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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2002)
50/ Zoo lights Attract Mentoring Kids Fire star Stacy Thomas on what it takes to succeed Celebration o f lights and animals expands ®Jhe See story, Page B6 See story, page A3 llfu rtla n h © bserlier AJ M oses’ ene’ ‘Citv of R Volume X X X II • . .portlandobserver.com www.PQrtlgndobser Established 1970 Established In in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity N u m b er 4 8 W ednesday • Decem ber 04, 2002 TlWeekin TheReview Hate Crime Backlash A rabs and M uslim s have in creasingly becom e targets o f in tim idation or vandalism . Hate crim es in O regon increased 50 percent last year, according to new statistics released by the FBI. S e e s to r y on .42 inside. Dairy poetry? A n y a r tis t can p a in t co w s. N athan Banks paints ON cow s. Banks, a 22-year-old student at P urchase C ollege in N ew York, painted single w ords (from “a” to “existential”) on the flanks o f about 60 cow s near his upstate N ew Y ork hom e, then let them w ander around to see if they could com pose poetry. once a place of high crime rates and empty store fronts, has in recent years become a cultural mecca for arts, business and entertainment. photo by D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver Golfer bites back A journeym an pro golfer w hose finger w as bitten by a dog has filed a $ 1.5 million lawsuit in Lon don, contending the injury seven years ago ruined w hat w ould have been a w orld-class career. A ndrew R aitt told a High C ourt ju d g e M onday the little finger o f his left hand w as tw o-tenths o f an inch shorter and lacked sen sation after the bite by an A lsa tian at St. G eorge’s Hill G olfC lub in W eybridge. Burgler caught napping A uthorities in southeast O hio d id n ’t have to search very long for a burglary suspect. T h at’s because he w as found fast asleep in the house h e ’s accused o f breaking into. A m an called po lice after confronting a burglar in his hom e. T he resid e n t told s h e rif f s officials that the sus pect had gone into one o f the bedroom s. W hen deputies ar rived, they found the 19-year- old suspect asleep in the room. Strippers want equality U nder N orw ay’s strict gender equality laws, m en and w om en can dem and equal treatm ent for doing the sam e jo b , even if it in v o lv es d isro b in g on stage. N o rw ay ’s G ender Equality O m budsm an Kristin M ile on Friday said she was investigating a com plaint that tax authorities define fem ale strippers as entertainers w hile m ale strippers pay a low er tax rate because they are consid ered artists. A ction for Power, a local group that encour ages young w om en o f color to becom e lead ers in th eir com m unities. “A lot o fp eo p le say revitalization is good for the com m unity, but a lot o f people are being displaced by revitalization,” Kent said. “People from higher incom es are benefiting. People from low er incom es aren ’t.” A nother 'sister,' C hirece Jones, contends that black businesses are disappearing. “ People w ho have lived here a long tim e have a lot to say about businesses they used to go to, but are n 't there anym ore,” she said. Jones points to the construction o f the Frem ont Bridge, Emanuel Hospital and M e m orial Coliseum as developm ent that dis placed blacks from established neighbor A neighborhood reinvents itself and African Americans question the course o f’progress' by D avid P lechl T he P ortland O bserver A lberta Street is changing. T hat m uch is clear. T here are m ore businesses, com m u nity centers, galleries and restaurants than ever before. T here is less crim e. There are m ore opportunities. But for w hom ? A s those w ith higher incom es m ove in, will those w ith low er incom es be forced to m ove out? O r will everyone be included in the change, and benefit from the evolution o f the inner city? C raig Fondren o f the Sabin C om m unity D evelopm ent Corp, has been involved with the A lberta com m unity for the last 10 years. “ I think the displacem ent w e ’re looking at is a sense o f new ness,” Fondren said. “ I d o n ’t think you need to be pushed out to feel a little displaced.” “T he last three years have been am az ing,” he said. “W ith the new streetscape you will probably see the m erchant base double.” T he city is revam ping A lb erta’s look, by Nathan First-Rider and local children help paint the exterior walls of Joe’s Place, an African American owned tavern and longstanding icon on Alberta Street. PHOTO BY W Y N D E adding street lam ps and im proving intersec tions and bus stops. Fondren says neighbors have been w ork ing di I igently to create a safe, livable com m u nity. “As the com m unity develops, the m er chants d evelop,” he said. Fondren asserts that the rental assis tance, jo b developm ent projects and hom e D y ER/T HE PORTLAND O BSERVER ow nership program s provided by Sabin CDC have helped locals establish ow nership in the com m unity and participate in growth. “W e w ant people to em ploy them selves,” Fondren said o f the em erging business dis trict. “T his is an exciting tim e.” But som e groups and individuals say the com m unity is setting itself up for disaster. C am ille K ent is a m em ber o f Sisters In hoods. She thinks the current situation along A lberta is a sym ptom o f the sam e pattern. D o ra’s Barber Shop at 2330 N.E. A lberta is struggling to avoid the ranks o f retired A frican A m erican businesses. Dora M ontgomery has occupied her small shop on A lberta for o ver seven years. S he says the rising cost o f rent on the street is m aking it hard for her to stay in business. “ I c a n ’t afford six to seven hundred a m onth for a place along A lberta,’ she said. To offset expenses, M ontgom ery is m o v ing her barbershop to a space along side her house at 5312 N.E. 27th Ave. She is positive her custom ers will follow but she isn ’t look ing forw ard to leaving A lberta. continued y ^ on page .45 Affirmative Action Case Justices to decide if race counts in college Pelican hikes south A w hite pel ican rescued from the cold N orth this w eek had a bro ken w ing, but its sense o f direc tion appeared to be fine. Phil T hiem e found the bird trudging south, first along his drivew ay and then dow n the road near s o u th e a s te r n W i s c o n s i n ’s H oricon Marsh. Fearing for the p elican ’s life, he and his neigh bors corralled it M ondav « « "•» ° net and a blanket. (A P )— The Suprem e Court re-entered the debate over affirm ative action M onday, agreeing to decide if m inorities can be given a boost to get into public universities. The court will rule by next June if race can be used in college adm issions, an issue that the ju stices have dealt with only once before, in a cloudy 1978 ruling that led to m ore confusion. The ju stices w ill consider w hether w hite applicants to the U niversity o f M ichigan and its law school w ere unconstitutionally turned dow n becau se o f their race. The cases give the court an opportunity to ban affirm ative action in higher education or say how m uch w eight universities m ay assign to an ap p lican t's race. The stakes are high because m any colleges have race- continued y ^ on t conscious adm issions policies. A ffirm ative action supporters argue that w ithout policies that enco u rag e diverse student bodies, the top public colleges in the country w o u ld not be o ’o l i d a y S o u n d s a n d F u ry <n plays his trumpet for downtown shoppers. Thousands o f enthusiastic spenders hit the its over the weekend eager to get the best deals on post-Thanksgiving sales. photo by I D avid P le ( h i / T he P ortland O bserver I representative. O pponents contend that those policies discrim inate ag ain st w hite s tu d e n ts , g iv in g s lo ts to le s s q u a lif ie d m in o r it ie s . A divided appeals court upheld the law sch o o l’s practices in M ay, saying the C onstitution allow s colleges and graduate schools to seek “a m ean in g ful num ber” o f m inority students, so long as the school avoids a fixed q u o ta system . The 6th U S. C ircuit C ourt o f A ppeals in Cincinnati has not ruled in a continued y ^ on page A3
