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www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIII • Number 6
Wednesday • February II, 2004
„ Week ¡n
TheReview
/ think my sons better than me. H e’s just as fast, he hits
pretty good and h e ’s got a little bit more knowledge at his age.
Bush AWOL Charge Disputed
Younger Lampkin Claims the Ring
The White House, facing election-
year questions about President
Bush’s military service, released
pay records and other information
T uesday th a t it said sup p o rts
Bush’s assertion that he fulfilled
his duty as a member o f the Air
National Guard during the Vietnam
War. Guard units were rarely called
up to active duty in the Vietnam
W ar era and the Reserves and the
Guard acquired reputations as draft
havens for relatively affluent young
white men.
CIA Downplays Iraq Threat
In his first public defense o f pre
w ar intelligence, CIA D irector
G eorge T enet said that U S. ana
lysts had never claim ed Iraq was
an im m inent threat, the main argu
m ent used by President Bush for
going to war. T enet said analysts
had varying opinions on the state
o f Iraq’s chem ical, biological and
nuclear w eapons program s and
those differences were given to
the W hite House.
Search for Mad Cows Ends
The A griculture D epartm ent said
it is ending its search for addi
tional cases o f mad cow disease
even though officials have not
found all the anim als they sought
after the n ation’s first case turned
up in D ecem ber
r
Death Penalty
Fairness Attacked
California now has 638 inm ates on
death row, som e o f them for more
than one murder. But som e o f the
state’s counties have condem ned
m any more inm ates than others o f
sim ilar size, according to an A sso
ciated Press review o f Corrections
D epartm ent data. The disparities
are so pronounced that legal ex
perts say capital punishm ent is
being unfairly applied in C alifor
nia.
Protesters’ Records
Subpoenaed
In w hat may be the first subpoena
o f its kind in decades, a federal
judge has ordered a university to
turn over records about a gather
ing o f anti-w ar activists. In addi
tion to the subpoena o f D rake
U n iv e r s ity , s u b p o e n a s w ere
served this past w eek on four o f
the activists w ho attended a Nov.
15 forum at the school, ordering
them to appear before a grand
jury.
- Ray Lampkin, former No. 1 lightweight contender
Legend’s son
competes for
the Olympics,
going pro
by J aymee R. Cirri
T he P ortland O bserver
T here’s a new L am pkin in the
ring, and he’s picking up w here his
fam ous dad, "L ightning Ray,” left
off.
Ray Lam pkin III had his first
boxing m atch only tw o years ago,
when he w as 18. Today he has
aspirations o f turning pro and quali
fying for the O lym pic boxing team
on Feb. 16 through 21 in Tunica,
M iss.
Lam pkin played basketball, foot
ball and baseball for Roosevelt High
School in north Portland. He said
he turned to boxing because he was
out o f sports to play.
“I ju st w alked into the gym one
day and started w inning fights," he
said.
“Relentless Ray,” as his nickname
^ su g g ests, c o n s id e rs h im s e lf a
"scrappy” fighter. W ith the help of
his dad’s coaching, h e’s moved into
position as the second-ranked feath
erweight fighter in the country.
“ I think my so n ’s better than me.
H e’s ju st as fast, he hits pretty
good and h e’s got a little bit m ore
know ledge at his age,” said the
form er No. 1 lightweight contender.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
“I’m teaching him w hat I know and
Featherweight Ray Lampkin III, a graduate o f Roosevelt High School in north Portland, has eyes on
that m akes a big difference.”
a professional boxing career ju s t like his dad, Portland boxing legend “Lightning Ray“ Lampkin.
The senior Lam pkin started box-
ing in 1957, won his first tourna
ment in 1958 and m issed O lym pic
tryouts to attend his father’s fu
neral. Instead, he turned pro and
becam e a boxing legend when he
narrowly lost the world lightweight
cham pionship in a fight lasting 14
rounds against Roberto Duran in
Panam aC ity in 1975.
Now his nam esake is after that
same kind o f achievem ent.
