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Neighborhood Peace
On Foreign Soil
North Portland group bands
together against gangs
Local father takes pride in
daughter s deployment
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‘City of Roses
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Established in 1970
•
Committed to Cultural Diversity
N um ber 14
TlWeekm
Thc Review
Peanut puffs a priority
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • April 02. 2003
My wrestling practices are probably different than 95
percent o f wrestling coaches around. I tell them they'll
be a person a lot longer than they 'll be an athlete.
Poll:
Americans
Support
President’s
Decision to
Attack Iraq
- Donnie McPhearson, head wrestling coach at Vancouver's Heritage High School
Even if Iraq attacks Israel with
missiles, Israel ¡children will still
be able to eat their peanut-but­
tery puffs. The popular snack,
known as "Bamba,” was dec lared
a vital staple food last week,
along with milk, sugar, flour and
bread. That means the Tel A viv-
area factory that makes the pea­
nut-flavored morsels can issue
emergency call-uporders for its
workers to ensure that produc­
tion goes on, even in case o f a
m issile attack. “ We see the
Bamba factory as vital,” said
L ab o r M inistry sp okesm an
Nahum Eido.
Public also thinks United
Nations will remain an
important entity
Warcorrespondent plays
it safe, very safe
Listeners to Sw aziland’s state-
run radio station thought it had
its ow n c o rre s p o n d e n t in
Baghdad covering the war, until
legislators spotted him in Parlia­
m ent on the w eekend. A n­
nouncer Phesheya Dube has
been found to be giving “live
reports” from a broom closet.
Program host Moses Matsebula
frequently expressed concern
about Mr Dube’s wellbeing and
once advised him to “ find a cave
somew here to be safe from mis­
siles.”
See Saddam swim
Iraqi satellite television offers
viewers a pretty simple choice.
You can watch Saddam Hussein
being cheered, w orshipped,
kissed, adulated, adored, hailed,
praised, honoured and glorifled.
Or you can watch him go swim­
ming. The Baghdad channel
might not get much notice in
normal times but with an un­
popular war raging to topple him,
the rea d y -m a d e im ag es o f
Saddam as Arab defender and
heroic Muslim, even vigorous
sw immer, pack a peculiar punch.
Jackson voted ‘most
foolish American’
“King o f Pop’’ Michael Jackson
was selected as the “most fool­
ish American” in a poll out on
Friday, ahead o f April Fool’s
Day. Eighty per cent o f those
polled said Jackson, w’ho has
been in the media spotlight again
since a British television docu­
mentary shed new light on his
personal life. Jackson, 44, drew
foolish reviews for, among other
things, dangling his baby son
out a window in Germany to
show him to fans last year. Boxer
M ike Tyson came in a foolish
second.
Iowa town to make
teilinga lie illegal
Lyingcouldbeperceivedas more
than just a character flaw in the
southeast Iowa town o f Mount
Sterling. Itcouldbecomeacrime.
Four City Council members have
proposed an ordinance against
fibbing. Acting M ayor Jo Ham­
let said he's tired o f the exagger­
ating that comes with stories in
the town o f 40 residents famous
for its hunting and fishing. "W e
wanted to slow down on this
lying,” Hamlet said. “Plus. I’m
bored. ... It’s been r ’
ter.”
photo by
G unther J ose F rank / T he P ortland O bserver
D onnie M cPhearson, h e a d w restling co a c h for Vancouver's H eritage High School, te a c h e s tech n iq u e to a pair o f
youth w restlers during an o f f s e a s o n practice on Thursday. Formerly th e w restling coa ch a t J e ffe rso n High School,
M cP hearson tries to liken wrestling to life for h is m ulticultural a th le te s.
Wrestling with Success
Long-time Portland
coach finds new
challenge across the
bridge in Vancouver
BY JAVMEE R . ClITI
T he P ortland O bserver
Donnie McPherson, head wrestling
coach at V ancouver’s Heritage High
School, wants to create a sports his­
tory never to be duplicated.
Four years ago he was coaching
about 35 wrestlers and struggling to
keep the Jefferson High School pro­
gram alive on strapped budget. Then
McPherson was offered what he refers
to as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportu­
nity.”
He was asked to run the wrestling
program at Heritage, a brand new high school
in the financially stable Evergreen School
District. Once the school’s budget and lev­
ies had passed, he was ready for the change.
His team at Heritage grew to more than
double the size o f his team at Jefferson.
“ I felt gui Ity, in a sense, to leave Jefferson.
I was committed to the work we were doing
with the kids,” said McPherson. “The chal­
lenges we were facing were budgetary prob­
lems. The kids were never a problem.”
