Page A4
September 12, 2001
(Ehe ^Jortlanh ©bserucr
i Opinion
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views
of
SUp'^Jnrtlanb (Ohseruer
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(iDbscruer
USPS 959-680
Established 1970
Letters to the Editor
Equal Opportunity a Lie
E m ployers o f the Suite o f O regon say that everyone has an equal
opportunity for work. T his is not true; it’s a very good lie.
For a black, 43-year-old ex-felon w ith w ork experience, there is no
jo b opportunity from the em ployers o f O regon.
I have experience for all the jo b s that I have applied for, and if there
is som ething that I d o n ’t know . I ’m w illing to train fo r the job.
If there is equal opportunity w hy are so m any people unem ployed?
D o n ’t ju st say y o u 're an equal o pportunity em ployer; prove it by
giving w illing people a chance to w ork.
James Carr Jr.
Where is the Diversity?
S TA FF
E
d it o r
C
P
h
in
i e f
,
u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
E d
1 am w riting to request som e inform ation.
First, I w ould like to know w hat is the percentage o f m inority to non
m inority w orkers in L ocal 201 o f O perating E ngineers?
Second, w hat percentage o f these m inorities are A fro-A m erican,
and, how m any o f these w orkers are currently em ployed?
A lso, are there any contractors that ask for m inority quotas to be
filled w ith Local 201 w orkers, especially in P o rtlan d 's enterprise
zone?
it o i
Herbert Harris
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B i
Non-Discrimination Act Overdue
s i s
s s
e
M anager
Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
C
o pt
E
d it o r
Joy Ramos
C
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
Paul Neufeldt
4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin L u th e r
King. Jr. Blvd.
»
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P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 1 1
T he A FL -C IO strongly urges C ongress to pass the “E m ploym ent
N on-D iscrim ination A ct,” an im portant civil rights bill that will take
the long overdue step o f prohibiting em ploym ent discrim ination
based on sexual orientation.
A current federal law bars em ploym ent discrim ination on the basis
o f race, gender, religion, national origin, o r disability, but - unfortu­
nately and unfairly - not sexual orientation.
Since n o federal law prohibits em ploym ent discrim ination based
on sexual orientation, it is currently legal to fire or refuse to hire
w'orking m en and w om en in 38 states because o f their actual or
perceived sexual orientation. A s a result, w orking people are now
being denied em ploym ent on the basis o f som ething that has no
relationship to their ability to perform their work.
The A FL-CIO strongly believes that discrim ination based on sexual
orientation is inconsistent with the principles o f equal opportunity and
equal em ploym ent that our m ovement has fought for so long.
W e are proud to jo in w ith a w ide array o f civil rights organizations,
religious institutions, responsible em ployers, and bipartisan political
leaders in urging C ongress to enact the E m ploym ent N on-D iscrim i­
nation Act.
5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
John J. Sweeney, AFL-CIO President
The Dollars and No Sense of a Missed Education
It’s a w ell-know n fact that
children who do not com plete
high school will have m ore dif­
ficulty getting jobs than those
w ho do.
It's a w ell-know n fact that
children who do not com plete
high school w ill have an aver­
age annual incom e that is less
than half that o f high school
graduates.
It’s a w ell-know n fact that
children who do not com plete
h ig h s c h o o l a re o f te n ill
equipped to provide for them ­
selves and will require more
social services than those who
do graduate.
It's a w ell-know n fact that
children w ho did not com plete
high school now make up nearly
half the prison population.
F or society, the annual cost
o f providing for youth w ho fail
to com plete high school and
their families is $76 billion— or
approximately $800 for each tax­
payer. T h e im p a c t o f h igh
sch o o l d ro p o u ts h o w ev er, is
not lim ited to ju st eco n o m ics.
T he c o llec tiv e e ffec ts o f the
ed u c atio n al and p erso n al a s­
pects th at lead to d ro p p in g
o u t, in flu en ces an in d iv id u ­
a ls ’ se lf-esteem an d the w ay
th ey v iew th e w orld.
W hat m ay not be well known
is the fact that these children
face significantly more problems
as children, long before they
ever approached high school.
W ith the national dropout
rate as high as 28 percent, a sur­
vey asked d ro p o u ts u n d er 19
years old, to tell about their lives
B EFO R E they decided to leave
school. T hey shared the h ard­
ships o f both their personal and
schools lives:
• 12 percent ran a way from a d y s­
functional o r abusive home.
• 8 percent spent tim e in a ju v e ­
nile hom e or shelter.
• Nearly 46 percent reported hav­
ing depressive sym ptom s.
• 71percent w ere less likely to
take a positive attitude tow ard
them selves.
• 9 percent reported having an
inhibiting disability, handicap or
chronic disease.
• A lm ost h alf m issed at least 10
days o f school, one-third cut class
at least 10 tim es, and one-quarter
were late at least 10 times.
