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March 23. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views of The Portland Observer
O pinion
Death and Carnage
Attorney General
is silent on guns
B y J udge G reg M athis
In tw o days this month, gun
violence killed over a dozen
people inside tw o o f our most
sacred and safest institutions,
the courthouse and the church.
E v ery d ay , nine y o u th s are
killed by gunfire in America.
W ith such death and ca r
nage occurring as a result o f gun vio
lence, why hav en 't w e heard from the
United States Attorney General Gonzales,
the highest-ranking law enforcem ent o f
ficer in the country? He is ultim ately
responsible for enforcing federal laws
and im plem enting policies to prevent
crime.
Attorney General Gonzales has only
recently replaced John Ashcroft, and per
haps he needs more time to gather a strat
egy. As such, maybe he is open to some
advice from taxpaying Americans. My
suggestion is that he convene a national
conference on gun violence allowing in
put from every sector of our country.
The public and private sector should
come together with religious groups, com
munity organizations, law enforcement,
gun dealers and m edia owners who pro
duce violent content in movies and video
games. The conference should focus on
PUBLIC SERYiCE AMERICAN STYLE
how we can end the culture o f violence in
this country that has Am erica standing as
the w orld 's leader in deaths by gunfire
am ong all industrialized countries.
A s you can im agine, one o f the
prim ary solutions suggested at
such a conference w ould be to
cu rb the availability o f guns. T hat
is th e o n ly s o lu tio n th a t has
w orked in C an ad a and oth er co u n
tries w here death by gun violence
is a rare occasion. As such, three
pow erful w ords w ould probably
prevent such a conference from even
taking place. T hose w ords are N ational
Ritle A ssociation.
It is w ell know n to anyone w ho fol
lows public policy that the N R A has a
choke hold on state and federal officials
w ho dare not advocate m ore gun regula
tion. The pow erful association is so ad a
mant about gun rights that they are even
against prohibiting people on the terror
ist w atch lists from buying guns. T hat is
precisely w hy we have a ridiculous policy
that bars those on the g o v ern m e n t’s
terrorist list from boarding an airplane
but perm its them to purchase guns.
N ow that gun violence is occurring
inside the courtroom and the church,
m aybe we can revisit the issue.
Judge M athis is chairm an o f the R ain
bow PU SH -Excel Board and a national
board m em ber o f the Southern C hristian
L eadership Conference.
- -
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Local Schools Left Behind: Small savings will be offset by future losses
B u t c lo s in g n e ig h b o r h o o d room . W e urge you to consider the an d to h elp raise m o n ey . A ny o f
Portland Public S chool’s favoring an d p riv ate sc h o o ls and loss o f
th e s e c o s t - c u t t i n g m e a s u r e s
follow ing cost-saving m easures:
fro m the N eighborhood Schools focus options o ver neighborhood co m m u n ity g o o d w ill an d v o ter sc h o o ls sh o u ld be a last reso rt.
w o u ld d e m o n stra te to S alem and
A
sk
PPS
adm
inistrators
to
w
ork
A lliance to P ortland School B oard program s, by closures w ithout ad su p p o rt fo r PPS, d ue to a hasty A t a tim e w h en PPS d esp erate ly
to
P o rtlan d ta x p a y e rs y o u r o n g o
10
d
a
y
s
w
ith
o
u
t
pay,
as
te
ac
h
ers
m em bers. S u p erin te n d en t Vicki equate com m unity input and by p ro ce ss th at has p u sh ed th ro u g h needs to retain fam ilies, w hy drive
ing
d ed ica tio n to c u ttin g co sts,
have
alre
ad
y
d
o
n
e
R
ed
u
ce
PPS
Phillips, M ayor Tom Potter, and recent pronouncem ents o f 350 to th ese p ro p o sals w ith o u t g en u in e aw ay y o u r b est c u sto m e rs? P ar
w
h
ile
a v o id in g sh o rt-sig h te d and
cen
tral
o
ffice
a
d
m
in
istra
to
rs’
pay
en ts a n d n o n -a d m in istra tiv e sta ff
450 students as an “o p tim al'' size co m m u n ity input.
the P ortland com m unity:
h
asty
c lo su re s o f o u r p rec io u s
A d ata-d riv en p ro ce ss sh o u ld m ust b e in c lu d ed in a tru ly c o l by 5 p erc en t.
T h e N e ig h b o rh o o d S c h o o ls for elem entary schools.
n
e
ig
h
b
o rh o o d sc h o o ls.
E
lim
in
a
te
o
r
re
d
u
c
e
an
u
n
W e urge the B o ard to v o te p ro v id e such b asic in fo rm atio n la b o ra tiv e p ro ce ss, o r th e se a c
A llia n ce is a new co alitio n o f p a r
C
o
m
m u n ity c o n ta c ts in th e
n
eed
ed
e
x
tra
lay
er
o
f
a
d
m
in
istra
e n ts, te a c h e rs an d c o m m u n ity “ N o" on the c u rren t p ro p o sals as a c o st and b en e fit an a ly sis o f tio n s w ill resu lt in the total failure
N
e
ig
h
b
o
rh o o d S c h o o l A llia n c e
to
rs:
th
e
D
ire
c
to
rs
o
f
S
tu
d
en
t
o f th is urban sch o o l d istric t. W e
m e m b ers. T h is is the first tim e and to p o stp o n e any d e c isio n to clo su re s. If cu ts m ust b e m ade,
are
N
ancy
Sm ith o f north P ortland
A c h ie v em en t.
p eo p le from m any sc h o o ls and all clo se/co n so lid ate n eig h b o rh o o d an n o u n c e them in O cto b e r so th a t are at a tu rn in g p o in t w ith PPS,
at
503-285-0500;
D arian F uller
A
ccelerate
the
planning
process
are as o f th e city have o rg an iz ed schools and p u t 7lh an d 8lh g ra d th e re is tim e to bu ild su p p o rt fo r and true c o m m u n ity input is a key
o
f
northeast
P
ortland
a t 503-5 /6 -
for
renti
ng
or
sell
i
ng
PPS
headquar
n ew ly fo rm e d sch o o ls, an d p a r c o m p o n e n t o f an y so lu tio n .
to g e th e r on b e h a lf o f n e ig h b o r ers at Jefferso n .
5152;
A
n
n
e
Trudeau
o
f southeast
ters;
relo
c
ate
a
d
m
in
istra
to
rs
in
W e believe that equivalent if not
W e believe the relativ ely sm all en ts can m ake in fo rm ed ch o ice s
hood scho o ls.
P
o
rtla
n
d
a
t
503-2
2
8
-6
384; and
g r e a te r c o s t s a v in g s c a n be schools with excess space
W e believe our neighborhood potential cost sa v in g s w ill be o ff by the tra n sfe r d ead lin e.
Ruth
A
tkins
o
f
so
u
th
w
est
P ortland
W e are w illin g to w o rk w ith
W e re c o g n ize th at PPS is fa c achieved through cuts to ad m in is
schools, the “crow n je w e ls” o f set by a loss o f e n ro llm e n t to
at
503-358-1376.
PPS to w ard ad d itio n a l so lu tio n s
Portland, are gravely threatened by ch a rter schools, h o m e -sc h o o lin g , ing en o rm o u s fu n d in g p ro b lem s. tration, rather than in the class-
The fo llo w in g is an open letter
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