October 24, 2001
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Page A4
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views
o f ( T l j v |J o r t l a n i i ( O b s c r u c r
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1 CLlie |Jo rtlau ù (Ohsevuer
USPS 959-680
Established 1970
In the w ake o f the S ept 11 n atio n al trag ed y , m any O re g o n ia n s
are th in k in g ab o u t p eacefu l co n flict in th e ir o w n co m m u n ities.
Y ou can b e part o f the p eacek eep in g e ffo rt locally by v o lu n te e r­
ing as a n eig h b o rh o o d m e d iato r w ith th e N eig h b o rh o o d M e d ia­
STA F F
E
d it o
r
C
in
h ie f
,P
u b l is h e r
Charles H. W ashington
E d
i
r o
n
th ree h o u rs a w ee k fo r on e year.
A series o f 4 0 -h o u r train in g se ssio n s w ill be held F eb. 1 9 ,2 0 ,
21, 26, 27, 28 and M arch 5, 6. 7 fro m 6 to 9 p.m . an d Feb. 23,
M arch 2, a n d M ay 18 fro m 9 a.m . to 5 p.m . in th e L o v ejo y R oom
at C ity H all. Y ou ca n earn up to 12 cre d its fro m P o rtlan d
C o m m u n ity C o lleg e fo r the train in g an d ap p re n tice sh ip year.
T h e N eig h b o rh o o d M e d iatio n C e n te r - a p ro g ram o f the
O ffice o f N eig h b o rh o o d In v o lv em en t u n d e r C ity C o m m issio n er
D an S altzm an — h as been h elp in g the co m m u n ity reso lv e
e s s B is u c ii
G ary A n n Taylor
A sst . P lR U S H E R
M ichael Leighton
C
E
o n
d isp u tes sin ce 1978.
V o lu n te er m ed iato rs a ssist resid en ts w ith n eig h b o r-to -n eig h -
b o r c o n cern s, la n d lo rd /ten a n t issu es an d in terp erso n al co n flict.
T h ey also help w ith co n su m e r c o m p lain ts and g ro u p fa c ilita ­
d it o r
Joy R am os
C
r e a t iv e
D
tio n C enter.
M e d iatio n is a v o lu n ta ry p ro c e ss w h ereb y p eo p le w ith
d isp u tes co m e to g eth er, sit d o w n w ith a m ed iato r, an d ta lk about
w ay s to so lv e th eir disp u te.
T h e m ed iatio n train in g is free in e x c h an g e for v o lu n teerin g
r
L arry J. Jackson, Sr.
B v si
Keep the Peace in
Our Own Backyard
ir e c t o r
tions.
Call 503-823-3152 or stop by the mediation center at the
King Facility, 4815 N.E. 7"' Ave., fo r an application packet.
P aul N eufeldt
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
503-288-0033 Fax 503-288-0015
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.Vancouver.
Racial Disparity in
Lending Must Stop
The A ssociation o f C o m m u ­
nity Organizations for Reform Now
(A C O R N ) has released a study
docum enting continued racial and
income disparities in the mortgage
lending market.
The report analyzes data on a
national scale and in 60 m etropoli­
tan areas, including Portland.
“A cross the country low- and
m oderate-incom e and m inority
borrow ers are being turned dow n
for m ortgages m ore often than
other b orrow ers," said M aude
H urd, the g ro u p 's national presi­
dent. “ Banks need to turn this
situation around if we are going to
have safe and stable co m m u n i­
ties.”
T he study found that in P ort­
land, A frican -A m erican ap p li­
cants w ere 1.84 tim es m ore likely
to be denied a mortgage than white
applicants in 2000. This w as a 5.75
percent increase from 1999.
L a tin o s w e re re je c te d 1.92
tim e s m o re o fte n th a n w h ite s
in 2 0 0 0 , a 7 .2 6 p erc en t in c re a se
from 1999.
W h e n c o n s id e rin g b o r ro w ­
e rs in th e sam e in c o m e b r a c k ­
e ts, A fric a n -A m e ric a n s e a r n ­
ing m o re th a n 120 p e rc e n t o f
th e m e d ia n in c o m e w e re d e ­
n ie d h o m e lo a n s a t a ra te 2 .51
tim e s m o re o fte n th a n u p p e r
in c o m e w h ite s. U p p e r in c o m e
L a tin o s w e re 2 .1 6 tim e s m o re
lik e ly to be r e je c te d th a n u p ­
p e r in c o m e w h ite s.
P o rtla n d h ad th e 6 th g r e a t­
e s t d is p a rity in a n y c ity s tu d ­
ie d b e tw e e n th e s h a re o f lo a n s
g o in g to A fric a n -A m e ric a n s
an d A fric a n -A m e ric a n s ' sh a re
in th e p o p u la tio n .
