step p ed up his ch a ritab le ac tiv itie s
d ram a tic ally in recen t y ears, d o n atin g a
sig n ific an t p o rtio n of his M ic ro so ft stock
Lawrance Dark
to th e fo u n d a tio n , n o w th e n a tio n ’s
w ealthiest.
G ates has in d icated he w ants to use his
w ealth to im prove ed u catio n and health,
p articu la rly in th e d ev elo p in g w orld.
Prior to the scholarship program . G ate s’
b ig g est sin g le co n trib u tio n w as $200 m il­
lion to lib raries in the U n ited States and
C anada, largely to b rin g In tern et access to
poor co m m unities.
He also has d o n ated $100 m illion to ­
w ard b rin g in g v ac cin es to ch ild ren in d e ­
v eloping co u n tries, $50 m illio n to d e­
velop a v accine for m alaria and $50 m il­
lion to help red u ce m atern al deaths in
d ev elo p in g co u n tries.
G ates has been criticized for not giving
m ore o f his w ealth aw ay sooner, although
he has said he u ltim ately plans to give aw ay
m ost o f his fortune, leaving a relatively
sm all portion for his tw o young children.
Church Shooting
Victims Mourned
B\ STEFANI G. KOPENEC_________________
C
T he A ssociated Puss
F O R T W O R T H . T exas (A P ) - F rien d s
an d stra n g e rs b o th h u rtin g an d h o p efu l
tu rn e d to S crip tu re on a S atu rd ay " o f
p h en o m en a l sad n ess and m o u rn in g to
re m e m b e r v ic tim s cut dow n in th e m ost
sa c re d o f p la ce s - a house o f w o rsh ip .
T he fu n erals for four o f th e v ic tim s
w ere the first held as a resu lt o f W e d n e s­
d ay n ig h t’s m a ssacre at W ed g w o o d B a p ­
tis t C h u rc h G unm an L a rry G en e
A sh b ro o k k ille d sev en p e o p le b efo re
A gunman shouting antl-rellglous curses
and ordered his victims to “stay still" then
pumped a hall of bullets into hymn singing
teen-age worshipers in a Baptist church
last Wednesday, killing seven people and
wounding seven others, three of them
seriously. The gunman then killed himself.
c o m m ittin g su icid e
T h o se m o u rn ed w ere a S u n d ay sch o o l
te a c h e r s tu d y in g to be a youth m in iste r, a
se m in a ry stu d e n t w ith a b rig h t sm ile, a
fa v o rite ch u rc h so lo ist who ta u g h t in n er-
c ity y o u th and a high school stu d e n t w ho
d rea m ed o f ow n in g a film an d sound
p ro d u c tio n co m p an y . T hree o f th e se r­
v ices w ere at S outhw estern B a p tist I heo-
lo g ic a l S em in a ry , w hile the fu n eral for
th e h ig h sc h o o l student w as h eld at a
M e th o d ist ch u rch
T he A ssociated P ress
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Sept. 21) Twentyfour
hours after a powerful earthquake hitTaiwan,
toppling high-rise buildings and destroying
homes across the island, rescue workers
pulled bodies from the ruins one by one. The
death toll topped 1,7 00 early Wednesday.
Tli© Gates Millennium Scholarships Will Be Given To 1,000 Students a Year
R euters
SEA T T L E . W ash. (Sept. 16) - M icrosoft
C orp chairm an Bill G ates will announce
plans on T hursday to donate at least $1
billion to fund full college scholarships for
m inority students, by far his biggest chari­
table contribution to date.
T he G ates M illennium Scholarships will
cover room , b o ard and tuition for at least
1,000 high school students a year o v er the
next 20 years in the fields o f education,
m ath, en g in eerin g and science, according
to a source clo se to the $ 17-b illio n Bill and
M elinda G ates F oundation.
S tu d en ts co v e red by the sc h o larsh ip s
w ill b e fu lly fu n d ed for th e ir en tire c o l­
lege e d u c atio n in clu d in g any g rad u ate
w o rk , ac co rd in g to the so u rce, w ho ask ed
n o t to be id e n tified .
N ew s o f the sch o larsh ip program first
w as re p o rte d in T he N ew Y o rk T im es
ah ead o f a new s co n fe re n ce w here G ates
Rescue Workers Continue
Search for Survivors
Gates Gives $1 Billion
for Minority Scholarships
Long Distance Prices
Rise
L ea d in g c o n s u m e r g ro u p s d e te r­
m in e d that a m a jo rity o f U .S. c o n ­
su m ers are p ay in g m o re, not less
for long d ista n c e te le p h o n e se rv ice
s in c e C o n g r e s s o v e r h a u le d th e
n a tio n ’s c o m m u n ic a tio n s law s in
1996. L ong d ista n c e c a rrie r co m ­
p a n ie s have im p o sed m in im u m s o f
$3 to $5 p er m o n th on alm o st all
c u sto m e rs, e v e n to th o se w ho m ake
no calls. T he F ed era l C o m m u n ic a ­
tio n s C o m m issio n (F C C ) w an ts to
p ro h ib it the lo n g d ista n c e c o m p a ­
n ie s from ch a rg in g m o n th ly m in i­
m um fees.
management practices o f the Urban
League. This audit will commence
immediately, These auditors will re­
port only and directly to the Board o f
Directors.
