See Metro
See Focus
AAHC opens
its doors to the
public
Portland
Meadows
draws bi v
names !?
Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage
PAID
Portland, OR
1R10
;ity of Oregon
Library
Newspaper Section
JJùrtknrò (Obstruer
Volume XXX.
Number 32
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Wednesday
August 9, 2000
.WM
Charlie Sifford, the black JackNicklaus
U nited A irlines Scraps
More Flights
C H IC A G O -U n ited Airlines is canceling
nearly 2,000 flights next month, the latest
b lo w as the w o rld ’s la rg e st airlin e
struggles to im prove relations w ith its
pilots. United w ill take l ,980 flights o ff its
S eptem ber schedule, spokesm an Chris
B raithw aite said. United says its pilots
are refusing to w ork overtim e since their
c o n tra c t ex p ire d in A pril and have
increasingly been calling in sick. But the
pilots say there is no organized w ork
slowdQwn and problem s are m ore the
result o f U nited’s failure to hire enough
pilots.
*
Court Strips Pinochet of
Immunity
I
SA N T IA G O , Chile - C hile’s Suprem e
C ourt stripped Gen. A ugusto P inochet’s
im m unity, clearing the way for the former
dictator to be tried on hum an rights
charges, the court said. T he court voted
14 - f to allow the 84-year-old Pinochet to
be prosecuted on charges stem m m ing
from his 19 7 3 -1990 rule, Justice Jose
B enquis announced.
W ildfires Roar Through
Rockies
HA M ILTO N , Mont. - More than 60 major
fires were burning nearly l million acres in
11 W estern states early, the N ational Fire
Inform ation C enter in Idaho reported.
Firefighters m ade headway against blazes
in C alifornia and Utah, but M esa V erde
N ational Park, Colo., rem ained closed for
the second tim e this year, and the situation
along the Id aho-M ontana line grew
steadily w orse.
Professional g o lf has had a scandalous past, notorious for racial
segregation. Until 1960, the Professional Golfers A ssociation(PG A ) had
a C aucasian-only clause in its constitution. Even after the PGA changed
its rules to allow m inorities things did not change everywhere. Jim Crow
still reigned suprem e in m any o f the n atio n 's country clubs, and blacks
w ere only allow ed in as caddies.
C harlie Sifford, the first A frican-A m erican in the PG A , know s this past
well. He started his career as a caddie at the age o f 13. G o lfh as been his
lifelong obsession. Playing golf, am idst its racist clim ate, has been his
lifelong challenge. “M y career has had as much to do with breaking down
barriers as it has had to do w ith driving and putting,” said Sifford in his
A ssociated P ress
autobiography “Just let m e play.”
H elping to break dow n barriers is the precise reason that S ifford is
visiting Portland this w eek. He will be the guest o f honor at the 2000
Y outh G olfToum am ent, being held at the Heron Lakes G o lf Course. The
Oregon Association ofM inority Entrepreneurs (OAM E) and the Portland
Y outh G o lf A ssociation (PY G A ) are presenting the tournam ent to help
support the PYGA.
The PYGA is a year-round g o lf program for kids 8 to 18yearsold. Robert
Clark, director o f PY G A , says his program is to “prom ote g o lf and
character developm ent” for inner-city kids. Sifford will contribute to this
w ith a g o lf clinic for the children, a book signing and he w ill be giving
a talk at the dinner and auction associated with the tournam ent.
The dinner and auction w ill be held on T hurday, A ugust 10 at the Benson
Hotel. Som e o f the item s at the auction will include several vacations,
a T iger W oods hat and a K oby Briant basketball.
Clark is excited that Sifford, the m an he calls “the greatest man in history,”
is com ing. C lark began playing g o lf in 1969 because he w anted to be like
Sifford. H e adm ired the w ay Sifford was able to succeed despite
discrim ination. In part, it was this adm iration that com pelled him to 'ai •
the PYGA. C lark says that S ifford s p a r tic ip a tio n lii g o lf is w hat m a *
things better foryoung m inority golfers like Tiger Woods. “T h at’s why
1 do w hat I do: to m ake things better,” said Clark.