The city had the greatest d is­
parity o f any city studied betw een
the share o f loans going to Latinos
and L atin o s’ share in the pop u la­
tion.
A CO RN is the n atio n ’s largest
com m unity organization o f low-
and m oderate-incom e fam ilies,
withover 100,000member families
organized into 500 neighborhood
chapters in 40 cities across the
country.
Freightliner Decision
Positive for Portland
M ayor Vera K atz issued the
fo llo w in g sta tem en t regarding
F reig h tlin er’s decision to retain
corporate headquarters in P ort­
land:
“F reightliner’s announcem ent
that they are going to retain their
corporate headquarters in P ort­
land and m ove their W estern Star
truck m anufacturing operations
here from British Columbia is good
news— even if that new s m ust be
tem pered with som e layoffs here.
“T his is ultim ately a positive
decision for P ortland and our
econom y. It show s com m itm ent
to our com m unity and to the more
than 2,500 w orkers at the Swan
Island facility. I appreciate the
w illingness o f the Freightliner
m a n a g e m e n t te a m a n d th e
com pany’s w orkers to partner with
us to save as m any o f these P ort­
land-based quality jo b s as pos­
sible.
“I also w ish to express my ap­
preciation to the Portland D evel­
opm ent C om m ission under the
leadership o f D on M azziotti, as
w ell as o u r partners at the state
level w ho provided valuable as­
sista n c e , in c lu d in g G o v e rn o r
K itzhaber and the O regon E co­
nom ic and C om m unity D evelop­
m ent D epartm ent.
“I look forw ard to a long rela­
tionship with Freightliner and wish
the com pany every success in
th eir co rp o rate tu rn aro u n d e f­
forts.”
Pakistan Expert Urges
Caution in U.S.
Response
A nita W eiss, a professor o f
international studies at the U ni­
versity o f O regon, worries about
the results o f U.S. military action
in A fghanistan.
W eiss is an expert on M uslim
societies and hum an rights, par­
ticularly in Pakistan, and re­
cently co-edited “P ow er and
C ivil Society in Pakistan” pub­
lished this year by O xford U ni­
versity Press.
O n the day o f the terrorist
attacks on the U nited States,
W eiss w as in Pakistan on a re­
search trip that also took her
th ro u g h M a la y s ia , a n o th e r
largely M uslim country.
She says the current m ilitary
strike on A fghanistan is an au­
tom atic reflex reaction that may
acco m p lish sh o rt-term goals
such as k illin g or capturing
O sam a bin Laden and destabi­
lizing the T aliban regim e, but
w o n ’t stop the international w eb
o f terrorism.
“Ultim ately, this will only fan
the flam es o f anger am ong those
in the Islam ic w orld w ho are al­
ready angry at the U .S .,” says
W eiss. Any action that kills in­
nocent A fghans-w ho had noth­
ing to do w ith the attacks on the
U.S.-will reinforce the belief held
in som e countries that the U.S.
targets M uslim s w ith its own
brand o f terrorism , W eiss b e­
lieves. She cites recent street
dem onstrations as evidence that
the U.S. strikes are causing fur­
ther anti-A m erican resentm ent
in Pakistan, w hich already is at
odds w ith the U .S. position in
the India-Pakistan dispute over
Kashmir.
“C ritical assessm ent o f the
situation in M uslim countries is
crucial. W e need to realize that
Pakistan is a country w ith 160
million people and nuclear weap­
ons, and w e d o n ’t w ant to d esta­
bilize the governm ent there,” she
said.
To effectively stop terrorism ,
W eiss suggests, “the U.S. m ust
take a m ore proactive approach
to m ediating som e o f the co n ­
cerns raised by the M uslim world
in p la c e s s u c h as I s r a e l,
C hechnya and K ashm ir.
“W e have to recognize the
different points o f view in the
world and assess the im plica­
tions o f o u r actions around the
w orld,” she said.
§
&
§■
Can you dig it?
<• «,*
Maybe, but you should call first.
Pacific Power wants you to stay safe. With chilly winter weather on
the horizon, you may be thinking about getting some of those yearly
home and yard maintenance chores checked off your list. But first,
we'd like to remind you to be careful out there.
Call before you dig. Digging into underground power lines can be just
as dangerous as contacting an overhead line. Before you plant a tree,
dig holes for fence posts or install underground sprinklers, call us and
we'll give you the number of the free locate service in your area.
Never touch or approach a downed power line or anything it’s
touching. When a power line is down, you can't tell if it's dead or
live. Don't touch or approach it, even if it's just lying there. That line
may look harmless, but it and the ground around it can actually be
energized with thousands of volts of electricity - more than enough
to kill. If you see a downed power line, keep everyone, including
pets, out of the area, then call us immediately.
To order free safety education materials, call us at 1-800-791-6093
or visit www.pacificpower.net.
PACIFIC PO W ER
Making it happen.
SALT LAKE 2002*
999
XIX
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