In addition, the U rban League con­
firmed once again that it would provide
the County with responses to all ques­
tions raised in the County ’ s letter, to be
delivered as requested, on or before
September 23.1999, both to the County
and to the public. The urban I eague is
also delivering the requested manage­
ment letter tomorrow.
The B oard m et w ith President
Lawrence Dark in executive session,
and Mr. Dark has expressed his firm
support for each o f the actions taken
by the Board.
Bosworth emphasized that “the Board’s
commitment is to the community, includ­
ing youth, the unemployed, families in
poverty, and seniors, which the Urban
1 eague has so successfully served through­
out its history in Portland."
Taiwan Quake
Kills More
Than 1,700
M ore th an 1,000 p eo p le p a c k ed the
sem in ary a u d ito riu m fo r the fu n eral o f
Shaw n B row n, th e 2 3 -y e a r-o ld S u n d ay
sc h o o l teach er.
P asto r A1 M ered ith to ld th o se g riev in g
to b reath e d eep ly an d focus on th e ir faith
“ to get y o u r m ind o f f the pain, and ju s t
hang in th e re .”
“ D o n 't ex p en d to o m uch f n ergy try in g
to u n d e rsta n d w hat h a p p e n e d ... th e o th e r
n ig h t,” sa id M e re d ith , w ho c a lle d the
fu n erals “ a day o f p h en o m en a l sa d n ess
an d m o u rn in g .”
Shaw n Brow n w as studying at the sem i­
n ary for his m a s te r’s d eg re e and h o p ed to
b eco m e a youth m in iste r. H e w as e u lo ­
g ized as fu n -lo v in g an d e a g er to learn,
stu d y in g g u ita r an d sig n lan g u ag e.
“ He was alw ays ready to laugh and m ake
you laugh.” Biaz said
“ Shawn ran the race victoriously, all the
w ay to G o d ’s arm s," she said.
V IC TIM S MOURNED
CONTINUED ON PAGE B3
M ore than 100,000 Taiwanese were
left hom eless by the quake, w hich shook
m illions aw ake at 1:45 a.m. today (1:45
p.m. EDT M onday), buckled roads, sev­
ered bridges and cut o ff electric service.
By early Wednesday, officials said
1,712 people were dead, more than 4,000
were hurt and almost 3.000 were believed
trapped in the rubble. Another 216 were
missing, according to the InteriorMinistry ’s
disaster management center.
” W e' re pulling the dead out one by one,
but it’s hard to get an overall picture o f the
number offatalities, ’’ said Chen Wen- hsien,
a rescue official in the central city o f
Fengyuan. In the hills above the city, a
concrete Buddhist temple folded in on itself
during the quake, killing at least three people
With a preliminary magnitude o f 7.6,
the quake was the strongest to hit Taiwan
in a decade and was about the same strength
as the devastating tremor that killed more
than 15,000 people in Turkey last month.
T he quake’s epicenter was 90 m iles
south o f Taipei, near the central city o f
Taichung. M ore than 700 people died in
Taichung County and about 500 died in
nearby N antou County. The area has
seen a burst o f developm ent in recent
years, often w ith shoddy construction.
M ost o f the structures that collapsed in
Taiwan were new high-rises. The founda­
tions o f some o f the apartment blocks in
the cities crumpled into piles o f concrete
boulders, sending the structures crashing
into neighboring buildings. Soldiers raced
out o f buildings with bloodied victims
moaning in pain on stretchers.
In Taipei, the capital, the quake wrecked
the 78-room Sungshan Hotel, collapsing
the bottom stories and setting the badly
dam aged structure leaning on a neighbor­
ing commercial building. About lOOpeople
were rescued and 80 were trapped inside
the concrete structure, which also housed a
bank and several apartments, officials said.
O ne 81-year-old survivor said he
‘ ’ crawled like a mouse' ’ through the rubble
ofhis ninth-floor apartment to his balcony,
where rescuers pulled him to safety.
" Y o u c a n ’t imagine how terrible it
w as,” said survivor Chen Chih-yun, who
only suffered bruises.
Fire crews turned hoses on the w reck­
age as sm oke poured from fires raging in
several d estroyed room s. A w om an
pulled from the building urged rescuers
to keep looking for survivors.
‘ 'Hurry.go rescue people They’rem there.
They'reinside.' ” said the unidentified woman,
who was dressed in street clothes and did not
appear to be seriously injured. *’I lived on the
ninth floor, but now it’s the 4th floor.”
Today’s quake was Taiwan’s worst
since a 7.4 magnitude temblor hit the is­
land in 1935,killing3,276people. Taiwan
is hit by dozens o f quakes each year, but
most are centered in the Pacific Ocean east
o f the island and rarely cause damage.
Chinese President J tang Zemin extended
condolences following the quake, and today
offered aid to the quake victims, even though
the disaster occurred at a time o f tense rela­
tions between China and Taiwan. China
considers Taiwan a breakaway province.
The quake ‘ ’ hurt the hearts o f people on
the mainland as the Chinese people on both
sides o f the Taiwan Strait are as closely
linked as flesh and blood,” C hina's state
run Xinhua News agency said in a para­
phrase o f Jiang's remarks. China’s Red
Cross said it would provide $100,000 in
disaster aid and $60,000 in relief supplies.