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University o f Oregon
Knight Library
Newspaper Section
Eugene OR 97403
(The ^Jortlanò ©fas H
Volume XXX.
Number 28
www.portlandobserver.com
«.«< *
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday
Established in 1970
July 12,2000
Portland receives gift reminiscent of
China’s Ming dynasty
50e
Mugabe says
agitators behind
soccer stampede
in Zimbabwe
Scientists Uncover
Archimedes’ Lost Words
,
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Scientists at
Rochester Institute o f Technology are
restoring a 10lh century manuscript - the
only known copy o f the writings o f Greek
mathematician Archimedes. The text was
erased by a monk 200 years after it was
written, was purchased anonymously at
a 1998 auction for $2 million. The
manuscript is the only copy in the original
Greek o f Archimedes ’ theory o f flotation
o f bodies.
Barak Vows to March
Ahead On Peace Talks
JERUSALEM - His coalition in tatters
hours before his departure for the Camp
David summit, a defiant Prime Minister
Ehud Barak said that he carries the will o f
the people with him as he works for peace
with the Palestinians. “I am not going
alone. Withmearealmost2millionvoters,”
Barak said. The prime minister was
constantly heckled by right-wing on two
n o -confidence m otions b rought by
parties aimed at toppling him.
12 Dead in Zimbabwe
Soccer Stampede
HA FA RE, Zimbabwe - Police fired tear
gas at unruly fans during a W orld Cup
q u a lify in g so c c e r g am e b e tw e e n
Zimbabwe and South Africa, setting o ff
a stampede that killed 12 people. At
Parirenyatwa hospital, a spokesman said
four stampede victims were in critical
condition, and “many” were injured.
Coup Leader, Military
Sign Agreement
SUVA, Fiji -C o u p leader George Speight
and military commander Commodore
Frank Bainimarama signed an agreement
to end Fiji’s seven-week hostage crisis.
Under the deal, 27 hostages, including
deposed Prim e M in ister M ahendra
Chaudhry, will be released before a
meeting o f tribal chiefs. Rebels will also
turn in their weapons.
-
Floods Maroon
Thousands in Bangladesh
DHAKA, B angladesh-T orrential rains
trig g e re d flash floods in n o rth ern
Bangladesh, marooning 34,000 people,
authorities said. The monsoon rain also
demolished at least 135 mud and thatched
houses, leaving nearly 680 people
homeless in Kurigram district, 150 miles
north o f Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.
The state-run W ater Development Board
said all major rivers were overflowing in
the northern district and were expected to
submerge more areas.
G-7 to Discuss Japan’s
Recovery
FUKUOKA, Japan - As finance chiefs
from the world’s richest nations arrived
for summit talks, Japan’s Finance Minister
Kiichi Miyazawacalled for greater efforts
to stabilize international capital flow and
currency fluctuations. Reforming the
intemaitonal financial system is one o f
the top items on the agenda o f the finance
ministers from the Group of Seven leading
industrialized nations.
Fijian Rebels Want
Government Resignation
SUVA, F iji- Rebels holding 27 hostages
in Fiji’s Parliament said they would release
the captives in return for the resignation
o f the new civilian government. The rebels
also demanded that the military hand
over power to tribal chiefs - something
the army has refused to do. Rebel leader,
G eorge Speight and m ilitary leader
Commodore Frank Bainimarama failed to
take place but lower-level delegations
discussed the latest rebel demands.------
by L orraine -M ichelle F al si
or T he P ortland O bserver
A portal nearing the end o f construction in
downtown Portland will soon transport you
into 500-year-old Ming Dynasty art and
culture. Guarded by traditional lion gates and
dragon figures on the rooftops, this portal will
be called Lan Su Yuan. In English, its
translation is the Garden o f Awakening Orchid,
more commonly known as the new Portland
Classical Chinese Garden.
On September 14, Mayor Vera Katz will cut the
ribbon in the grand opening ceremonies,
opening the largest urban Suzhou-style
garden outside o f China. The garden, which
sprang up. out o f our sister city relationship
with Suzhou, China, is being assembled by
several partnerships o f American and Chinese
designers, architects and artisans.
“Once you enter into the garden you [will]
transport yourself way back in time, at least
500 years and really feel like you are part of
something that happened a long time ago,”
said Ben Ngan, landscape architect and
member o f the Board o f the Classical Chinese
Garden Society.
The garden will inhabit an entire city block
between Second and Third avenues and
Everett and Flanders streets. The garden’s
design uniquely maximizes space. It is
sectioned o ff into various courtyards each
designed in its own distinct way. Cheryl
Tonkin, Executive Director o f the Classical
Chinese Garden, called each section “a new
experience.”
“I think the most important [aspect] is the
spatial experience,” said ProjectCoordinator
Jin Chen. Chen explained that there are five
key components to a Suzhou-style garden:
architecture, landscaping, rocks, water and
cultural elements.
Most o f the architecture is the compilation o f
eight pavilions. Each pavilion is built in the
Ming tradition and carries its own theme.
Painted Boat in Misty Rain, one o f the largest
pavilions, looks like a boat on the lake. It
symbolizes the friendship between Suzhou
and Portland. Weeping willows near the boat
correspond to the Chinese tradi tionof offering
a willow branch to a friend for planting at their
new destination.
“No other gardens have such an emphasis on
rocks, and the appreciation o f rocks,” said
Chen. The garden is filled with wrinkled,
holey Lake Tai rocks, some weighing seven
tons. Symbolic o f mountains, these rocks are
considered beautiful and have an important
place in C hinese tradition. Em perors
surrounded theirpalaces with them. In 1997,
Suzhou Mayor, Zhang Xinsheng, gave Vera
Katz a Lake Tai rock, which is now adjacent to
city hall on Terry D. Schrunk Plaza.