A lthough Sifford has been a trailblazer for young m inorities in golf, he
has been know n as g o lf s forgotten m an. He has not seen the celebrity
that T iger W oods has seen. Sifford had to deal w ith racial slurs and death
threats. He has been banned from using the dressing room s and
bathroom s at w hite-exclusive g o lf clubs.
Even with this adversity, his talent still drove him to becom e the first
(P lease see 'C h a rlie S iffo rd ' page 6)
Charlie Sifford
Gore Makes Lieberman Choice Official
Actor Sir Alec Guinness
Dead at 86
L O N D O N - A ctor Sir A lec G uinness,
w hose roles in a 66-year career ranged
from H am let to O bi-W an K enobi in Star
W ars, has died, a hospital spokesm an
said. He was 86. Guinness died in southern
England. T he hospital did not report the
cause o f death. From post-w ar com edies
through epics like T he Bridge on the
River Kwai, for w hich he w on a best actor
Oscar, and crow d-pleasers like Star Wars,
G u in n ess p la y e d a v a st v a rie ty o f
characters w ith subtlety and intelligence.
Forecaster Predicts lighter
Hurricane Season
FO R T CO L L IN S, Colo. - Earlier this
summer, hurricane forecaster Will iam Gray
predicted that there w ould be 12 nam ed
storm s th is se aso n , in c lu d in g eig h t
hurricanes and four m ajor hurricanes.
G ray predicted, how ever, that the 2000
storm season will not be as bad as he
thought. D espite the good new s, the
season still will be busier than the average
o f9 .3 nam ed storm s, 5.8 hurricanes and
2.2 m ajor hurricanes.
H anford Fire R eleased
Plutonium into Air
RICHLAND, Wash. - Plutonium particles
were blow ing around during the fire that
b u r n e d h a l f th e H a n fo rd n u c le a r
reservation in June, authorities said. The
levels are not considered dangerous.
H arry B oston, the Energy D epartm ent’s
deputy site m anager, announced the
findings after a detailed lab analysis was
perform ed on air sam ples taken during
the 191,000-acre fire. The results m ean
“plutonium w as drifting around the wind
and the dust,” Boston said.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore, left, and Sen. Joe
Lieberman, D-Conn„ wave to the crowd gathered in downtown Nashville,
Tenn., Tuesday. Aug. 8, before a rally announcing Lieberman as Gore s
running mate.
A ssociated P ress
A1 G ore introduced and celebrated his Jewish
running m ate. Sen. Joseph Lieberm an, on
T uesday, 1 ikening their W hite H ouse quest to
C atholic groundhrcaker John F. K ennedy’s
and declaring, “ We will m ake history again.”
Lieberman, in turn, credited G ore with barrier-
busting “chutzpah" and said they w ould work
to “ renew the moral center o f this nation,”
W ith repeated em phasis on faith and values,
the new D em ocratic duo m ade clear they aim
to rep la ce th e e ig h t-y e a r C lin to n -G o re
partnership with a fresh start.
G ore, soggy w ith sw eat on an outdoor stage
at noontim e, recalled that the last tim e the
Break in winds
allows progress,
but bosses warn
worst may be yet
to come
D em ocrats had their national convention in
Los A ngeles — as they will again next week
— they nom inated K ennedy w ho went on to
be elected the first Roman C atholic president
W ith a Jew on a major p a rty ’s national ticket
for the first time, Gore said, “ W e will tear down
an old w all o f division again.”
The crow d cheered “Joe! Joe!" From the
stage. Tipper G ore snapped pictures with her
camera. T h e 9 1 -degree heat and high humidity
w ore down the crowd, though m ost rem ained
enthusiastic. M ore than 100 people were
treated for heat exhaustion — five were
hospitalized as a precaution.
T uesday’s talk o f diversity, values and faith
reflected the D em ocrats’ determ ination to
undercut B u sh ’s inroads w ith m inority voters
and the R epublicans’ attem pt — obvious at
their national convention last w eek — to
shackle G ore to President C linton and talk o f
scandal.
L ie b erm an , the tw o -term se n a to r from
Connecticut, was the first senator o f either
party to speak out on the Senate floor against
P resid en t C lin to n ’s a ffa ir w ith M o n ica
Lewinsky, branding it “ im m oral.”
O n Tuesday, he acted as character w itness
for Gore. “ H e has never never w avered in his
responsibilities as a father, as a husband, and,
yes, as a servant o f G od,” L ieberm an said.
