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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2002)
B la c k H is to r y B a k e r s These African Americans led their fields, from aviation to medicine W $ee 'toriex, Page A5 Jinrtianh ©bsel "The City Of Roses" Volume XXXII Number 6 Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday y February 06, 2002 50* Reversal of Fortune Accounting Worries Slap Stocks A growing lack o f faith in the accuracy o f accounting and worries about the health of corporate America hammered stocks. Investors are nervous that the Enron accounting debacle may be the first of more scandals to come. Bush Unveils S2.13T Budget WASHINGTON— President Bush sent Congress a $2.13 trillion budget that would provide billions of dollars in new spending for his two top priorities — the war on terrorism and homeland security— but would squeeze much of the rest of government to keep the deficit from soaring. Rumsfeld Warns of Threats Far Deadlier Than Sept. 11 W ASHINGTON— Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the USA must prepare for surprise attacks “vastly more deadly” than the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings. Rumsfeld said the nation is vulnerable to cyberattacks, attacks on U.S. military bases abroad and ballistic missile attacks on American cities. Northwest Medical Teams Returns From Rwanda Four emergency medical volunteers from Northwest Medical Teams re turned home from Rwanda last week after caring for families who fled deadly volcanic eruptions in Goma, Congo. The team provided medical care at Rwanguba Hospital in northwestern Rwanda and treated refugees exposed to malaria, diarrheal diseases and other life-threatening com m unicable ill nesses associated with poor sanitary conditions and unclean water. Winter Roars Through Midwest KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Snow, sleet and freezing rain descended from the Plains to New England, stalling airline passengers and leaving thousands w ith o u t electricity . T he N ational Weather Service predicts up to 14inches o f snow from the storm. Doctors Back Gay Co-Parents Saying the children o f gay parents fare as well as those raised by hetero sexuals, the n atio n ’s largest p ed iat ric group, the A m erican A cadem y o f Pediatrics, will call for state law s that allow hom osexuals to adopt their partn ers’ children. New Approach to Fighting Breast Cancer CHICAGO — Recent studies show that a radiation alternative called brachytherapy is effective for breast cancer patients. A few cancer special ists have been using it, as it requires about four or five days o f treatment instead o f six weeks or more. Commission Considers Black History Museum The challenges o f capturing the story o f American blacks are starting to emerge as the project to create the first National Museum of African American History and Culture crawls forward. Bush budget would eliminate job center he visited last month M c CA LL/T he A ssociated P ress (AP) — President Bush wants to eliminate federal funding for the same youth job center he visited in northeast Portland last month. Under the Bush administration budget proposal to Congress on Monday, $545 million would be slashed from U.S. Department of Labor job training programs— including funding for 23 youth centers across the coun try. “I think it’s a bad idea,” said Jeelani Shareef, 22, who uses the Youth Opportunity Center at 3034 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. at least two to three times a week. The youth center program, aimed at kids and young adults 14 to 21, serves about 1,400 youth in an economic enterprise zone established a decade ago to help revive the poorest section of Portland. Bush stopped at the center on Jan. 5 during a visit to Portland to talk about jobs after the state’s unemploy ment rate led the nation in December. “We should be putting money towards finding teen agers jobs, and training them,” Shareef said. “I ’ m getting a lot of use out of this place, and so are a lot o f other people.” A White House spokesman said the Bush adminis tration has found the youth center program to be inef fective or duplicates other federal job training programs. “The proposed budget seeks to streamline federal government,” said spokesman Ken Lisaius. “This is a wartime budget,” Lisaius said, “so we want to direct funds to other programs that are working and are working well.” Bobby Lee, spokesman for the youth center, said it was too soon to judge the two-year-old program be cause it has barely reached its first evaluation point. The grant creating the center out of an old Nike outlet store was supposed to run at least five years, Lee said. “It takes time to get established,” Lee said, noting the center serves youth who need help with basic reading and math skills, along with many who are coping as teen by W ILLIA M IRONIC TWIST — George W. Bush and U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. show support for the Youth Opportunity Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. during