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Black Pioneers in Focus
O ur continuing series for Black H istory M onth features Black Pioneers o f the O ld W est. Follow ing their hopes and dream s,
adventuresom e A frican A m ericans m ade the trek w estw ard despite the brutal conditions and racial discrim ination encountered along the
way. T hrough their efforts, they opened the frontier for others to follow. See Focus section, inside.
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Volume XXXI
Number 07
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Nativity School
Coming to
Northeast Alberta
Tuition-free middle school to teach kids
from breakfast to dinner hour, including
some weekends and summer school
Six Die in Army Helicopter
Crash
H O NO LU LU — Two Arm y Black Hawk
helicopters crashed in a rem ote area during
a nighttime exercise, killing six soldiers and
injuring 11 others. The two UH60 helicopters
w ent down whi le participating in an exerc ise
over Kahuku on the island o f Oahu. It was
still unclear whether the helicopters had
collided.
‘Gladiator’ leads Oscar field
BEVERLY HILLS, C alif — Gladiator,
H ollyw ood’s high-tech return to the glories
o f Rome, led Academy Aw ards contenders
with 12 nominations, including nods for best
picture, actor and director. Crouching Tiger,
H idden D ragon, the M andarin-language
martial arts epic, was close behind with 10
nominations including best picture and best
director.
Human Genom e Full of
History
W A SH IN G TO N — The first good look at
the hum an genome reveals that a hum an has
only about 30,000 genes, tens o f thousands
fewer than scientists had expected and only
about 5,000 more than a mustard weed. It is
the first time an /o n e has been able to count
the num ber o f human genes. Scientists also
are startled by the discovery that the 50
percent o f the human genom e once dis­
missed as “junk” DNA has apurpose: It is the
historical genetic record o f our evolution,
and m ay contain the material that triggers
future evolution.
Two Women Cross
Antarctica Land Mass
M IN N EA PO LIS— Tw o former school­
teachers have become the first w om en duo to
ski unaided across Antarctica. Explorers Ann
Bancroft and Liv A m esen reached the Ross
Ice Shelf, com pleting a 2,400-m ile journey
that began Nov. 13. Both w om en have al­
ready acco m p lish ed asto n ish in g feats.
Bancroft, 45, was the first w om an to ski to
both the North Pole and the South Pole.
A m esen, 47, becam e the first w om an to ski
solo and unaided to the South Pole in 1994.
Kevin Connell is a Jesuit priest and the president o f St. Andrew Nativity School, a tuition-free Catholic
middle school that will open this fa ll to serve low-income students o f all faiths.
(P hoto by M ark W ashincton /P ortland O bserver )
Self Service Ban Stirs Lawmakers to Action
Delta Pilots Approve Strike
by Wide Margin
ATLA N TA — DeltaAir Lines pilots voted
overwhelm ingly to authorize a strike if con­
tract talks with the nation’s third-largest
carrier fail, their union said. The com pany
and union have agreed to negotiate until Feb.
28, when they will ask theNational Mediation
Board to arbitrate any rem aining disputes.
Pilots could strike as soon as April 1, barring
intervention by President Bush.
Motorola to Lay Off Up to
4,000 Workers
CHICAGO-Motoroladisclosedplans to lay
off as many as4,000 workers from its semicon­
ductor operations by die end o f the year - its
third round o f employee cuts in 10 weeks. No
specific locations forthe layoffs were announced.
The Schaumburg, 111. -basedcom pany’ssemi-
conductor operations are based in Austin, Texas.
Ice, Snow Hits Midwest
A large winter storm system brought snow
and ice to the Midwest, sending cars skittering
across roads, downing power lines and forcing
hundreds o f schools to close. Fourteen inches
ormoreofsnowwasforecastinsomeareas. The
freezing rain and snow were part o f a storm
system that stretched from Texas to the Great
Lakes.
Book Connects IBM to Nazis
BERLIN — U S. computer giant IBM has
alerted its employees about an upcoming book
detailing the company’s role in helping Nazis
carry out the Holocaust, according to an internal
company message. The book, titled “IBM and
the Holocaust,” claims that punch-card ma­
chines built by IBM were a key factor enabling
the Nazis to make their killing operations more
efficient. The company has yet to see the book.