Water is another important component in
classical Chinese gardens. W ater engulfs 30
(Please see 'G a rd e n s' page 6)
Wyden speaks out on prescription drugs,
assisted suicide and gas prices
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0lTlltTORlLAM>_QBStRYtR
Ron Wyden had a word or two about assisted
suicide, prescription drug benefits and gas
prices for the Lloyd District Community
Association on a stopover last week.
The senator addressed the neighborhood
group’s monthly luncheon meeting for 45
m inutes before taking o ff for a similar
appearance in Hood River. The frantic pace is
necessary, he said, to keep a pledge from his
first campaign: to hold at least one open town
hall meeting a year in every municipality in
Oregon. At one such function a constituent
once told him, “ I thought I’d have to pay
$ 1,000 for a chance to speak to a U. S. senator.”
Three issues are currently occupying his
time, Wyden said. The disproportionately
high price of gas in Oregon is caused by the
fact that “the big oil companies have been
s y ste m a tic a lly s trip p in g the sta te o f
competition through mergers and pressure
on independents." This is a state where “folks
drive a lot," with rural areas where cars are the
only available transportation and a sizable
senior population, and high gas prices “take
a great toll on the quality o f life," he said.
A second issue is public assistance for
purchase o f prescription drugs by the elderly,
a step we “can’t afford not to take,” he said.
It has reached the point where low-income
seniors have had to check into hospitals to
Senator Ron Wvden
receive needed drugs because the former are
covered by medical assistance and the latter
are not, he said.
A third issue is O regon's assisted suicide
law, and the attempts by congressional
republicans to weaken or kill it. While saying
that he personally voted against the law,
Wyden said. “The people o f Oregon have
spoken. This goes beyond assisted suicide.
It’s a matter o f whether a small state can be
bullied by lawmakers 3,000 miles away based
on their personal beliefs. If they can throw out
this law, people will say, ‘W hat’s the point of
voting.’”
To combat the effort, Wyden said, “I’m taking
kidney strengthening exercises. 1 may talk for
a long. long, long time."
In answer to a question, Wyden said he was
concerned about proposed electrical utility
deregulation and the termination o f the
Bonneville Power Administration. "There are
lots o f folks back east who would love to
collapse our system into a national power
grid, where their bills would go down and ours
would go right into the stratosphere," he said.
He favors initiatives to increase international
trade, including the deepening of the Columbia
River channel. "W e do a lot of things well in
this state, but what we do best is grow things,"
Wyden said. “The China market could be
really lucrative for us. Dredging the channel
could be an opportunity to accomplish this
and also sponsor“world class environmental
protection initiatives."
He is currently trying to increase the federal
appropriation for the proposed Interstate Light
Rail line, which congress recently reduced
from $40 million to $5 million. To take the next
step and extend the line to Vancouver, he
said, “There is no substitute for grass roots
support." To achieve it in Washington, he
said, "W e need to show we re driving down
the per-mile cost.”
P resident R obert M ugabe accused
political opponents o f provoking the
stampede that left 13 soccer fans dead in
the nation’s worst sports tragedy.
Mugabe said Monday that agitators had
been planted at National Sports Stadium
to shout slogans and display opposition
party symbols before throwing bottles
and other things on the field, Zimbabwe's
official news agency reported.
“Sport should never turn into warfare,”
Mugabe said.
W elshman Ncube, the third ranking
official in the main opposition party,
assailed Mugabe for attempting to defend
“criminal overreaction” by police on
Sunday.
“Even if people shouted slogans, it was
sp o n tan eo u s and this w as clearly
unjustifiable action by the police,” he
said.
Police fired tear gas at unruly soccer fans
during a World Cup qualifying game
between Zimbabwe and South Africa,
triggering a stadium stampede.
Tear gas was fired “not at just where the
trouble was, but everywhere,” said Obert
Muranga, a spectator.
Twelve fans were killed Sunday and
another died the following day, hospital
authorities said. Players from both teams
choked and writhed on the field as tear
gas spread.
British soccer star John Fashanu, a
commentator at the game and a U.N.
goodwill ambassador, will advise the
police in its investigation.
“Let the nation be assured nothing is
going to be swept under the carpet,”
police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena
said Monday.
FIFA, soccer governing body, also said
it would look into the violence, which
began when fans tossed bottles following
South Africa’s second goal late in the
game.
The game was stopped 10 minutes early,
and South Africa’s 2-0 lead was declared
official.
FIFA expressed its "sincere condolences
to the bereaved families.”
The Zimbabwe Football Association will
report on the tragedy to FIF A on Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe group is led by M ugabe’s
nephew, Leo Mugabe.
W itnesses said many o f the 50,000 in the
crowd made the opposition party’s salute
d u rin g the n a tio n a l anthem and
throughout the game. The Movement for
Democratic Change slogan "chinja,” or
“change,” was heard throughout the
stadium.
Fans say police first fired teargas at those
in the crowd who raised the open-hand
salute.
The opposition party made sweeping
gains in parliamentary elections in June,
posing the biggest challenge to M ugabe's
hold on power since he led the nation to
independence in 1980.
During campaigning, the opposition used
so c c e r-sty le slogans in c ritic iz in g
Mugabe. Violence during the campaign
left at least 31 people dead, most o f them
opposition supporters.
Witnesses said fans' taunts Sunday were
directed against Leo Mugabe. Fans
demanded change in the association and
the management o f the national team,
which has repeatedly failed to qualify for
recent international and African soccer
tournaments.
The association has been accused o f
mismanagement and graft under Leo
M ugabe. S im ilar accusations have
plagued his uncle's government