Committed to Cultural Diversity
m w w. port landobserver.com
January 23, 2002
“ßiidg-ing, (Poxtfandi Gamtnunitiei”
Z<T n n t t n
u n ity
I c tt ò a r
King March Calls For School Justice
Celebrating Chinese/
Vietnamese New Year
A C hinese/V ietnam ese N ew YearCel-
ebration will be held on T uesday, Jan.
29, from 3 - 5 p.m. at C olum bia R iver
M ental H ealth Services, 6929 NE.
Fourth Plain Blvd. clinic. A dm ission is
free and open to the public. E ntertain
m ent w ill include a “L ion D ance,” a
costum e fashion show , c h ild re n ’s
choir, as w ell as sam plings o f ethnic
foods w ill add to the festivities. Call
Kim Larson at 993-3139.
An estimated 400
people, led by Crisis
Education Team
activists Tony Hobson
(front, from left) and
Ron Herndon, take time
on the national holiday
honoring Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. to march
for better public
schools. The Crisis
Team accuses the
Portland School Board
and school
administration for failing
14 low-achieving
schools in north and
northeast Portland.
St. Johns Community Pride
Dinner
In recognition o f St. Jo h n ’s long his
tory o f com m unity pride, the neigh
borhood will be having a dinner party
for all toen jo y on W ednesday,F eb. 13
at 6 p.m. at Jam es John School. R eser
vations can be m ade by calling Bill
Smith at 283-9652.
Civil War History Buffs Unite
Civil W ar history buffs unite: the
Friends o f History are launching a new
Ci vil W ar round table program open to
anyone in the Portland m etropolitan
area w ith an interest in C ivil W ar. The
first organizational meeting will be held
at Portland State U niversity on Feb. 12
at 7:30 p.m. in Sm ith M em orial C enter
room 3 2 8 ,1 8 2 5 SW. Broadw ay. Call
774-691 l o r 725-3994.
j
Water Conservation Workshop
Learn how to take control o f your
w ater and sew er bills. W orkshop pro
vides inform ation on how to detect
and repair leaks, w ater conservation
ideas in and around your hom e, plus I
details on P ortlan d ’s incredible w ater I
system. Receive an instructional w o rk - 1
book and a free kit o f m aterials w orth I
$25. T he w orkshop will be held at the I
ST. Johns Com m unity Center, 8427 N. I
C entral St. on T hursday, Jan. 24, from I
6 :3 0 p .m .-8 p .m .C all2 8 4 -6 8 2 7 .
I
Japanese New Year Celebration I
A new year, old traditions, and the I
chance to celebrate the diversity o f I
the city - th a t’s w hat P ortland-area I
Japanese A m ericans are offering O r - 1
egonians on Sunday, Jan. 27, with I
“M ochitsuki 2002.” It’s a fun w ay for I
hundreds o f local residents and their I
fam lies to learn m ore about Japanese I
culture. T he event will take place at I
Portland S tate U n iv ersity ’s S m ith I
M em orial C enter B allroom , Rm . 3 5 5 , 1
from l:3 0 -4 p .m .C all7 2 5 -3 3 0 7 .
The Future of Energy in the
Northwest
T he C ity C lub invites all to attend a I
lecture on “T he Future o f Energy in I
the P acific N o rth w e st” by R alph I
C avanaugh, senior defense attorney, I
N ational Resources D efense Council. I
H e will be speaking on Friday, Jan. 2 5 , 1
1 1:30p.m . at the M ultnom ah A thletic I
Club. A luncheon is available. Call I
2 2 8 -7 2 3 1
or go
o n lin e
to I
pdxcityclub.org/forum s.
Learn How to Publicize
Joanne M cC all will be a guest speaker I
on "publicity as very spiritual work." I
G enerating publicity for your b u s i- 1
ness requires a good am ount o f s p ir i- 1
tual aw areness. H ear som e “h o w to ’s” I
so that you will be able to approach I
m edia in ways that will have them more I
open to your ideas. T his is a free, I
brow n bag lunch event on T hursday, I
Jan. 24, from 11 :3 0 a .m .- 1 p.m. at the I
G ood Sam Hospital - W ilcox B a s e - 1
ment. Conf. Rm. B. Call 977-6764,
photo by
ton /T he
server
Testimony Favors School Board Members by Zone
Speakers claim current system discriminates against low and moderate-income people
by J amie P artridge
F or the P ortland O bserver
S queezed into a classroom at B eau
m ont M iddle School, a crow d o f par
ents, teachers and school activists told
a Portland School Board hearing that
they deserve a chance to be elected
and represented on the board.
