Two Views on PCC Cascade
Campus expansion fulfills community dream;
church faces horrendous move
See Opinion, Page A3
"The City Of Roses"
Volume XXXII
Number 12
www.portlandobserver.com
1
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Wednesday
March 27,2002
Black Actors Voted Best
Halle Berry and Denzel Washington make Oscar history
Consumer Confidence Soars
NEW Y O RK — Consumer confidence
surged in March to its highest level in
seven months, bolstered by growing
economic optimism. The index is closely
watched because confidence drives
spending, which accounts for about
two-thirds o f the nation’s economic
activity.
Death Toil in Afghan Quake
Rises
KABUL, Afghanistan — A powerful
earthquake rocked Afghanistan and
northwestern Pakistan, killing about
1,800 people. Nearly 600 bodies were
recovered from villages still shaking
from frequent aftershocks. A U.N.
spokeswoman said the toll could reach
4,800.
Gas Prices Surge
. CAMARILLO, Calif. — Gas prices
surged a record 14 cents over the last
. two weeks as several factors crimped
• supply and raised demand. Last week ’ s
price per gallon was nearly $1.38, up
more than 14.3 cents per gallon.
Tax Probe Targets Offshore
Accounts
Two million Americans may be evading
U.S. taxes through credit card accounts
at offshore banks, the IRS said. The
estimate came as government lawyers
asked a federal court to compel Visa
International to identify Americans who
routinely use cards from offshore bank
ing havens.
lu w o Koreas to Reopen Talks
(AP) — Until Sunday, ju st one black
actor in 73 years had won an A cadem y
A w ard in a lead role. N ow there are
three.
Halle Berry was nam ed best actress
fo r“ M onster’s Ball” and Denzel W ash
ington took best actor for “T raining
Day,” joining Sidney Poitier in an em o
tional evening as the only blacks to win
those top-tier awards.
By coincidence, Poitier was on hand
to receive a lifetime achievement award.
He had won his best-actor aw ard for
“ Lilies o fth e Field” in 1963.
“ F o rty years I ’ve been ch a sin g
Sidney. They finally give it to m e, and
they give it to him the sam e night,”
W ashington said with a sm ile, raising
his statuette in P oitier’s direction.
Poitier stood and raised his in a toast
to W ashington.
W ashington also had won the sup-
porting-actor O scar for 1989’s “G lory.”
Am ong the nom inees he beat Sunday
was Will Smith, for “Ali.” It was the first
time two black actors com peted against
each other in the category.
Berry, the sixth black actress nom i
nated for an O scar in a lead role, was the
first to win. She broke down in tears,
saying she was accepting the aw ard for
every black actress w ho had preceded
her, nam ing D orothy D andridge, Lena
Horne and Diahann Carroll among them.
Berry won a 1999 Emmy for the title
ro le in “ I n tr o d u c in g D o ro th y
D andridge,” the story o f the first black
actress nom inated for a best-actress
Oscar.
This is also “ for every nam eless,
faceless woman o f color who now have
a chance because tonight a door has
been opened,” Berry said.
y J E O U L , South Korea— South Korea is
• sending a presidential envoy to North
Korea next week to discuss improving
relations, the rival nations said. The
reconciliation process on the Korean
peninsula stalled last year after Presi
dent Bush’s “axis o f evil” speech.
Denzel Washington and Halle Berry win top acting honors at the 74th Annual
Academy Awards. Berry is the first black woman to win a best-actress Oscar.
She and Washington become only the third blacks to win Academy Awards for
leading roles. They follow Sidney Poitier, who received the best-actor Oscar in
1963 and who received a career-achievement award Sunday. (AP photo)
Area Kids Enjoy Easter Tradition
Giant Sandstorm Hits China,
Japan, Korea
BEIJING — A sandstorm that swept
across China’s capital last week is so
massive that it has affected Japan and
South Korea as well — and it could
even reach the western USA in a week
or two. The sto rm ’s intensity has
slowed traffic and closed airports.
T he c e r e m o n y ’s h o st, W h o o p i
G oldberg, who won a supporting-ac
tress in for 1990’s “G host,” acknow l
edged B erry’s achievem ent.
“ It has been a very large door and
I'm glad she has kicked it dow n,” said
Goldberg.
It was only the second tim e that
three black actors w ere in the running
for lead-acting O scars. The last tim e
was 29 years ago, when Diana Ross
was cited for “ Lady Sings the B lues”
and Cicely Tyson and Paul W infield
w ere nom inated for “ Sounder.”
