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The Portland Observer
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or
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should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope.
All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used
in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager,
unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND
OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLEOR IN PART
WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED.
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.
Baseball: It’s More Than a Game
Major League
team would fuel
economic
development
Bv C arl F lipper
Portland has a ch an ce to get the
first M ajor L eague B aseball F ran
chise being relocated in 30 y ears. In
the face o f the state's financial cri
sis, w hy should w e support the
effort to recruit the M ontreal Expos
o r any other M LB team to O regon?
W h at’s in it for us? G ood question.
I'm glad you asked.
Big L eague B aseball w ill fuel
econom ic developm ent. M LB is a
stable business w ith sales o f $3
billion annually — th a t’s co m p a
rable to a com pany w ith sales the
size o f Louisiana-Paci fie. Precision
C astP arts o r B onneville Power.
Stadium construction alone will
provide 7,000jobs. The team w ould
require 1,100 seasonal, full and part-
tim e, and gam e-day jo b s, paying a
net $ 12 m illion annually. V endors,
attendants, security personnel, and
maintenance crews are critical needs
o f a sp o ils facility. A lso count in
the 200 full-tim ejobs with the team,
the players, coaches and front o f
fice staff. Plus, add the jo b s from
North and northeast Portland activist Carl Flipper.
nomically. InotherM L B cities, low
incom e and com m unities o f color
benefit from jo b s, sm all business
opportunities and corporate part
nerships.
A stadium -financing plan was
recently approved by the O regon
House and is now being considered
by the Senate. It would collect state
income taxes from home and visiting
team mem bers, and front office staff
eam ingover $50,000to pay foranew
bal lpark. This is money that won ’ t be
here unless the team comes to O r
egon. The plan guarantees there will
be no financial risk to the state.
O ur elected officials in Salem are
struggling to find w ays ,0 finance
education, health care, public safety
and other critical state needs. They
should know that baseball can be
supported for both education and
econom ic developm ent. Call them ,
w rite them and rem ind them that
baseball is m ore than a gam e, it
could be part o f the answ er for both
schools and jobs.
new restaurants and shops that will
A m ajo r league team w ould also
grow up around the stadium and in bring intangible assets to o u r com
the hotels and o th er businesses m unity. I f you w ere in Portland in
Carl Flipper is a neighborhood
caterin g to the thousands o f to u r 1977 and experienced the com m u activist and economic development
ists a M ajor L eague team brings.
nity pride, the excitem ent o f the practitioner in northeast Portland.
The big leagues have a great B lazers cham pionship run; or if He is Community Development
record o f supporting youth, parks, y o u 'v e ev er taken a youngster to Committee Co-Chair fo r the Port
school and am ateu r sports p ro his o r h er first big-league game, land Baseball Group, a coalition
gram s. In m any M LB cities, team s you ’ll know what I’m talking about! member o f the Oregon Stadium
support arts and culture, healthcare
North and northeast Portland wi II Campaign. His email address is
and oth er com m unity initiatives.
also have a chance to benefit eco carlflipper@comcast. net.
Our Unequal Educational System
Proposed
budget
shortchanges
disadvantaged
schools
May 21.2003
k
a m onum ental im pact on hum an
rights struggles w orldw ide.
A s w e approach the 50th A nni
versary o f B row n, it is clear that
access to and equality o f education
are m ore vital to success than ever,
and w e still have a long w ay to go.
A lm ost 50 years after segregation
w as d e c la re d u n c o n stitu tio n a l,
m any p o o r and m inority children
H o u s e D e m o c r a tic L e a d e r
are concentrated in schools that
N ancy Pelosi released the follow
fail to m eet their needs.
ing statem ent on the 49th anniver House Democratic Leader
The ‘No Child Left Behind A ct,’
sary o f the landm ark civil rights Nancy Pelosi
w hich passed with bipartisan sup
case B row n v. B oard o f E ducation: has no place. S eparate educational port, w as intended to hold schools
O n M ay 1 7 ,1 9 5 4 , the Suprem e facilities are inherently u n eq u al.’
accountable while providing them
C ourt in B row n v. B oard o f E duca
The C o u rt’s ruling in Brown w as with the resources needed to im
tion rejected a system o f inequality one o f the m ost significant d eci prove theirperform ance. Yet the ink
in education that m any in this coun sions issued in o ur co u n try ’s his w as barely dry on the bill w hen it
try had accepted as a natural state tory. It w as the culm ination o f 100 becam e clear that the Bush A dm in
o f affairs. O verturnin g decades o f y ears o f legal challenges to segre istration had no intention o f provid
segregation, the unanim ous d eci gated education, from a case fi led in ing the funding authorized in the
sion stated, ‘W e con clu d e that, in B oston in 1849 right up to the four new law , p referrin g in stead to
the field o f public education, the cases consolidated in the Brow n squeeze public services and provide
doctrine o f ’’separate but equal" decision in 1954. The decision had tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
The A d m inistration’s proposed
b u d g et sh o rtc h a n g e s d is a d v a n
taged schools and special educa
tion students, cu ts after school
program s and bilingual education,
and com pletely elim inates m any
program s, ranging from dropout
prevention to rural education. The
budget proposed by H ouse Re
publicans also fails to provide ad
equate funding for the N o C hild
Left B ehind Act.
W e m ust reject all form s o f un
equal education in this country. All
children should have the opportu
nity to learn and grow to their full
p o ten tial. A m erica has the re
sources to provide all children with
a good public education, and we
cannot afford to do anything less.
H ouse D em ocratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi is the highest-rank
ing woman in the history o f the US.
Congress and the first woman to
lead a major political party.
betters to the
<SLditer;
A Disregard for
Human Life
It is illegal to shoot someone merely trying to escape, regard
less o f whether they have a warrant or not. As a retired officer,
we are trained not to reach or lean inside any vehicle. Scott
McCollisterdidn’t follow his training, putting him self into harms
way. In addition, the officers knew who James was.
Bureau policy forbids officers from engaging in vehicular pur
suits when the suspect is known. The officers could have simply
stepped back and let James drive away, arresting her later.
This blatant disregard for human life is a disgrace to the
badge.
— Damon Woodcock
Another Case of
Excessive Force
I
Our community is very disturbed by the police shooting and
killing o f Kendra James and by similar police actions.
A routine traffic stop gone wrong? No. I have great difficulty
seeing this situation as anything but yet another incident o f
excessive force, the politically correct term for police brutality.
So what if Kendra James jumped into the front seat o f the car
and attempted to drive away? How hard would it have been for
Officer McCollister to shoot out one or two tires on that car
instead o f aiming his gun at another human being? And with
three officers present, why did the police gun need to be out in
the first place?
Were the occupants o f that car bristling with weapons aimed
at the officers? Nothing in the public record indicates that being
the case. Nothing in Kendra Jam es’ past record justifies her
losing her life in this fashion.
The cost o f replacing a couple o f car tires is manageable. The
cost o f bringing back Kendra James to her loved ones is
immeasurable as well as impossible.
The officers involved in this incident, especially the one who
pulled the trigger, should at the very least be placed on unpaid
administrative leave pending the investigation, and their pay
offered to the James family to help lay their daughter to rest.
I did not know Kendra James personally, but what struck me
most when I visited her memorial was her family’s handwritten
plea to keep all messages o f anger and hate from being posted
there, because she lived her life from love.
My prayers are with her and her family.
— Sy(e) Diyg,
North Portland
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