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Volume XXX.
Number 20
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Portland, OR
Permit No. 1610
m t L u tò (O b sm
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Wednesday
May 17,2000
50‘
Portland moms gather for stricter gun laws
Man Releases Hostages at
Nursery School
HJELMELAND,Norway-A mancharged
with rape and upset over losing custody
o f his children released 25 students and
10 adults after allegedly holding them
hostage for over 10 hours at a preschool
here, 185 miles west o f the capital city of
Oslo. All 53 hostages appeared to be in
good c o n d itio n a fte r the gunm an
su rren d ered fo llo w in g a te le v ise d
interview with psychologists.
Caller ID Traced ‘Love
Bug’ Virus
MANILA, Philippines - A local Internet
provider said it used caller ID to trace the
origin o f the “Love Bug” e-me 1 vim« to a
Manila phone line that had been used
before for breaking into its computer
network. The disclosure explained how
investigators were quickly able to center
their investigation on the residents o f an
apartment in a lower middle-class Manila
n e ig h b o rh o o d , in c lu d in g a young
computer student who has acknowledged
he may have accidentally unleashed the
“I LOVE YOU” virus.
Public May Greet Solstice
at Stonehenge
LONDON - The public will be able to
greet the dawn o f the millennium’s first
summer at the ancient stone Circle of
Stonehenge, the first time in 16 years the
site has been opened for the summer
solstice. Stonehenge will be opened the
night o f June 20 for eight hours under
tight security, the watchdog body English
Heritage. In the past, Stonehenge - a
stone circle erected by prehistoric Britons
5,000 years ago has been a magnet for
unruly revelers. During the 1980s, a four-
mile exclusion zone was established
around the stones on solstice night
following a series o f disruptions.
India’s Billionth Person is
Born
NEW DELHI, India - With the birth o f a
baby girl named Astha - “ Faith” in Hindi
-In d ia ’spopulationofficilly hit 1 billion.
The six-pound 13-ounce baby was born
at 5:05 a.m., putting India in an exclusive
club with China as the only nations with
populations exceeding 1 billion.
O lym pic Torch Lit for
Sydney Summer Games
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece - In a
ceremony invoking the gods ofantiquity,
the flame that will burn at the Sydney
Olympics was ignited in the ancient
birthplace of the games. “Apollo, god of
the sun and the idea o f the light, send your
rays and light this holy torch for the
hospitable city o f Sydney,” intended
Thaleia Prokopiou, the 28-year-old who
led 20 women dressed in pleated, cream-
colored robes before the Temple o f Hera.
The flame will travel for 10 days around
Greece before being handed over May 20
to the Sydney organizers in a special
cerem o n y in A th e n s ’ a ll-m a rb le
Panathenaic stadium, where the first
modem Olympiad was held in 1896.
AIDS Drugs’ Prices May
Be Less for Africa
G EN EV A
F ive p h a rm a c e u tica l
companies announced they would slash
the cost o f HIV/AIDS drugs in African
and other poor nations, which have
complained that they are priced out of
treating the epidemic ravaging their
populations. Only one company, Britain’s
Glaxo Wellcome, was immediately ready
to announce what it would offer. A
company spokesman said the two-drug
packge Com bivir would be made available
at cost o f $2 per day.
I
M others m arch on the cap ita l Sunday
5000 p e o p le m a rch ed here in P ortland.
V ss.K I M I D I’RISS
an old gun he found in the house and bullets
he bought at a store for 99 cents.
Marching with her only surviving son, Smith
was one o f many mothers on Sunday w'ho
opted out o f the traditional Mother’s Day
brunch to rally for gun control in Portland's
version of the Million Mr>m March.
“ It's bad enough as a mother you lose a child,
but on Mother’s Day . . . she said, trailing
off. “I don’t want this to happen to other
Neva Smith said she only wishes she could
turn back tim e_back to two years ago, before
her teen-age son took his own life with a gun
on Mother’s Day.
Smith said her 19-year-old son, Dustin
Kellwick, was depressed over his older
brother’s death in a March 1998 car accident.
Two months later, Kel Iwick shot himsel ( with
mothers.”
Tens o f thousands o f supporters gathered at
Million Mom Marches on Sunday in 70
com m unities across the U nited States,
including Washington, D.C. Supporters held
a similar rally in Eugene.
Police estimated up to 4,000 people attended
the Portland event, and it attracted more than
moms. Church groups, men, children and
grandparents also showed up with petitions.
flowers and signs reading: "I have a right to
feel safe," “A child’s life should not end with
a bang," and "It’s easier to childproof a gun
than to bulletproof a child.”
Organizers said their message is simple.
“A lot of things strike us as common sense,”
said L isa L a u rse n -T h irk ill, regional
coordinator for the march and vice president
oflegislation forthe Oregon PTA. “We're not
looking to take guns out o f the hands of any
law-abiding citizens_ we’rejust making sure
they're responsible.”
U.S. Reps. David Wu and Earl Blumenauer,
State Sen. Ginny Burdick and Portland City
Commissioner Jim Francesconi w'ere among
those who spoke Sunday, pledging to do
theirpart politically.
