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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2000)
\o h iiiie \ \ X . Num ber 14 C om m itted to C u ltu ra l Diversity w yy yy.portlandobseryer.com 50 A p ril 5, 2000 See Focus See Metro Bulk Rate Chinese gardens raises the roof U.S. Postage Special housing issue inside PAID Portland, OR Permit No. 1610 , ^ " ' W e r Sec„ . - I 'V E “S ene OR , 74™ orthino Owseruer ■■■■■■■■■■ ,-ae,-awa ■■■■■■■■■■■H I Katz, with cancer, urges women to get breast exams • Portland’s mayor says her experience is a victory and plans to slow her schedule only a little during radiation treatments ASSOClAIifiPjSiSS Portland Mayor Vera Katz announced Monday that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and appears to have beaten it. She said her prognosis is a victory for routine mammography screenings and early detection. The 66-year-old mayor, who still plans to run for a third term and maintain a busy schedule, had a lumpectomy » March 16 to remove cancerous tissue. She will undergo six w eeks o f radiation therapy beginning in two or three weeks. But Katz and her doctor, Nathalie Johnson, said at a news conference Monday that they think the cancer is gone, more than a year after doctors first found a lump in the mayor’s b re a st as p art o f a ro u tin e mammography screening. The radiation treatment is designed to kill any undetected remnant and to prevent a recurrence, K atz and Johnson said. “Today, after all these months, I can comfortably stand before you and say 1 had cancer, and now 1 can go on with my life,” Katz said. “I expect her to be around for years from now and doing well,” Johnson said with a smile. The mayor and her doctor said they ’ re h o p in g th a t K a tz ’s p u b lic announcement will spurother women to sch ed u le m am m ogram s and conduct breast self-exams. “She’s really a testament to the fact that early detection and screening mammograms can make a world o f difference in breast cancer,” Johnson said. “We were able to find this, and find it very early.” Johnson first found a small lump in Katz’s breast a year ago as part o f a routine mammography screening. Six months,later, the lump had grown, and Johnson scheduled a surgical biopsy for the end o f February. During that biopsy, Johnson removed the lump and some nearby tissue that she said looked suspicious to her. The lump turned out to be harmless, but tests indicated cancer in the nearby tissue. On March 16, Johnson removed those cells and enough o f the surrounding cells to give Katz a clear prognosis. The cancer in the surrounding cells probably was not related to the lump. “After all these m onths, I can c o m f o r t a b ly stand before you and say I had cancer, and now I can go on with my life, ” Mayor Vera Katz said. But Johnson said going after the lump led her to find the cancerous cells. “We got lucky,” Johnson said. C ancer c o n fin e d Fortunately for Katz, the cancer was confined to milk ducts and had not spread into surrounding fatty tissue. That type o f breast cancer — ductal carcinoma in situ — is the most common form o f noninvasive breast cancer. Nearly 100 percent o f women diagnosed in this early stage ofbreast cancer can be cured, according to the American Cancer Society. Depending on how aggressive it is, it can take ductal carcinoma in situ anywhere from six months to three or four years to break through duct m em branes and start spreading throughout the body. Johnson said the cancer probably would have been found by Katz’s next mammogram, the most reliable detection method because K atz’s type o f cancer usually is too small for a physician or a self-exam to find. W ith m ore w om en g e ttin g mammograms each year, diagnosis ofductal carcinoma in situ is becoming much more common, experts say. Katz says she is a very private person, and that description has been borne out in her reluctance to talk about biographical details, from her family’s flight from the Nazis when she was a child to her life as a single woman in Northwest Portland. The two-term mayor kept the details ofhertreatment from most ofher staff until a m onth ago, when tests indicated cancer. She asked her staff to keep her condition secret, and no one else at City Hall appears to have know n a b o u t her co n d itio n beforehand. She informed council m em bers ju st before th e new s conference. K atz’s son, Jesse, a new spaper reporter in Los Angeles, encouraged her to make her condition public for the educational value to women. “He said, ‘You have an obligation,’ and I concurred with that,” Katz said. The decision by Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Obemdorf, a breast cancer survivor, to go public helped, too, Katz said. Obem dorf is drawing on her experience to push for expanded (Please see ’Katz’ page 5) Software giant's verdict