April 10, 2<M)2
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Bush's Marriage
Proposal Misguided
by
In February, President Bush
unveiled proposals for changing
the 1996 welfare reform law, which
C ongress m ust reauthorize this
year. Included is a proposal to
provide up to$300m illion for state-
based initiativ es “focu sin g on
family form ation and healthy m ar
riage activities.” W hile the goal of
stable fam ilies is laudable, the fo
cus on m arriage is m isguided.
T he P residen t’s m arriage p ro
posal is dangerous because it re
lies on fiction: nam ely, that the
only thing m issing from a single
m o th er’s life is a man to take care
o f her. It appeals to the hopeless
rom antic, and that isn’t rational.
W e d o n ’t n eed an O reg o n
m atchm aking agency. O ur C o n
gressional delegation should not
get involved in this illusion.
John Lewis in an administra
tor with the Oregon Center for
Public Policy.
e s t ^ 3 id e
W
subscriDtion@Dortlandobserver.com ,
Jackson Urges Middle East Reconciliation
J ohn L ewis
W
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 York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers
Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver.
"There is a w orsening state o f
crisis with global consequences
in the M iddle East. O ur n atio n ’s
human rights, political, economic
and military interests are at stake.
T o blam e P resid en t Bush is
w rong, to have high ex pecta
tions o f his leadership and the
Secretary o f State, C olin Pow ell
is right.
“O ur influence in the w orld
an d o u rrep u tatio n iso n trial. We
are not responsible for starting
this round o f violence, how ever
we must assum e responsibility
for stopping it. We need the
U nited States and the United
N ations to act. W e need to use
the United States and its allied
strength to enforce U nited N a
tions R esolution 1402. W e m ust
intervene with the highest level
o f leadership.
“T he political prison status
elevates Y asser A rafat to the
status o f a m artyred sym bol and
illa m
e tte
strengthens him politically. It iso
lates the U nited States in the re
gion and leaves our ally, Israel,
vulnerable and alone. Humiliation
policy does not punish, rather it
exalts A rafat.
“O u r S ep t. 11 c o a litio n is
w eak en in g . O u r p resen t role as
silen t and m ilitary p a rtn e rs to
the in v asio n into the co m p o u n d
strengthen anti-A m erican forces
ag ain st a llie d g o v e rn m en ts and
c o n trib u te s to d e sta b iliz a tio n .
T hat is why they are u n iform ally
ap p ealin g to us to c h an g e o u r
p o licy and o u r rh eto ric . W e are
n o t an in c o n s e q u e n tia l th ird
p arty in th is c o n flic t, yet w e are
to o d ista n t d ip lo m a tic a lly to be
so clo se m ilitarily and fin a n
c ially . O u r in terest and e x p o
sure is su b stan tial.
“T he Palestinians and the Is
raelis are holding each other in a
death grip, bound by pain, fear
and p o litics. N eith er has the
f^ iv e r C Z ° m b in e d
SUBCONTRACTING
OPPORTUNITIES
^ e w
e r
O
strength to turn the other loose.
O nly President Bush can call
both and get a response. A nd
with that kind o f pow er, he m ust
pry them loose from each other
and create a venue to negotiate
and break the cycle o f fear and
death and crate a buffer zone or
a bridge betw een the two. The
jai 1 w arden and the pri soner can
not negotiate peace. Self-dem o
lition - the language o f despair is
fed by hum iliation policy. Thus,
planning funerals and not fu
tures feeds o ff o f the present
policy.
“W e m ust do a m ore difficult
thing than choose sides, we must
choose reconciliation. T hat is
the heavy lifting that o u r nation
can and m ust do to m ove it to
w ards stability in the region.”
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. is
the founder and president o f the
Rainbow Push Coalition that's
based in Chicago.
'
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Coach Them to be
Champions in the
Classroom, Too
B y H ugh B. P rice
The N ational C ollegiate A th
letic A ssociation to u rn am en t’s
w in-or-go-hom e form at sim ulta
neously puts a prem ium on both
an entire team ’s unquestioning
com m itm ent to team w ork, and yet
also on the necessity in virtually
every gam e o f an individual d e
ciding to rise above others to make
the difference.
It’s too bad the enjoym ent the
collegiate gam e brings has to be -
unnecessarily underm ined by a
fact that can no longer be ignored
in discussing higher education
and its varsity athletes.
T hat issue is w hy do so few o f
these varsity athletes, especially
in football and basketball, not
graduate on tim e or not at all?
T he statistics about varsity-
level athletes w ho d o n ’t graduate
w ithin the standard graduation-
rate m easuring stick o f six years
from entrance - especially at the
m ajor football and basketball c o l
leges is astonishing.
A c c o r d in g to la s t y e a r ’s
stu d y by the K night F o u n d a
tio n In te r c o lle g ia te A th le tic
C o m m issio n , o n ly ab o u t a th ird
o f the m ale bask etb all p lay ers at
th e to p 100 o r so N C A A c o l
leg es g ra d u a te on tim e, a rate
th a t’s fallen sh arp ly in the last
five years. T he N C A A itself puts
th e rate at 4 0 p e rc e n t, w hich it
say s is the se c o n d -lo w e st rate
in n early tw o d ecad es.
The national graduation rate
for all college students is 56 per
cent.
Last year only four o f the 28
first-round selections in the N a
tio n a l B a sk e tb a ll A sso c ia tio n
draft had com pleted four years o f
college.
The problem is still largely con
fined to the m ale side o f the gen
der line. T he top four w o m en ’s
team s in the tournam ent have an
average graduation rate o f 66 per
cent; the top four m en ’s team s; 32
percent. But many see sim ilar prob
lem s ahead for w om en athletes as
those gam es becom e m ore ex cit
ing - and lucrative to the televi
sion netw orks, and the schools
them selves.
L e t’s ask the varsity athletes
w hat are they doing w ith their
tim e, and w hat are they thinking -
or not thinking - about th eir fu
ture.
A nd let’s ask their parents what
advice th ey ’re giving their ch il
dren.
A nd then, le t’s ask the high
school coaches and the teachers
and g u id a n c e c o u n se lo rs and
principals about their responsi
bility to equip these superb ath
letes w ith, at least, respectable
academ ic skills to get them ready
not ju s t for college, but for life.
A nd finally, le t’s ask the c o l
lege and university coaches and
deans and presidents to stop ra
tionalizing their exploitation of
these young people.
T hese colleges and universi
ties understand that their respon
sibility to the athletes w hose e x
ploits on the playing field that
brings them such acclaim , should
incl ude coaching them to be cham
pions in the classroom , too.
Hugh B. Price is the president
o f the National Urban League.
H. & B. Too
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