Volume XXX. ¡Number 5
Committed to C iiltural Diversity
See inside
w w ys.theportlandohserver.com
50*
See inside
T he Focus
centers in on
Black H istory
M onth
Children
w aiting for
adoption
February 2, 2000
Crimestoppers
looks to
solve 5 year-
old crim e
See inside
Oregonians say population at limit
see it reduced. O nly 2 percent o f the
survey respondents felt the state’s
population is “too sm all.’’
A num ber o f respondents suggested
reducing the state’s population by 20
to 70 percent from today’s population,
citing urban congestion, increased
freew ay traffic and housing prices
am ong their concerns.
T he results cam e from the O SR L 's
seco n d annual Social Indicators
Survey, w hich measures a variety o f
s o c ia l is s u e s o f in te r e s t to
O regonians. The telephone survey
o f 420 residents over the age o f 18
provides results accurate to plus or
m inus 4.8 percent.
In another finding, 31 percent o f
O regonians feel that there are "very
se rio u s” o r “ so m ew h at se rio u s”
problems with their drinking water, 29
percent have a hom e w ater treatm ent
system and 53 percent purchased
bottled w ater during the past month.
The survey also discovered that a
m ajority o f O regonians (53 percent)
believe that a sentence o f “life in
prison w ithout parole” m eans that
the person will be released, usually
w ithin 20 years.
O ther survey results on topics from
gun ow nership and fears o f nuclear
w ar to feelings about the Kip Kinkel
verdict are available from the Oregon
Survey Research Laboratory, 5245
U niversity o f O regon, Eugene, OR
97403-5245. Results also will be
posted on the OSRL w eb page at
http: darkwing.uoregon.edu — osrl.
U n iv e r s it y
of
O regon su rv ey :
O reg o n ian s b eliv e
overw helm ingly that
states population is
too large or should
n o t in c re a se , c ite
congestion, housing
p r ic e s as m a jo r
concerns
CONTRIBUTED STORV
eor T he P ortland O bserver
O reg o n ’s population will skyrocket
over the next 25 years, according to
the m ost recent projections.
T hat does not mean O regonians like
the idea.
A new statew ide survey released by
th e O re g o n S u rv e y R e s e a rc h
Laboratory (OSEL) at the University
o f O regon show s alm ost no public
support for any increase in the state’s
population.
T he survey found that the m ajority
o f O regonians (65 percent) say the
sta te’s population is now “about the
right size,” w hile 29 percent think it is
already “too large” and w ould like to
Bulk Rate
U.S. Pottage
PAID
Portland, OR
Permit No. 1810
Oregon
schools
receive
own grades
S tate S u p e rin te n d e n t o f P ublic
Instruction Stan Bunn today released
the state’s first report cards on school
and districts.
An im portant new tool in the state’s
acco u n tab ility system , the report
cards co llec t and share data on
s c h o o ls d ir e c tly w ith p a re n ts ,
com m unities and the public. They
show that O regon schools are on
track.
“W e have good new s to report,” said
Bunn. “N inety-six percent o f our
schools are exceptional, strong or
sa tis fa c to ry . W e k now O re g o n
sc h o o ls p ro v id e a h igh q u a lity
education. H ere is m ore proof. O f the
1,039 schools receiving report cards
today, 1,000 have an overall school
perform ance rating o f exceptional,
strong or satisfactory.”
The Oregon Department o f Education
designed the report cards, required
by the 1999 state legislature, to inform
p a re n ts an d c o m m u n itie s ab o u t
school p erform ance in 1999 and
improvement between 1996 and 1999.
( P lease see 'R e p o r t' page A6)
IB
Investigators search for clues in deadly Alaska Airlines crash
A ssociated P ress
Investigators trying to learn w hy an
A laska Airlines jet with 88 people
plunged into the Pacific said today
they have recovered four bodies and
heard “pinging” from the ocean,
apparently from the aircraft’s flight
recorders.
O fficials hope data from the so-called
.
'
“black boxes" could provide key clues
to M onday’s crash o f the MD-83
jetliner, including whether the airliner
w a s b ro u g h t d o w n b e c a u s e o f
p ro b le m s w ith a d e v ic e th a t ’s
supposed to stabilize the plane.
“That is obviously a prim e lead and a
prim e finding that will be follow ed,”
said C oast G uard Vice Adm. Tom
Collins. The position o f the pinging
was pinpointed by a Navy underwater
dem olition team helping with the
search, he said.