Applications from students who will enter the sixth grade this
coming fall are now being accepted at St. Andrew Nativity School,
a new Catholic middle school being operated by the Jesuits in the
former St, Andrew Parish School building at Alberta and Northeast
9th Avenue.
Admission is open to students o f all faith backgrounds. Students
must come from low-income families and be willing to work hard
during an extended school day that will run from breakfast at 7:30
a.m. to a two-hour homework session that will conclude at 6:30
p.m. Weekend cultural and recreational activities will also be part
of the program.
Families will be asked to pay a $25 monthly activity fee and to
support the school by volunteer hours. Students will be asked to
participate in an after school program and a summer day camp in
July as part o f the application process.
There are now 28 “Nativity Schools” like St. Andrew Nativity
operating around the country, preparing low-income students o f all
faiths to enter college prep high school programs. Graduates of
these schools-nearly all o f whom are young people o f color—
attend and graduate from high school and college at rates far higher
than national averages. Eleven more Nativity schools are preparing
to open soon. St. Andrew will be the first Nativity school in the
Northwest.
To pick up an application, please stop by the school office at the
South end o f the ground floor o f the St. Andrew School building
at 4919 NE 9th. The office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday. Applications will not be sent out through mail. The
deadline for submitting an application is Monday, March 26. For
more information, please call the school office at 503-335-9600.
K ing Jr. Boulevard.
(Photo by Mark Washington/Portland Observer)
(A P) - State lawm akers are once again
considering w hether to give motorists the
choice o f pum ping their ow n gas.
N o session o f the Legislature has gone by
without a bid to bring O regon closer in line
with the 48 other states that allow consum ­
ers to fill their ow n tanks. This time, Sen.
Randy M iller, R-Lake O sw ego, is pushing
Senate Bill 506 to allow self-service gas but
require stations to provide “attended ser­
vice” to custom ers 55 and older, disabled or
those with a m edical condition that m akes it
difficult or dangerous for them to pum p their
ow n
g as.
”T o me, it’s im portant to provide choice to
those w ho w ant to get in and out o f a gas
station quickly or, for w hatever reasons,
want choice,” he said. M iller is jo in ed in the
effort by Reps Bill W itt, R-Portland. and
Jim Hill, R-Hillsboro.
W itt’s H ouse bill w ould allow large gaso­
line retailers to let custom ers pum p their
own gas but w ould require the retailers to
provide attendants to pum p gas upon re­
Drug House Explodes
North Portland Home Destroyed
trem ely volatile and unpredict­
methamphetamine lab
able substance and the explosion
in a house at 904 N.
caught
many neighbors o f f guard.
Baldw in exploded F ri­
day shattering the home’ s w in ­ “ A ll these windows and doors,
frames and glass fly in g into the
dows and shooting debris across
street, I thought, ‘ Who is throw ­
the street.
ing their s tu ff into the street?’
Police said the explosion was
Then I walked up;to the house
so pow erful it lifte d the ro o f o ff
and thought a bomb had gone o ff,
the house for a split-second.
or realized it could have been a
Upon hearing the explosion, a
natural gas explosion.” said Jer­
neighbor called 911, then watched
emy K illian.
as two women ran from the home
The women left tw o dogs be­
and le ft in two separate cars; a
hind. Both dogs were okay and
blue Jeep Grand Cherokee and a
were taken away by animal con­
white Thunderbird. Methamphet­
tro l workers.
amine is known to be an ex-
A
»
quest. H ill’s bill w ould repeal the self-serve
ban but have the state fire m arshal require
attendants at stations w here evidence show s
self-service presents hazards to a m ajority
o f custom ers. T he law m akers figure the
tim ing is right. For one thing, gas prices
spiked after the last legislative session ad ­
journed, and som e blamed O regon’s high-
est-in-the-country prices in part on the ex­
pense o f attendants.
For another, with m ost stations equipping
their fuel pum ps w ith devices to process
ATM and credit cards, self-service custom ­
ers d o n ’t have to leave their cars and stand
behind convenience-store shoppers to pay
for their gas. And there’s a political factor at
work: Few small, independent gas stations
exist to fight for the self-service ban. In the
1970s and '80s, they were a m ajor force
against big oil companies, w hich pushed the
repeal efforts The small stations believed
good service and customer relations helped
them com pete against industry-owned sta­
tions.