The two m en and their w ives, hands linked,
took the stage to a charging m usical beat.
“ We m ust w ork, and w e will w ork — A1 and
Tipper, H adassah and I — to help renew the
moral center o f this nation so that fam ilies can
be stro n g er, ch ild ren sa fe r and p aren ts
em pow ered to pass to theirchildren their faith
and their m oral values,” Lieberm an said.
His w ords echoed those o f his Septem ber
1998 speech accusing C linton o f m aking it
harder for parents to instruct children on
values and acceptable behavior.
Dawn V arner o f Etow ah, w ho brought her
daughter and grandson to the rally, said, “ I
w asn’t sold before. But honey, I am sold 100
percent now. It was worth the five-hour drive.”
She said o f Lieberm an, “ W e needed him a
long tim e ago.”
Shedding his suit coat, the slightly built
senator asked the cro w d ’s perm ission "to let
the spirit m ove m e." He quoted from the Book
o f C hronicles and thanked G od and G ore for
“m aking this m iracle possible for m e in
breaking this barrier for the rest o f A m erica
forever.”
W atching from behind a fence. Republican
to u rist G io v an n i S a n ta rsie re , 58, from
H o uston, g ru d g in g ly c re d ite d G o re for
“breaking new ground" w ith the Lieberm an
pick but added, "I hope it d o esn ’t help him .”
G ore aides, though, reveled in som e evidence
that Lieberm an already had helped. A CN N -
USA Today-G allup survey M onday night,
after L ieberm an's selection was publicized,
(P lease s e e 'L e ib e rm a n ' pageft)
Fire crew s w rapped up containm ent o f
som e o f the w ildfires burning through
tim ber and rangeland in central and
eastern O regon, freeing crew s to attack
new fires as forecasts called for m ore
lightning.
“W e ’re looking for dry lightning today,
tom orrow and T hursday,” N orthw est
Coordination C enter spokesw om an Beth
K irschhoffersaidTuesday. “W e’ll really
be hopping on that.”
M any o f the fires sparked by lightning
over the w eekend have been contained
or nearly so, though one new range fire
popped up M onday and burned 6,100
acres in northeastern O regon 316 m iles
southeastofC ayuse. The D ead M an fire
w a s e s tim a te d to b e c o n ta in e d
W ednesday night.
So far, no hom es or other buildings have
burned as five fires continued to bum
out o f control on nearly 16,000 acres.
Fire crew s have been available to m eet
local dem and, though air tankers and
helicopters have been in short supply.
“ The large fires in the other W estern
states will affect our firefighting ability
in the N orthw est,” said Laurie Perrett,
deputy regional director o f fire and
aviation for the U. S . Forest S ervice and
U.S. B ureau o f Land M anagem ent. “ W e
fear that the worst is yet to com e.”
M easures o f fire p o ten tial, such as
w eath er and dryness, w ere running
higher than in 1994, w hen m ore than a
h alf m illion acres burned in O regon and
W ashington. The indexes w ere the
h ig h e s t in 30 y e a r s in c e n tr a l,
northeastern and southeastern O regon,
the coordination center said.
“It is very likely diat som e o f our fire and
resource m anagers are soon going to be
m ak in g those tough calls b etw een
com m unity protection and structure
protection,” said Steve Ellis, m anager o f
the BLM Lakeview District.
Crew s closed the loop on the K ern Fire
after it burned 11,000 acres o f rangeland
25 m iles south o f V ale, freeing up 51
people fighting it since Saturday.
The A lsup M ountain fire was contained
after burning 46 acres ofheavy tim ber 27
m iles northw est o f B um s. C o n tro l
W ednesday night w ould free up 175
people.
Flam es that charred 200 acres o fh e a v y
ju n ip er in the Big G ulch Fire, 17 m iles
southeast o f Crane, w ere expected to be
fully contained Tuesday evening.
F u ll c o n ta in m e n t w as e x p e c te d
W ednesday, the Oregon D epartm ent o f
Forestry said.
Fires continue to rage
There are currently 65 wildfires burning
In Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming
' Currant mMKraa n
August 7
SO u/« AMMrwr Ahp Znlbrmwioo O fttor
*«■