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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2001)
Page A4 A pril 11, 2001 (Tty* ^ ìo rtla n ò ® b s e ru e r Affirmative Action Decision Hypocritical Dlortlanh (Observer USPS 959-680 K w e is i M fu m e , N A A C P P r e s id e n t a n d c h i e f e x e c u tiv e o f f ic e r , sa id a f e d e r a l j u d g e ’s d e c is io n to s tr ik e d o w n th e U n iv e r s ity o f M ic h ig a n la w s c h o o l ’s a f f i r m a t i v e a c tio n p la n is h y p o c r itic a l b e c a u s e th r o u g h o u t th e h is to r y o f th is c o u n tr y th e r e h a s b e e n a f f i r m a tiv e a c tio n fo r v a rio u s g r o u p s a n d in d iv id u a ls . “ A ffirm a tiv e a c tio n h as b e e n e n jo y e d b y v a rio u s g r o u p s fo r th r e e c e n tu r ie s a s a la w f u l m e a n s o f r e m e d y in g p re se n t an d p a st d is c rim in a t i o n ,” s a id M f u m e . “ It is s till th e r ig h t th in g to d o to le v e l th e p la y in g f ie ld a n d a p r o v e n w a y to in c r e a s e d i v e r s i t y .” M f u m e s a i d th e N A A C P w o u ld s u p p o rt th e u n iv e r s ity ’s a p p e a l o f th e r u lin g b y U .S . D is tr ic t J u d g e B e r n a r d F r ie d m a n . “ W e a g r e e w ith th e u n i v e r s ity th a t a f f ir m a tiv e a c tio n is c r itic a l to e n h a n c in g e d u c a tio n a l o p p o r t u n i t y ,” s a id M f u m e . M fu m e s a id th e a t ta c k o n th e U n iv e r s ity o f M ic h ig a n la w s c h o o l ’s a f f i r m a tiv e a c tio n p r o g r a m is o n ly th e la te s t a tte m p t by r ig h t-w in g c o n s e r v a tiv e s to c o n tin u e th e in e q u itie s in h e r e n t in a d m is s io n s p o lic ie s th a t r e s u lt in a n o v e rw h e lm in g n u m b e r o f w h ite s tu d e n ts b e in g a d m itte d a n d s c h o o ls b e in g le s s d iv e r s e in t h e i r s tu d e n t b o d y . “ I f it is n e c e s s a r y , w e w ill j o i n th e U n iv e r s ity o f M ic h i g a n la w s c h o o l in a f ig h t to th e S u p r e m e C o u r t o n th is c a s e ,” s a id M fu m e . Established 1970 Oregon Seniors Deserve More E d it o r P C in h ie f , u b l is h e r Charles H. Washington E d i T o R Larry J. Jackson, Sr. B M u s in e s s Bv K eren B rown W ilson Twenty years ago, 1 helped in troduce the groundbreaking con cept o f assisted living to O regon’s long term care system. O ur elderly citizens suddenly had the option o f living in a place that felt like home, yet allow ed them to receive per sonal care and nursing help when they needed it. The assisted living m odel became such a success that anager Gary Ann Taylor A sst . P ublisher Michael Leighton C opy E d it o r Joy Ramos C r e a t iv e D ir e c t o r Robert Parker 47 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 97211 503-288-0033 Fax 503-288-0015 e-mail news@portlandobserver.com 9ubscrtytion@poitlandotoBerver.com states across the country adopted it. Unfortunately, seniors, and es pecially low-income seniors, may no longer be able to choose an assisted living facility as their home. Gov. John Kitzhaber has proposed drastic reductions in the Senior and D isabled Services D ivision (SD SD ) budget for 2001-2003. These reductions to O regon’s long term care system w ould effec tively pull the rug out from under a system that’s working, throwing us backward 20 years. O ne particularly w orrisom e as pect o f the G overnor’s proposal is its effect on low-income seniors. SD SD budget cuts w ould be to m ake it nearly im possible for as sisted living residences to accept M edicaid residents. O regon low- income seniors who rely on M ed icaid in order to reside in assisted living residences could face having to m ove out o f their apartm ent hom es and into shared-room nurs ing home facilities. N ursing hom e facilities are not the right place for seniors who do not need high lev els o f m edical assistance. A nd, because nursing facilities are m an dated to serve those needing skilled care, they cost the state consider ably m ore m oney than assisted living residences. W orse yet, if assisted living resi dences decide to continue serving M edicaid residents at the reduced paym ent levels, they would un doubtedly need to raise rates o f private-pay residents to help cover the cost differences. W ith assisted living care already costly for se niors on a fixed income, this trickle dow n scenario is unacceptable. Such strategies ultim ately cause private pay consum ers to spend dow n to M edicaid eligibility levels faster than they otherw ise would. Furthermore, as noted in an article published in the "O regonian" on M arch 26, m any assisted living residences financed w ith O regon H ousing bonds could be at risk o f d efaulting on th eir loans. Such defaults could result not only in the closure o f the residence, but n e g a tiv e ly im p a c t the S ta te ’s bond rating, w hich w ould m ean unpleasant ram ifications for ta x p a y e rs. T he bottom line is that these cuts elim in ate se n io rs’ options for living with dignity. A nd the cuts w ill practically m andate that low -incom e elderly reside in nurs ing hom es. In 1986, legislators m ade a decision that quality o f life w as a top p rio rity for se niors, including low -incom e se niors. N ow , in a tig h t b u d g et year, it seem s th e y ’ve changed their m inds. W hile there's been a lot o f talk about the im portance o f funding for our m ost vulnerable citizens - our ch ildren - are o u r frail se niors n o t ju s t as v u ln e ra b le a population? It is dish earten in g to see G ov. K itzhaber p en alize O r egon elderly pop u latio n in order to find m oney for prim ary e d u cation and early child h o o d p ro gram s. The larger qu estio n loom s - m ust w e pit the needs o f one vulnerable com m unity against an other? S urely there is a b etter solution. M ark Sim m ons, speaker SE L F L FFFN SF fo r W O M E N O F C O L O R Practice verbal, physical, and irvterrval resporvses to self- defen.se sitwatiorts. Taught by wovwtn. of c.oior. Register nowl (503) 493-1000 i Mondays: May 7 -June 18 o f the O regon H ouse o f R ep re se n ta tiv e s, re c e n tly sta te d that one m easure o f a so ciety is how w ell it treats its elders. I c o u ld n ’t ag ree more. A dopting G ov. K itzhaber’s pro p o sa l w ill n o t re fle c t w ell on O re g o n ’s m easure o f the value o f its citizens. Join m e in telling leg islato rs that, though there are d ifficu lt budget d ecisions to be m ade, cuts m ade at the expense o f seniors are a co m p ro m ise in e ld e r care w e cannot support. Keren Brown Wilson, Ph D. is chair o f the board o f the Assisted Living Federation o f America. She is also president o f the Jessie F. Richardson Foundation, a pri vate foundation that supports ad vocacy, research and training in long term care, and founder o f Assisted Living Concepts, which operates 185 assisted living resi dences throughout the United States. A Tisket A Tasket Your Easter Headquarters Order Your Easier Basket Today! 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