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3d ie Jlortlattò (¡Observer
March 12. 2003
O pinion
1 hc Portland Observer
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Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver.
O ur Future Cannot Wait
E lijah E. C ummings
On April 1, the United States Su
preme Court will hear oral arguments in
the Uni versity of Michigan’s voluntary
efforts to include African Americans,
Hispanic Americans and Native Ameri
cans within its highly-selecti ve under
graduate programs and school o f law.
The Congressional Black Caucus
has filed a brief with the court express
ing our support for the university. We
are deeply gratified that scores of other
House leaders, including Democratic
Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
Leader Nancy Pelosi, Congressional
Hispanic Caucus Chair Ciro Rodriguez and
The Supreme Court should give these facts
Asian Pacific Congressional Caucus Chair
very careful consideration.
David Wu of Oregon have joined the CBC in
Contrary to President Bush’s inaccurate
thisjust and critical cause.
assertion, the University of Michigan's admis
There are two central issues for the court to
sions process does not reward unqualified
resolve.
a p p lican ts-an d it is not based upon quotas.
Do we truly believe that the fair and inclusive
Rather, the university awards minority appli
representation o f all Americans within our
cants 20 additional points on a 150 point scale
major, publicly-funded universities is no longer
-th e same number of additional points that are
a “compelling state interest” that justifies vol
allocated to Caucasian students from low-
untary actions to move us closer toward that
income families.
goal?
If ethnicity were to be entirely replaced as
Can we devise methods to achieve that
a factor in college admissions by the economic
representation that are even more “narrowly
background o f the applicants - as some have
tai lored” than the mod-
su g g ested -racial di
est commitments that
We have not created a
versity would plummet.
the U n iv e rsity o f "level playing field" in
A computer simulation
Michigan has made?
of incoming students at
When it considers preparatory education. Now,
the University of Cali
its answers to these opponents of affirmative
fornia at Berkeley has
questions, the Su action want to keep
predicted that the num
preme Court should
ber of black students
lay to rest the oppo Americans o f color off the
would drop by 60 per
nents’ inaccurate as public university playing field
cent if socioeconomic
sertion that “these af altogether.
status were the only
firmative action poli — Elijah E. Cummings, chair of the
permissible consider
cies may have been Congressional Black Caucus
ation.
necessary 30 years
'
We also know that
ago, but the playing field is fairly level today.”
the minority students who ha ve studied at world-
The court cannot avoid the racial and ethnic
class uni versities like Michigan’s live up toour
realities of I ife in this country.
highest aspirations. They make substantial contri
The Education Trust has found that this
butions to the weli-beingoftheircommunitiesand
nation's poorest schools - the schools that
often rise to national leadership.
African Americans and Hispanic Americans
If the Supreme Court rules in favor o f the
disproportionally attend - receive the least
university’sdiversity p rocess-as we believe
amount of state and local funding. President
that it must - the Court ’ s message wi 11 be one
Bush and the Congress acknowledged this
of a future America that is unified, capable and
fact when we enacted the “No Child Left
strong.
Behind" legislation-an initiative, I should note,
However, if the opponents of inclusion pre
that we have yet to fully fund.
vail in the Supreme Court, that will also send a
We have not created a “level playing field”
message to the tens of millions o f American
in preparatory education. Now, opponentsof
young people who look like Congressm an
affirmative action want to keep Americans of
Rodriguez and me.
color o ff the public university playing field
The Court would be telling them, in effect,
altogether.
that some groups in Am erica must always
Today, fewer than 1-in-10 Hispanic Ameri
follow while others have the exclusive oppor
cans goon to college and African Americans
tunity to lead.
attend college at only one-half the Caucasian . That would be a profound error. O ur chil
rate. Credible research concludes that, with dren are this nation’s future— and our future
out affirmative action, the percentage of Afri
can no longer wait.
can American students being educated on
Rep. ElijahE. Cummings, D-Md., serves as
many campuses would drop below 2 percent.
Chair o f the Congressional Black Caucus.
LOTTERY NOW OPEN
by
OPAL SCHOOL
A unique Portland Public Schools Charter
Elementary located at C M 2—Children's Museum
at Washington Park, across from the Zoo
&
■ N O T U IT IO N
for morning preschool & kindergarten
■ N O T U IT IO N
for grades 1 - 3
■ T R A N S P O R T O P T IO N S
include public transport, car pools,
and self-transportation
O pal School—a program of the Children's Museum—will serve Pre-K through
3rd-grade students (ages 3 -8 years old) in Fall 2003, 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. All applications
must be postmarked by 5
PM
Monday, March 31, 2003.
CoverThe
Un in su red Week
Monh 1016. 2003
H ealth F air
Free and open to the public!
The public is invited to a health fair on Wednesday, March 12 in Pioneer
Courthouse Square where free screenings and educational materials will be
available as part of a week-long series of events to bring greater awareness
about the plight of the more than 41 million Americans and 440,000
Oregonians without health insurance. Screenings and information include:
S Blood pressure &
diabetes screening
S Children’s Health Insurance
Program enrollment info
S Disaster Preparedness
S Fitness
S Foot care & massage
WHEN:
S Hearing & eye exams
S Nutrition
S Oregon Health Plan
enrollment info
S Senior Rx drug
assistance info
...and much more!
Wednesday, March 12th
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
WHERE:
. Pioneer Courthouse Square
Downtown Portland
Cover the uninsured Week (CTUW) is a nationwide grassroots effort to
highlight the urgency that action must be taken now to address this growing
health care crisis. For more information about the health fair* or any other
Cover the Uninsured Week event in Portland, please call: 503-226-9353 or
log onto www.covertheuninsuredweek.org
The health fair is sponsored by the Oregon Association o f Hospitals and Health Systems
Raise Revenue for Vital Services
In an address to the National Alliance of
Mental Illness at the state Capitol, state Sen.
A vel Gordly called for state legislators to act
immediately to raise revenue to help Orego
nians with mental illness and other medical
needs.
“We have reached a point in this state
where, with the budget crisis getting deeper
and darker every day, the only way through
this is to get more revenue. That means tax
reform now,” said Gordly, D-M ultnomah
County. “Not five months from now or three
years from now. It must happen now.”
As an example. Gordly supports a proposal
to increase beer and wine taxes and dedicate
some of the new revenue to support for mental
health services.
Gordly has made mental health issues atop
legislative priority and is one of the founders of
the legislative Mental Health Caucus. She said
mental health parity is “long overdue.”
“ Now more than any o ther tim e in our
history, the state o f O regon and our Nation
must have a mental health system that works
for all who need it,” G ordly said.
She urged m em bers o f NAM I to rem ind
legislators that their constitutional responsi
bility includes levying a tax when there are
insufficient revenues to support state ser
vices.
“ Hold your legislators accountable to the
oath they each took to uphold the co n stitu
tion, not the ’p led g e ’ they took to get
elected,” she said.
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