Driven to Public Service
Ivy League scholar helps United Way
See story, M etro section B
Hip Hop Voter Drive
CoolNutz and other local
entertainers unite for common cause
See story, page A6
i
nrtlanh ffibseruer
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‘City of Roses’
Established in 1970
Volume XXXIV • Number 33
AVeekin
TheReview
Officials Blamed
in Prisoner Abuse
The Pentagon’s most senior ci­
vilian and military officials share
a portion o f blame for creating
conditions that led to the Abu
Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in
Iraq, according to a report re­
leased Tuesday by an indepen­
dent panel o f civilian defense
experts.
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • August 25. 2004
MIXED ¿ /¿ ró s
Peterson Denied
Wife’s Murder
t
Scott Peterson never admitted to
his former mistress that he was
involved in his pregnant w ife’s
disappearance, and in fact vehe­
mently denies it even as she prods
him for answers, according to
testimony at Peterson's double-
m urder trial. For the second day,
defense lawyers cross-examined
Amber Frey after jurors heard
five days o f taped telephone calls
between Frey and Peterson.
Marathon Mice
Researchers unveiled genetically
engineered mice that can run far­
ther and longer than their natu­
rally bred brethren, bringing the
“genetic doping” of elite athletes
a small step closer to reality. The
creation o f the so-called m ara­
thon mice follows earlier genetic
engineering work that created
“Schwarzenegger mice,” rodents
that bulked up after getting in­
je c te d w ith m u scle-b u ild in g
genes.
Waterways Contain
Polluted Fish
M ore than o n e-th ird o f the
nation’s lakes and nearly one-
fourth o f its rivers contain fish
that may be contaminated with
mercury, dioxin, PCB and pesti­
cide pollution, the Environmen­
tal Protection Agency says.
Italians Blow
Off Iraqi Demands
I ta ly ’s g o v e rn m e n t in sisted
Tuesday it will keep its troops in
Iraq despite a dem and by mili­
tants holding an Italian journal­
ist hostage that Italian forces pull
out within 48 hours.
‘Real World’ Philly
Fifteen years and over 100 strang­
ers since its debut, M T V 's “The
Real W orld" has moved to Phila­
delphia with a fresh crop o f 21 - to
24-year-olds.
Japan Deporting
Ex-Chess Champ
Japan ordered Bobby Fischer
deported, but the former chess
champion immediately appealed
the case in court, meaning he
w on’t be sent out o f the country
right away. The government also
ruled Fischer did not qualify as a
political refugee
I
Earl's Barbershop Proprietor Earl Clark (left) and employee Milton Ross, experience the changing demographics of Northeast Alberta Street.
They have little company when it comes to African-American owned and operated businesses.
Alberta gentrification attracts and pushes back
by L iz W allace
Tin: P ortland O bserver
T here’s no denying that things have
changed on Alberta Street from Marti n Luther
King Boulevard to Northeast 33rd Avenue.
But the debate rages on: Are these changes
beneficial? To whom?
The recent Alberta Streetscape Project
was “initiated by com munity members,” ac­
cording to the Portland Development Com ­
mission, to improve the visual quality o f the
thoroughfare by adding street trees, public
art, curb extensions at transit stops, new
sidewalks, new crosswalks, public parking,
and most importantly, although not m en­
tioned in the project literature, new busi-
nesses.
Many local residents appreciate the vi-
sual changes.
“It looks better,” said Jewell Stevens.
color that have lived in the area for decades.
Charles Santos, an organizer with Re-
claim ing Our Origins Through Struggle
(R O O TS),talkedaboutthedisplacem entof
’ / think it is pushing all the
people who used to live here out.
-Local resident Nicole Hess on Alberta Street gentrification
Others like the art galleries that have
sprung up in their own neighborhood. But
the new businesses on Alberta d o n 't ex­
actly cater to the working class people of
the working poor in Portland in an interview
with Street Roots, a monthly homeless news­
paper.
Gentrification is the term people use to
describe the displacement o f one population
with another.
“It’s a shift of people from the suburbs
moving into our neighborhoods. It doesn’t
matter if it’s the Albertacorri dor or the Boise-
Elliot neighborhood, the Pearl district or all of
downtown, poor people are being pushed
out o f this city,” Santos said.
“T hey’ve got all these new businesses in
the neighborhood (Boise-Elliot) being set
up, said Santos. “I go to the video store, the
coffee shop, the bar, the breakfast place, and
I see no black people working in these estab­
lishments. T here’s something wrong with
continued
on page A3
Following a Human Rights Advocate’s Path
Local activist earns
prestigious scholarship
Lakita L ogan, a R oosevelt high school
alum nus and com m unity activist, will fi­
nally have a chance to finish college.
Practically a poster child for the presti­
gious N ancy Ryles S cholarship at P ort­
land State U niversity, Logan will continue
her schooling at PSU , w hich she entered
last spring as a sophom ore.
T he R yles S cholarship pays $5,000 per
academ ic year and is renew able for four
years o r until the individual earns her
b achelor’s degree. T he scholarship was
created to honor Ryles, a late civic leader
and form er Jefferson High School g radu­
ate know n for her advocacy o f hum an
rights.
T he aw ard is targeted to the college
education o f w om en w ho w ish to work
tow ard an undergraduate degree and who
have had their education interrupted by
financial difficulties, fam ily responsibili­
ties o r personal disabilities.
L o gan’s goal had alw ays been to finish
college, but as a single m other w ith tw o
children, financial struggles kept her from
attending full time.
A native O regonian, she spent m uch o f
her high school and early college starting
organizations aim ed to raise up her co m ­
m unity, by protecting the civil rights o f
w om en, students and people o f color
t
I
photo by
M ark W ashington / T he P o r ti . and O bserver
Lakita Logan is pursuing a bachelor's degree at the college o f Urban and Public
Affairs at Portland State University thanks to a prestigious scholarship.
W hen Logan graduated from Roosevelt
High School in 1997, she entered Portland
C om m unity College. W ithout guidance
tow ard a college preparatory track in high
school, she did not com plete higher math
o r learn how to prepare an outline or w rite
an essay, despite an exceptional grade
point average. Thus, Logan spent her first
years o f college taking basic classes to
prepare for college-level work.
Logan’s political organizing began in high
school. She was active with a group called
“Sisters in A ction” that w orked against
gender violence in the schools; she was also
instrumental in convincing Tri-M et to make
m onthly passes available to Portland high
schtx)l students for reduced rates.
W h ile a tte n d in g PC C , L o g an an d o th ­
ers sta rte d a n o n -p ro fit o rg a n iz a tio n
c a lle d R e claim in g O u r O rig in s T h ro u g h
S tru g g le (R O O T S ), w ith a g o al to teach
p eo p le a b o u t th e irc o m m u n ity , th e ir h is ­
to ry and o rig in s, as w ell as ab o u t th e ir
b asic civ il rig h ts.
F o u n d e d in Ju n e 2 0 0 2 , R O O T S is a
g r a s s r o o ts c o m m u n ity b a s e d o r g a n i­
z a tio n th a t s triv e s to e n c o u r a g e A f r i­
ca n A m e ric a n s to b e p ro u d o f th e ir
h e r ita g e , m a x im iz e e d u c a tio n a l o p ­
p o r tu n itie s , an d b e c o m e m o re so c ia lly
c o n s c io u s .
N ow , w ith the Ryles Scholarship, she
plans to attend sc h m l full-tim e and m ajor
in com m unity developm ent in the college
o f U rban and Public Affairs.
*