“Change is in the air,” said Blumenauer, D-
Ore., who is unveiling a new effort in Congress
to extend gun legislation for criminal
background checks at gun shows. “1 hope
that in Congress w e’ll follow your lead here in
O regon. We need to close gun show
loopholes.”
Burdick, one o f the lead sponsors for an
Oregon measure that would require criminal
background checks at gun shows, said she
wanted everyone in the crowd to sign the
petition and ask 20 of their friends and
neighbors to do the same.
Measure 99 needs more than 80.000 signatures
to qualify for the November ballot, she said.
A similar measure failed last year in the
Legislature by one vote.
(Please se e ’Mom M arch'page A6)
African -American response rate on census improved
^ U n it e d States
Census
2000
b i T J ibeon X a siz ,
. w T i l t P o r ii asi >O bsi : rv tR
Portland Local Census O ffice Manager
Cynthia Jones called overall return rates for
Census 2000 excellent in Multnomah County
because o f a 3 percent rise from the last
census taken in 1990.
However, although response rates for African-
Americans in North and Northeast Portland
were the worst in 1990, that figure rose about
10 percent during C ensus 2000 because of the
efforts o f Jo A nil Bowman, State Rep., Dist. 8,
S eren a C ruz, M ultnom ah C ounty
Commissioner, and Margaret Carter, State
Senatorial candidate, Dist. 19.
“Historically, it’sgone lower every lOyears,”
Jones said referring to Multnomah County’s
initial response rates for this year. “I feel we
did excellent this year because we actually
increased the response. We got a better
response than we did 10 years ago."
As o f April 25, the national initial response
•rate for state, local and tribal government
entities receiving completed forms forCensus
2000 was 65 percent, compared to the target
rate of 70 percent overall, according to statistics
provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The
initial figure was formulated from numbers
representing a check-in o f all questionnaires
received as o f April 23,2000.
The state o f O regon's initial response rate as
of May 12,2000 stood at 66 percent compared
to a target rate o f 72 percent. Initial response
rates for Multnomah County as o f May 12,
2000 stood at 69 percent. This amount is a 3
percent rise in overall statistics from the last
census taken in 1990, in which the return rate
was only 66 percent. By contrast Washington
County’s initial response rates as of May 12
were 70 percent compared to a target rate of
75 percent.
Comparisons o f initial response rates by city
show the City o f Portland at 70 percent with
Gresham at 69percent, Troutdaleat 74 percent.
Wood Village at 64 percent, Fairview at 60
percent and Maywood Park at 78 percent.
Portland’s initial response target rate was 71
percent with Gresham’s target rate at 71
percent, Troutdale’s at 73 percent, Wood
Village at 64 percent, Fairview at 61 percent
and Maywood Park at 92 percent, according
to Census Bureau Data.
H isto ric a lly return rates for A frican-
Americans in North and Northeast Portland
were affected during the 1990 Census because
o f those groups' distrust of the Federal
G o v e rn m e n t and app reh en sio n that
information giv en to the Census Bureau would
affect public a' «¡stance and be used by the
Internal Revenue Sendee, Jones said.
"In 1990, the area in North and Northeast
Portland that .s predominantly African-
American had tiie worst response rate. This
was counted in those areas w here the
residents are made up of more than 50 percent
African-Americans.”
General overall return rates for 1990 in the area
(Please see 'C ensus 2000' page A6)
T he Educational Crisis Teams 'Call for Action'
t os I Rim :i tiisruRV
lO R T lItP o R I I.ASI!(jBSlR\ UR
The Educational Crisis Team called a press
conference on Tuesday May 16/2000, at the
Center for Self Enhancement Inc., for the
expressed purpose o f pooling support from
Community Organizations, that agree with
the recom m endations, submitted to the
Portland Public School Board, in the form of
a “Strategic Plan.” The plan, among other
things, calls for action NOW to raise student
achievement at low-performing schools, those
with 30% or more students below grade level.
Many o f the low -performing schools have
predominantly low-income and minority
student populations.
TheCrisis Team demands include moving the
most effective reading, math and science
teachers to the lowest performing schools;
using Title 1 or Desegregation funds to offer
“Achievement Pay" to attract these teachers;
adopting a standardized curriculum for all
schools, established hy successful teachers,
which will help students and teachers who
m ove betw een sch o o ls; tra n sfe rrin g
in e ffe c tiv e p rin c ip a ls and allo w in g
outstanding teachers to become principals or
“achievement czars” for low-performing
schools; developing individual education
plans for underachiev ing children; hiring only
b ilin g u a l, b ic u ltu ra l te a c h e rs and
administrators for ESI programs; and making
I itle I programs accountable to the children
most in need
TheCrisis team, consisting primarily of leaders
from 1 lispanic Parents. Sell Enhancement Inc,
The Black United Front, Albina Ministerial
Alliance, Community Monitoring Advisory
Committee, Coalition o f Black Men, The
Oregon Parents Center and Albina Head Start,
were joined by State Senator Av el Gordley.
Candidate for Senate. Margaret Carter, The
Honorable Bishop Wells, Kay Toran, Exec.
Dir. Volunteers o f America, and Harold
Williams, just to name a few.
The Crisis Team plans to take its demands to
the School Board Meeting scheduled for
Monday, May 22.at the Blanchard Center