• A lm ost 20 percent w ere held
back a grade, and almost half failed
a course.
• C lose to 31 percent did not get
along w ith one or m ore school
personnel.
• O ne-third w ere put on in-school
suspension, suspended, o r put
on probation, and m ore than 15
percent w ere either expelled or
told they co u ld n ’t return.
• N early 25 p erc en t ch a n g ed
schools tw o o r m ore tim es, som e
for disciplinary reasons.
• Nearly 40 percent had a child or
were expecting one.
• 71 percent reported using alco­
hol, m arijuana, crack, cocaine,
heroine, speed o r dow ners.
• 11 percent had been arrested.
• In 1999-2000, O regon had
10,363 dropouts out o f 164,554
stu d en ts.
T he m etro region holds the
highest num bers: 4,269 students
o r 41.2 percent o f all dropouts
statew ide. M any o f the factors
in flu e n c in g th e d e c isio n o f
O reg o n ’s children to dropout,
m im ic m any o f those nationally
su rv e y e d . O th e r fa c to rs in ­
cluded w orking m ore than 15
hours a w eek; needed at hom e to
take care o f fam ily m em bers; not
speaking E nglish w ell or at all;
hom elessness and falling to far
behind to catch up.
N o w , h as all th a t d ata c a p ­
tu re d y o u r a tte n tio n to the
d ro p o u t/p u sh e d o u t d ilem m a,
an d the e c o n o m ic and social
d ev e lo p m e n t re ta rd a tio n th at
c o m es w ith it? H av e you yet
a sk ed y o u rse lf w h at y o u can
d o to stem th e tid e o f these
s ta tistic s ? T h e d ro p o u t p ro b ­
lem is a co m p lex on e an d since
th e ca u se s are ro o ted in the
c o m m u n ity , f a m i l i e s a n d
sc h o o ls, so fro m m u st com e
the so lu tio n T h ese are kids
th at need o u r help and a d iffe r­
e n t k in d o f r e a s s u r a n c e .
T h e y ’re k id s th a t k n o w they
c a n ’t go b ack . P erh ap s th e u l­
tim a te q u estio n is w ill w e help
them m o v e fo rw ard ?
It w ould appear that the drop­
out rate is a better index o f youth
m isfortune rather than school
effectiveness.
- Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5
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A.
from Front
she turned her own son into
authorities to get him off drugs
is the highest testimony to her
personal commitment. Mariah
is one person who should never
have been turned away from
visiting a prisoner.”
Blumenauer said health care
workers, including doctors,
nurses, and even veterinarians,
routinely fail the electronic
scans because minute traces
of drugs they work with are on
their hands.
He said other federal cor­
rection facilities routinely is­
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I
sue waivers for health care
professionals, but this has not
been the case in Sheridan.
While Taylor is licensed to
write prescriptions for drugs,
she said she doesn’t handle the
drugs themselves and doesn't
store drugs at her clinic for
security reasons.
Thursday, Yamhill County
District Attorney Brad Berry
said that Taylor would not be
prosecuted.
He said his decision was
based partly on her involve­
ment in the community and the
fact that she does not have any
criminal record.
J
Announcing
the continuation of the
“Y- we C are ”
A fter -S chool P rogram
Serving Grades 3, 4, 5
brought to you by the Northside YMCA
in cooporation with:
W e ig h t W atchers
Funny thing about willpow er you
have a lot more of it on a full stornai b
th a n an e m p ty one th a t's why
Winning Points is so effettive yon get
to eat the foods you like, so you
\ stay s a tis fie d stay w ith th e
p ro g ra m , an d lose It's th a t
sim ple This speoal offer w on't
last so pin now'
We’re Here... We Care
For information please contact the Northside YMCA
NORTHEAST PORTLAND
Glitan St Baptiat Church
503.288.3355
Tillamook Park Bldg.
10401 N.E. Glisan
2108 N.E. 41’ Ave.
Mon (enter parking lot side) 7:00 p.m.
MON
Wed. (enter parking lot side) 7:00 p.m.
TUE
W ED
Tampte Baptiat Church
7:00pm
7:00pm
1319 N.E. 7 *
Tue Fireside Room 12:00 noon
I InYOBnivMI DOcq«*
2510 N.E. Sandy Blvd.
12Noon
9:30am
THUR
930am
FRI
9:30am
SAT
930am
5:00pm
7:00pm
5:00pm
7:00pm
Thur C o n f Room 12:00 noon
\ MCA
NORTH PORTLAND
Northm lnatar P ra t. C hurch 2823 N. Portland Blvd.
Wed D ownstairs 4 45 p.m.
Join any meeting! For more information Call weekdays 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
(503)297-1021
I
(or toll free l« 7 7 2971O21)
4
We b u ild stron g kids.,
strun g fam ilie s, strung com m unities.
J