Before Poitier, black actors had o f
ten been relegated to roles as house
hold help or dancing m instrels. The
only previous w inner had been H attie
M cD aniel, w ho won best supporting
actress for 1939’s “G one W ith the
W ind.”
Poitier w orked w ith som e o f the top
producers and directors o f the 1950s
and 1960s.
“ I accept this aw ard in mem ory o f all
the A frican-A m erican actors and ac
tresses who w ent before me in the d if
ficult years, on w hose shoulders I was
privileged to stand to see w here I m ight
go,” Poitier said.
He also acknow ledged a list o f H ol
lywood producers and directors includ
ing W alter Mirisch, Joseph Mankiewicz,
R ichard Brooks, Ralph N elson. Darryl
Zanuck, Stanley K ram er and N orm an
Jewison.
“ T h o se film m a k e rs p e rse v e re d ,
speaking through their art to the best in
all o f us. And I benefited from their
efforts. The industry benefited from
their efforts. A m erica benefited from
continued
y^
on page 43
High School
Principals
Hired
Larry Dashiell
returns to Jefferson;
Carla Randall leaves
for Wilson
Pentagon Wants to Send Troops
to Indonesia
W ASHINGTON — Armed with evi
dence that al-Qaeda members have fled
from Afghanistan to Indonesia, Bush
administration officials are pressing to
send U.S. forces after them. But the
administration faces opposition from
an Indonesian government fearful o f
the political consequences.
Study: Minorities receive lower-
quality health care
W ASHINGTON — Minorities in the
United States receive lower-quality
health care than whites the Institute o f
Medicine reported. Among the find
ings: Minorities are less likely than
whites to receive appropriate heart
medicine, undergo bypass surgery or
receive kidney dialysis or transplants.
Treats are plentiful at the Moore Street Salvation Army on North Williams Saturday as kids rush to find an
assortment o f delectables during a traditional Easter Egg Hunt made possible by an anonymous donor. The
Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection o f Jesus is this Sunday.
photo by D ave G if . zyng /T he
P ortland O bserver
Two outstanding educators have been
recruited to fill open principal positions at
Jefferson and Wilson high schools, in
terim sch o o l su p e rin te n d e n t Jim
Scherzinger announced last week.
Larry Dashiell, currently a vice princi
pal at S ou th rid g e H igh S chool in
Beaverton, has accepted the position o f
principal at Jefferson High School in north
Portland.
He will replace JimCarlile, who isacting
as the interim principal for this school
year. Dashiell previously w orked at
Jefferson in the capacity o f a vice princi
pal. He will assume the role o f principal at
Jefferson in July.
Carla Randall, currently a vice princi
pal at Jefferson High School, has ac
cepted the position o f principal at W i Ison
continued
y^
on page A3
Librarians on Net Filtering: ‘Don’t Make Us Thought Police’
by
J oann L ovinglio
T he A ssociated P ress
Multnomah County librarians said the
government is trying to turn them into
“thought police” in testimony at a trial
over the constitutionality o f a federal law
requiring libraries to screen out Internet
pornography.
The second day o f testimony began
Tuesday morning in the trial, which is
being heard by a three-judge panel in U.S.
District Court in Philadelphia and is ex
pected to last into next week.
Leading the chai lenge to the Children ’ s
dren should be
Internet Protection
the ones who
Act o f 2000 are the
There are some 5-year-
determine what
A m erican Library
olds whose parents do not
c o n te n t th ey
Association and the
find unaccept
Multnomah County
want them to know where
able.
Public Library. They
babies come from and there
“ T h ere are
contend that the law
som e 5 -y ear-
are some that do.
p u ts u n c o n s titu
olds whose par
tional restraints on
— Ginnie Cooper, director ofthe
ents do not want
free speech.
Multnomah C ounty Library, w
them to know
They want to of
w here b a b ie s
fer patrons a choice
come from and there are some that do,"
between filtered and unfiltered Internet
testified Ginnie Cooper, director o f the
access, contending that parents and chil
Multnomah County Library. “We do n ’t
try to presume the values o f parents."
Libraries stock numerous materials,
ranging from sex education manuals to
Playboy, whose online equivalents would
probably not get past filtering software,
testified Candace Morgan, a librarian for
37 years currently at the Fort Vancouver,
Wash., Regional Library.
The law requires that libraries receiv
ing certain types o f federal technology
funding use filters to block access to
objectionable Web sites. Opponents say
continued
y^
on page H4