T he full board will decide the issue
at their regular m eeting on Feb. 11.
W earing stickers and carrying signs
dem anding “Equal R ights for L ow -In
com e C andidates” and “People Pow er
not M oney P ow er”, speakers decried
recent school board races where sev
eral w inning candidates spent over
$20,000 and som e as high as $50,000.
As a result, m any said, it is lawyers,
professionals, m anagers and the inde
pendently w ealthy, prim arily from up
per incom e neighborhoods, w ho m ake
up the volunteer board instead o f regu
lar w orking people, w ho make up a
m ajority o f the voting public.
Speakers from outer southeast and
inner northeast neighborhoods claim ed
that the current system discrim inates
against low and m oderate-incom e citi
zens.
Patti H ayes, Rainbow Coalition ac
tivist and a single, working mother from
northeast’s K ing neighborhood, car
ried a sign that read “P oor P eo p le’s
C am paign for Zone V ote” .
H ayes asked the board to change
the election rules so that “som eone like
me, from my neighborhood will be up
there, know ing w hat I’m going through
and reporting back to m e.”
M acceo Pettis o f the C oalition o f
Black M en testified that last year’s u c e
1
Patti Hayes o f northeast Portland’s King neighborhood testifies in favor o f a plan to elect school
board members by zones.
betw een Carrie A dam s, w ho lost, and
Julia Brim -Edw ards, who won, is “classic
exam ple o f the inequities o f the current
electoral system .”
Pettis noted that Adam s, a low incom e
single m other o f three, raised just $ 12,000
for her race, w hile Brim -Edw ards, a paid
political consultant w hose children a t
tend an elite “im m ersion” program on the
w est side, raised $55,000.
The one voice opposing zone voting,
Stephen Kafoury, a lobbyist, former school
Pros Mentor Young Local Playrights
Get Help for Kidney Disease
T he N ational K idney Foundation o f I
O regon and W ashington presents a I
free e d u c a tio n a l p ro g ra m c a lle d I
“People Like Us, Live!” - f o r in d iv id u - 1
als with kidney disease and their f a m i- 1
lies. The tw o-day program will be held I
on Saturday, Jan. 26 and Sunday, Jan. I
27, from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the N K F I
offices, 1006 SE. G rand Ave. C all 1 - 1
888-3-KIDNEY.
M ark W ashing -
P ortland O b
Aasha Benton (from left), Maxine
Simmonds and Shalini Dass, all o f
north and northeast Portland, write
and direct their own play.
A group o f north and northeast
Portland kids have paired with theatre
professionals to w rite and direct per
form ances o f their ow n original works,
thanks to a com m unity group called
H aven Project.
U nder the them e “W hen Pigs Fly,”
young A asha Benton has w ritten “Can
C an C an You H ave F un,” a play about
a fuzzy pig and a hoop earring; the
earring has a dream to be worn by Tina
T urner, and the pig w ants to catch a
bus to a G oodw ill store to be adopted.
How can they stay friends w hen they
*
w ant different things?
Other works created by the kids involve
creations such as Squirmy the W orm and
Blanky the Beetle, and “Classic Rock" about
aclassical piano and a hippie gerbil disagree
ing on which kind o f music the piano should
play: opera or rock and roll. The piano is
afraid that rock and roll will pop his strings.
The plays will be perform ed at the
N ew m ark T heatre on Southw est Broad
way and M ain on M onday, Jan. 28 at 7:30
p.m. This is a free event. For more inform a
tion, call 503-872-9635 or go online to
board member, former husband o f city
com missioner G retchen Kafoury, and
father of state representative Deborah
Kafoury, testified that board members
who are elected by the whole city look
out for the needs o f all children.
Differences Declared
in Governor’s Race
(AP) - Ted Kulongoski, seen by some as
the top Democratic candidate for Oregon
governor, said Thursday he would not rule
out a tax increase to help Oregon out o f its
economic slump. The former Oregon Su
preme Court justice m ade the com m ent
during a debate among the six m ajor guber
natorial candidates— three Democrats and
three R epub'icans. R epublican K evin
Mannix surprised some in the audience by
saying he would consider increasing taxes
on cigarettes, beer and wine to avoid deep
cuts in crucial programs.