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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2002)
Page A4 o r tta iiò (Dbarrurr March 20, 2002 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily rejlect or represent the views o f ( C l jc ^ J o r t h u tb ( D h e r r u c r The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. 5Ç 32 88 -0 0 3 3 • FAX5 0 3 2 8 3 0 0 1 5 • EMAIL : news@portlandobserver. com subscriotion<3>Dortlandobserver.com The Portland Observer—Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New Y ork, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. t i LETTER TO Tl IE EDITOR Oregon’s Working Families Suffer Repeal Student Aid Drug Provision f d o n ’t know , m aybe 1 am frorp the "old school" where education was a right for all those that w anted to obtain it, 4 b u tit looks like things sure have changed these days. Even the university that we all;g o to was created to give educational access to V eterans thaj returned from the w ar and w ouldn’t have otherw ise had it. O ur legislators how ever, one in particular, D avid Wu, have a different opinion on w ho de serves to get an education to change their lives for the better. In the H igher Education Act o f 1998, there w as a drug pro vision that was added that lim ited access to higher education by denying financial aid to those that had been convicted o f a drug offense. D o n ’t get m e w rong, I do b elie v e that p eo p le should be p u n ish ed if they break the law , but I also b eliev e th at if you h a v e b een p u n is h e d fo r a c rim e once, you should not b e p u n ish e d a g a in fo r th e sam e crim e. C om m unities o f color and low -incom e people are the ones that really get hit hard by this drug provision. People o f color are convicted o f drug offenses at higher rates due to racial pro filing, and low -incom e students need financial aid the most. T he H ig h e r E ducation A ct w as c re a te d o v e r th re e d e cades to in crease o p p o rtu n i ties to c o lle g e for m illio n s o f stu d en ts, but today it has the p o tential to lim it it. There is w ay to correct this p roblem : w ith HR 786, the am endm ent w ould be repealed. H opefully our legislators will regain their sanity and vote for this repeal. Cynthia Sartin Associated Students of Portland State University Advertise w ith diversity LOTTERY NOW OPEN in J J n r tla n b OPAL SCHOOL (Obserncr Á unique Portland Public Schools Charter Elementary located at C M 2—Children's Museum at Washington Park across from the Zoo call 503.288.0033 or email: ads@portlandobserver.com N O T U IT IO N for morning preschool & kindergarten N O T U IT IO N for grades 1 -2 BUS T R A N S P O R T provided fo r families in North and Northeast Portland serve Pre-K through 2nd-grade students (ages 3 -7 years • ; old) in Fall 2 00 2 , with additional grades added in subsequent years. Students living in the Portland Public School District are selected through an open lottery. To ' get a lottery application, stop by the Children's Museum ' or call (503) 471-9900, ext. 100. All applications must be postmarked by March 31, 2002. < « i * ■j-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ’1 firmed that over 65 percent o f O r egonians support raising taxes on After two disappointing spe cigarettes and alcohol to balance cial sessions in the legislature, I the budget. Unfortunately, there want to share my thoughts with was not support for these mea you on our efforts to balance the sures among the Republican mem state budget. Lawmakers had to bers o f the House. make up an $830 million budget Thank you to all the dedicated shortfall by cutting programs, folks who went to Salem to express finding new sources o f revenue, their concern about potential bud or emptying state reserves and get cuts. My office has been inun one-time revenue sources such dated with calls and letters from State Rep. as the Educational Endowment parents, seniors, educators and Jackie Dingfelder Fund or the national tobacco concerned citizens demanding that settlement. we protect vital programs. The stu It had been my hope that the House could dents who took an active role in opposing cuts to our com e together as a bipartisan group to make schools particularly impressed me. these difficult decisions, as our colleagues in Gov. K itzhaber’s veto o f portions o f the latest the Senate did. Instead, conservative Repub budget means that we will likely return to Salem in licans pushed for unacceptable cuts to educa June for a third special session. I will continue to tion and social services and drained nearly all fight for a balanced approach to the budget shortfall o f the sta te ’s reserves. I refused to support a and hope that we can find a bipartisan compromise. budget solution that w ill further drain our In addition, we must address the consequences o f schools’ lim ited resources and create a half the state’s economic recession. Oregon has the billion shortfall next year. I heartily supported highest level o f unemployment and hunger o f any Gov. K itzhaber’s use o f his veto to dem and state in the nation. It is our responsibility as legis that House Republicans negotiate a balanced lators to provide assistance for working families that and fair budget. are suffering in this economic downturn. Prior to the first special session, I sent out a It is my commitment to continue working to pro survey to the members o f my district to better tect programs and services that are vital to providing understand their priorities in the budget process. a high quality o f life for all Oregonians. Hopefully I would like to thank the hundreds o f people who with this breather between the sessions, some o f my took the time to respond. The overwhelming colleagues in the House will start to see things the majority supported new sources o f revenue to same way. fund the budget shortfalls in education and so Jackie Dingfelder, represents northeast Port cial services. In addition, statewide polling con land, in House District 45. Gun Safety Efforts Leave No Child Behind by O pal School—a program of the Children's Museum—will by S tate R ep . J ackie D ingfelder M arian W right E delman The shameful and sad fact is that 3,761 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the United States in one typical y e a r— 10 every day. One thousand, four hundred and sixteen o f them were black. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of firearm deaths among children under age 15 in the United States is almost 12 times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined. Over half o f our children and youths killed by gunfire were murdered, and another one-third were victims o f suicide. And 261 other children were simply accident victims - they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. About 40 percent o f American households own a gun. Children live in nearly half o f those households. One study found that 1.4 million homes with 2.6 million children living in them had firearms that were stored unlocked and loaded, or stored unlocked and unloaded but kept together with the ammunition. Every one o f them is a disaster waiting to happen. It is time for adults to wake up and protect their children. During this dangerous time in our nation, many o f our children are worried about external threats and about how adults will keep them safe. Doing everything we can to keep all children safe is our job but it must include protecting them from the gun violence epidemic in our own country. Marian Wright Edelman is president o f the Children's Defense Fund, which coordinates the Black Community Crusade fo r Chil dren. C D F’s mission is to Leave No Child Behind.