McPherson, 52, has strong ties to Port­
land. He graduated from Washington High
School, played football and wrestled for
Portland State University, was a three-time
wrestling champion and a state champion in
football.
Before moving to Heritage, McPherson
left something o f a legacy at Jefferson.
“ I wanted my kids to look and feel like all
other wrestling programs - to have nice
uniforms and wrestling skills,” he said.
When McPherson took the job as
head coach at Jefferson in 1989, he
described the program as “rag-tag.”
The team often lost points at com peti­
tions by forfeiting weight classes, and
d id n ot h av e d ec en t u n ifo rm s.
McPherson spearheaded fund-raisers,
from selling Christmas trees to running
concession booths at Portland Trail
Blazers games to building floats for the
Rose Festival to pay for new uniforms
and travel expenses to competitions.
Under M cPherson’s coaching, the
Heritage team achieved four years o f
wins in the district tournament, second,
third and sixth in state wrestlers, as wel I
as nine individual state champions.
But for McPherson coaching isn't
continued
yf
on page A 6
(AP)— While the American public has
rallied behind President Bush on the Iraq
war, two-thirds say the United States should
not feel free to use military force in the
future without U.N. support, says a new
poll.
The survey says three-fourths o f the
re sp o n d e n ts said th ey su p p o rt the
president’s decision to go to war with Iraq.
But almost that many, 66 percent, said they
don’t think the United States should feel
free to use force without the backing o f the
United Nations.
Bush ordered the invasion o f Iraq two
weeks ago, despite his inability to gain
backing from the United Nations. While
opinion was mixed on such a move before
the war, the public has rallied behind Bush
and the troops.
The poll, by the Program for Interna­
tional Policy Attitudes at the University o f
Maryland, was taken March 22-25 by
Know ledge Networks o f 795 respondents.
It has an error margin o f plus or minus 3.5
percentage points.
Steven Kull, director o f PIPA, said “the
public is ready to give the president a pass
this time” but noted that a solid majority is
uneasy with using military force without
U.N. backing in the future.
Other polls released over the weekend
by Newsweek and NBC-Wall Street Jour­
nal showed that about two-thirds o f the
A merican public now approve o f the
president’soverall job performance. That’s
up from job approval that had dipped into
the mid 50s in some polls before the current
ar.
Seven in 10 people surveyed in the Uni­
versity o f M aryland's PIPA poll said they
expect the United Nations to continue to be
an important entity, remaining as relevant
in the future as it was before the war.
Three in 10 said the United States should
govern I raq after the war, w hilehalfsaidthe
United Nations should assume that role.
A solid majority, 72 percent, says the
United Nations should take the lead in
dealing with North Korea. And six in 10
want the international organization to take
the lead in monitoring Iran, which contends
that its nuclear program is strictly for en­
ergy production.
“There is no evidence,” Kull said, "that
the majority o f Americans think the United
Nations has become irrelevant.”
Hikes in Beer and Wine Taxes
May Restore Vital Services
Lawmakers believe
Oregon voters would
support higher ‘sin taxes’
r i
s
A
<9
. »
wine tax by about
15 cents a bottle.
They say they
b e lie v e O re g o ­
nians, who hand­
ily a p p ro v e d a
cigarette tax in­
cre ase last fall,
w o u ld s u p p o rt
higher “sin taxes”
on beer and wine
as w ell to help
ease the s ta te 's
(AP) — Two Democratic lawmakers
lently launched what they concede is
uphi 11 fight to raise beer and wine taxes
generate money for medical, social and
'enforcem ent programs,
low ever, the law m akers and other R ep. Ja ckie D ingfelder
ponents said they are prepared to
e the proposed increases directly to budget woes.
srs if the L egislature balks at the pro-
“ We are in very deep trouble, and we see
al.
this as a partial solution,” Morrisette said.
en. Bill Morrisette o f Springfield and
The two are hoping the Legislature will
Jackie Dingfelder o f northeast Portland pass the beer and wine taxes directly, but
¡ponsoring a bill they say would raise
eer tax bv about 7 cents a bottle and the
continued
on page 16
I
A CITY IN PROTEST
A p ro testo r holding an Am erican Flag with corporate logos for sta rs runs through th e
s tr e e ts o f dow ntow n Portland during a p e a c e d em o n stra tio n la st w eek. For a ddi­
tional coverage o f th e e ffe c t o f w eeklong p r o te s ts on th e city o f Portland a n d an up
c lo se look a t o n e Portlander who h a s b e e n to u c h ed by war, s e e M etro S ectio n .
P hoto by D avid P lechl /T hf . P ortland O bserver
f