“W e’ve got the same name so
it ’ s going to be nard to get out o f his
shadow but I w ant to win a world
title,” said the younger Lam pkin.
“He cam e close.”
The elder Lam pkin has opened
doors for his son and other A fri
can-A m erican athletes in the state
and the sport. He earned the d is
tinction o f being the first African-
American from Oregon to complete
for the world title and first African
A m erican boxer to be inducted into
the Oregon Hall o f Fame.
Lam pkin III plans to turn pro
after he goes to the upcom ing sum
m er Olym pics in A thens, Greece.
“ I ju st want to be a cham pion,”
he said.
His self-assurance is not w ith
out merit W ith bronze and silver
m etals for various tournam ents and
a 29-5 record studding his resum e,
he said his inexperience is the only
thing that can hold him back from
the Olym pics.
“I’ve been fighting guys who
have been fighting since th ey 'v e
been in their teens,” the young
Lam pkin said. “ I’m still learning on
the go.”
continued
on page B6
Activists Make Call to Mothers
SO Die In Baghdad
Truck Bombing
A truck packed with an estim ated
500 pounds o f explosives blew up
T uesday m orning at a police sta
tion south o f Baghdad as dozens
o f w ould-be recruits lined up to
apply for jobs. A hospital official
said at least 50 people were killed
and 50 others w ounded.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Sfate Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, and John Canda, executive director o f the Northeast Coalition o f Neighborhoods,
ask the public for help after gunfire sprays northeast Portland neighborhoods.
M others were am ong com m unity m em
bers getting special m ention in acall to help
stop local gun violence.
State Sen. M argaret C arter and other
activists addressed a group o f residents at
Northeast 18'h A venue and Junior Street on
T hursday, the location w here 14-year-old
Tyniece M cCorvey w as shot in the back of
the head on Feb. I . T he African-A m erican
leaders called on the com m unity to stop the
Businesses, city
also enlisted in
curbing violence
by J aymee R. C u t i
T he P orti . and O bserver
i
violence plaguing inner city n eighbor
hoods.
“I want to issue a call for all m others to
know where your children are, to have
greater expectations for your children and
encourage them in school," said Carter.
“ Yes, this is black-on-black crim e, but we
need your help and the help o f all people o f
this com m unity.”
The lawm aker, educator and longtim e
com m unity leader also called on the busi
ness com m unity to create jo b s for young
people and the city to help support after
school program s to keep young people o ff
the streets. She asked churches to be a safe
place for youth to hand over guns.
The pleas cam e during a press conference
called by the Northeast C oalition o f N eigh
borhoods, after a bloody w eekend o f five
separate shooting incidents leaving three
dead and M cCorvey hospitalized.
A 16-year-old suspect w as arrested Fri
day in M cC orvey’s shooting, charged with
attem pted murder, first-degree assault and
unlaw ful p o ssession o f a w eapon. Eric
M andley, w ho is being held in the county
juvenile detention center, told police the
bullet was not intended for M cCorvey.
M andley is the only suspect arrested in
co n n ectio n to any o f the five separate
sh o o tin g s.
Bradford H olm an, a m em ber o f the C oali
tion o f Black M en. am plified the feelings o f
m any at T hursday's forum. He referred to a
perceived m istrust o f the police departm ent
that prevents w itnesses o f crim e from co m
ing forward.
“I want to talk ;ous black people. There isacall
for information nght now, but fear is holding us
back," Holman said. “On theeveofBlack History
Month, wecallouttothedominant community to
assist as and stand for trust.”
Capt. D orothy Elm ore said her role for
building trust with young people is tw ofold,
as the captain o f the School Police D ivision
and as an A frican-A m erican mother.
“ My roles intersect as a m entor, in and out
o f uniform ," said Elm ore.
She and her colleagues at the Portland
Police D epartm ent are participating io the
D ialogue C ircles program , going to schools
to dispel m isconceptions about police.
“W e 're taking o ff our guns, taking o fto u r ;
continued
on page,