creates mixed reactions A ssociated P ress A federal ju d g e ’s harsh antitrust verdict against Microsoft Corp, is almost certain to unleash a costly wave o f consumer lawsuits against the software maker. Legal experts say the threat could deal Microsoft a lasting legal blow even if the company ultimately prevails against the U.S. government. Microsoft already faces 120 private federal and state lawsuits brought since last November, when U.S. D istrict Judge Thom as Penfield Jackson found Microsoft repeatedly engaged in anticompetitive behavior by taking advantage o f its monopoly p o w e r in c o m p u te r o p e ra tin g software. But M onday’s verdict by Judge - Ja c k so n p ro v id e s fresh legal ammunition for lawyers pursuing these private cases on behalf o f • computerbuyers whoclaim Microsoft exploited its software monopoly to o v e rc h a rg e fo r th e W indow s operating system. The decision essentially affirms last N o v e m b e r’s stro n g ly w o rd ed findings, placing them into the permanent legal record. It brands Microsoft a lawbreaker that violated the Sherm an A ntitrust Act and ab u se d its o p e ra tin g sy stem d o m in a n c e to m o n o p o liz e the software market. Legal experts said that frees private lawyers from a difficult burden of proof, giving them more leeway to pursue potentially billions of dollars in damages in both federal and state cases. Importantly, the judge found that Microsoft could be liable under state Justice D epartm ent official who negotiated with Microsoft in a related 1994 case and now w orks for the Brookings Institute think tank. “All they will say is, ‘Look, the court has already found that M icrosoft violated the law,” ’ he said. Microsoft officials suggested that any immediate impact from the verdict will be minimal, saying they will forcefully pursue an appeal and that the com pany w ill c o n tin u e to aggressively develop and sell new software technologies. “ I t’s im p o rta n t fo r p e o p le to understand that today’s court ruling is just one step in a legal process that could last several years,” Microsoft lead counsel Bill Neukom said in a statement. “The ruling does not change the Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, left, and president and CEO Steve Ballmer address members o f the media at a news conference Monday, April 3, 2000 in Redmond. Wash. Microsoft said that it plans to appeal a ruling earlier Monday bv U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. Photo by Associated Press anticompetition laws, easing the way for plaintiffs in state suits to broadly Friday W eather Today Mostly cloudy 53°F/11°C Saturday Scattered 43°F /5°C Showers Mostly cloudy Thursday 59°F/14°C 41°F /4°C M ostly cloudy J Sunday Showers apply findings from the U.S. antitrust case. “This is a manna from heaven for the private plaintiffs because it basically Inside-A Week in Review................... 2 should eliminate a lot o f their need for proof,” said Robert Litan, a former Metro-B Chinese gardens raises the Smith and Wesson agreement a roof.......................................... . 1 good but short step.................2 PDC facilitates housing Steps taken to improve minority rehab........................................ 1 interest in health care................3 Preachers make the move to Recommenmdation nears on gospel singing.......................... 4 interstate corridor..................... 5 El Observador....................... 5 challenges and opportunities before us,” Microsoft chiefexecutive Steve Ballmer told reporters. “I intend to talk to many o f key customers ... to assure them” the ruling w on't slow M icrosoft’s development and sale of new products. Indeed, private lawyers, who are seeking to consolidate the federal cases as they seek class-action status, still face a high hurdle proving any Microsoft overcharges to the vast majority o f consumers. Most people buy the Windows operating system indirectly as part of a software bundle that comes with a new computer. It’s easier to calculate overcharges for people who bought softw are upgrades. Judge Jackson, in his initial finding, cites M icrosoft's own study to show that its monopoly power gave it substantial discretion to raise (Please see 'Microsoft' page 5) This Week in History On April 7, 1712 Nine whiles were killed in a slave revolt in New Y o rk City. Planned by 27 slaves, the rebellion was begun by setting fire to an outhouse; as whites came to put the fire out, there were shot The state m ilitia was called out to capture the rebels and the city o f New Y o rk responded to the event by strengthening its slave codes 21 Blacks were executed as participants, and P aliened committed suicide. On A p ril9 , 1 \ \ Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. U lysses S Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. I I
