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.
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