a visit last month. Now the Bush administration wants to cut 80 percent o f the funding for the program that serves disadvantaged youth. D on R yan /A ssociated P ress P hotographer parents and are fighting poverty. “These are young people with probably the lowest per capita income in the entire state,” Lee said. ‘T hese are kids who would be left on the street if they didn ’ t have this kind of center.” b u t center officials noted that any cuts first must be approved by Congress, and any funding changes likely would not be felt for at least 18 months. Meanwhile, the center will seek other funding, including private grants. Still, the possibility of a federal cutback was greeted with concern by many who use the center. Jerry Murphy, a Persian G ulf war veteran who uses a companion adult job center in the same building, said it was “ironic” the Bush administration hopes to spend U.S. job training money on the war against terrorism when Secretary of State Colin Powell last Friday urged an international effort toeliminate the poverty that feeds terrorism. “If you want to cut back on the budget, cut back an area that doesn’t hurt the local economy,” Murphy said. Shaneeka McKinley, 18, said the youth center is the only place many inner city kids can find counselors and computer equipment to help them find jobs. “I’d say at least 75 percent of the people who come in here are training for a job," she said, “with a lot of kids who have no idea of how to prepare a resume.” McKinley said the recession has hit many teen-agers especially hard because they are looking for entry level jobs at a time when employers try to keep more experi enced workers. “How can the president say this is the land of oppor tunity when he’s cutting back on that opportunity?” McKinley said. Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. asked the director o f the federal O ffice o f M anagem ent and Budget to ensure there is money in the federal budget for the program. Smith said the center deserves con tinued funding. Downtown Courthouse Gets Child Care Sudden ‘CourtCare’gives parents better access to justice system Unexplained Heart Attacks Studied It means we will no longer see children crawling under tables in courtrooms, or crying in the halls as they see a parent led away in handcuffs CourtCare Director Michelle Ward gives Christian and Brandon a game to play and a much better alternative to watching court proceedings at the new child care center at the Multnomah County Courthouse. - Circuit Court Judge photo bv M ark W ashington /T hf , P ortland O bserver C hildren now have a place to go w hile their parents or guardians have business at the M ultnom ah County C ourthouse. The county’s CourtCare is a drop-in, no-fee child care program designed to prevent young children from w itness ing negative courtroom scenes and to reduce courtroom disruptions. The program opened Dec. 6 in a reno vated second floor jury room and is operated by V olunteers o f A m erica Oregon. ) A s tu d y by the M u ltn o m a h C ourtC are A dvisory Board, an ad hoc group o f judges, attorneys, child advo cates, and courthouse staff, found that an average of 80 children under the age o f 12 is in the courthouse each day. W ithout a m eans to keep these chil dren away from court proceedings, they can w itness frightening scenes, and can be disruptive to court proceedings. The “C ourtC are fills a great need in our court,” states Circuit C ourt Judge Janice W ilson. “ It means we will no 1 longer see children craw ling under tables in courtroom s, or crying in the halls as they see a parent led away in h a n d c u ffs . W ith the o p e n in g o f CourtC are, we take another step in ful filling our promise of access to justice.” The program is the first o f its kind in Oregon. During the first six weeks of operation, nearly 80 percent of children were brought to CourtCare by their mothers who were seeking temporary restraining orders against a husband or boyfriend. (A P) — O regon H ealth & S c i ence U niversity is lau nching a yearlong study into sudden u n e x p la in e d d e a th s in M u ltn o m a h C ounty w ith funding h elp from the U .S. C e n te rs fo r D ise a se C ontrol and P rev ention. OH SU officials say the inform a tion will provide an accurate num ber o f heart attacks in the county, where they occur, and w hat condi tions might lead up to them. “W hile several research stu d ies have d e a lt w ith im proving resu scitatio n e ffo rts, few have fo c u se d on a s s e s s in g m e c h a nism s o f sudden d eath in this m a n n e r.” said S u m eet C h u g h , O H SU card io lo g ist. “ W e w ant to capture each and every ca se o f cardiac a rre st.” The study will incorporate data gathered by the sole am bulance service in M ultnom ah C o u n ty , M ultnom ah C ounty E m erg en cy S e rv ic e s, the O reg o n M e d ic a l E xam iner's office and 16 local hospitals. In O regon, sudden cardiac death is responsible for about 4 .0 0 0 deaths a year. Up to 500 o f these deaths rem ain unexplained.