N o survivors aboard Flight 261 have
been found. C ollins said the bodies
recovered w ere those o f an infant,
tw o w om en and a man.
“This is still a search for hum an life.
The decision to stop searching is
mine, mine tom ake, and it 'sadifficult
one,” C ollins said during a news
conference.
M eanwhile, Coast G uard ships. Navy
vessels and a private boat com bed
the choppy sea about lO m ileso ffth e
S o u th e rn C a lif o r n ia c o a s t fo r
additional debris that could help
explain the crash.
M onday night, com m ercial squid
boats used nets to haul in grim
rem inders o f lives lost: a tennis shoe,
a stuffed animal and anum berofsm all
souvenirs from M exico. A stench o f
je t fuel hung in the air as the nets were
pulled to the surface.
T he flight en route from Puerto
V allarta, M exico, to San Francisco
and Seattle hit the w ater 4:36 p.m.
M onday in w hat a w itness described
as a nose dive. The w eather w as clear
at the time.
M om ents prior, one o f the tw o pilots
radioed that he w as having trouble
with “stabi lizer tri m” and asked to be
d iv erted to L os A n g eles for an
em erg en cy
la n d in g ,
a ir lin e
spokesm an Jack Evans said.
The plane fell 17,000 feet before being
lost from radar screens, officials said.
It crashed in w ater 300 feet to 750 feet
deep.
The flight was normal until the crew
reported control problem s, said a
Weather
Friday
cloudy
Tliniugh Ihe weekend
Saturday
cloudy
Sunday
Palliai
clearing
source with close know ledge o f the
investigation, speaking on condition
o f anonym ity. Radar show ed the
plane, an MD-83, plummeting toward
the sea shortly afterw ard.
On M D -80 series airp lan es, the
horizontal stabilizer looks like a small
wing m ounted on top o f the tail. The
stabilizer, w hich includes panels that
pitch the nose up and down, is brought
into balance, or “trim m ed,” from the
cockpit.
Ifa plane loses its horizontal stabilizer,
there is no way to keep the nose
pointed to the proper angle, and the
aircraft will begin an uncontrollable
dive.
Evans said the plane had no previous
sta b ilizer problem s, and Federal
A viation Administration spokesm an
John Clabes said it had never been in
an accident.
A N ational Park Service ranger on
A nacapa Island, o ff the coast o f
Ox nard, saw the ai rl i ner go down and
w a s firs t to r e p o rt it, sa id
spokesw om an Susan Smith at the
C h a n n e l Islan d s N a tio n a l P ark
headquarters.
Ä
£ fi
f la a> i
i
<
(P lease see 'C r a s h ' page A6)
45°F/6°C
31°F/-1°C
45°F /6°C
32°F/0°C
48°F/8°C
35°F/2°C
Three unidentified women arrive at San Francisco International Airport Monday,
Jan 31, 2000, and head fo r an area o f the airport where g rie f counselors were
waiting fo r fam ily and friends o f the victims o f the crash o f Alaska Airlines Flight
261. The aircraft, en route to San Francisco from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, went
down Monday afternoon o ff the coast o f Oxnard, C alif
Inside-A
Week in Review...................2
Racial and Ethnic Task Force
members appointed............... 3
Community forums scheduled
for interstate corridor renewal. 5
Low-interest bonds issued to
stimulate growth..................... 6
Metro-B
Peidmont residents meet with
developers................................. 1
NFL player arrested on murder
charges...................................... 2
Community leaders work to
make a better place..................3
El Observador......................4
This Week
in History
O n February 2 , 1 9 43,thcrcm ainderofN azi forces
fro m the Battle o f S talingrad surrendered in a
m a jo r v ic to ry fo r the Soviets in W o rld W a r II
O n February 4 . 1974. newspaper heiress Patncia
Hearst was k idnapped in Berkeley. Cal if., by the
Sym bioncsc Liberation A rm y.
O n February 7. 1984. space shuttle astronauts
B ru c c M c C a n d le s s lla n d R o b e rtl Stew artwent
on the firs t untethered spacewalk
O nFebruary 8. |9 9 6 .in a c e re m o n v a tth e L ib rn y
ofCongress. President C lin to n signed legislation
revam ping the te leco m m u n ica tio ns industry,
saying it w ix ild 'h n ng the future to our d o o rstep "
I