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Fight for
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Melanie Dixon gets political
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See story, Metro section inside
Interstate Farmer’s
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Food author Eric
Schlosser to kick o ff
event at Overlook Park
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See story, page A3
‘City of Roses’
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV. Number 19
T,Weekin
TheReview
w w w.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Wednesday • May'II. 2005
Jefferson Loses One-Third of Staff
German Holocaust
Memorial Dedicated
Germany dedicated its long-de­
layed national Holocaust memo­
rial T uesday, a field o f closely set
concrete slabs in the heart of Berlin
that tries to summon the help-
lessnessofsix million Jews killed
by th e N azis. H o w ev er,
Germany’s most prominent Jew­
ish leader expressed concern that
the memorial is too abstract to
convey as powerful a message as
authentic places of suffering,
such as former death camps.
Chappelle Cracks
Under Pressure
Dave Chappelle is under pres­
sure. The star of Comedy Central’s
popular “Chappelle’s Show” is
exhausted due to tension, party­
ing and creative differences with
the cable channel, causing the
recent halt in the show’s produc­
tion, the report said, citing un­
named friends and sources. The
third season was set to premiere
May 31.
Police Shooting
Probe Begins
Authorities promised a full in­
vestigation Tuesday into why
deputies riddled a sport utility
vehicle and a Compton neighbor­
hood with 120 bullets after the
driver led them on a chase, wound­
ing an unarmed driver and possi­
bly striking a deputy.
Combat Vests Recalled
The Marine Corps is recalling
5,277 combat vests issued to
troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and
Djibouti after a military newspa­
per published concerns that they
fai led a test to determi ne whether
they could stop a bullet. The
Marines said in a statement they
are recalling the vests to alleviate
any doubts caused by the Ma­
rine Corps Times article, but do
not believe the vests are faulty.
Gay Men Respond
Differently to Scents
Researches have found homo­
sexual m en's brains responded
differently to scent from the male
hormone testosterone than from
those of heterosexual males, and
in a similar way to the women’s
brains. The findings clearly show
a biological involvement in sexual
orientation, said Sandra Witelson,
an expert on brain anatomy and
sexual orientation.
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M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Jefferson High School students walk-out of classes to protest a dramatic cut in teachers and staff coming to the school serving north and
northeast Portland.
Students, teachers
walk out in protest
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
The students at Jefferson High School
w on’t just be losing teachers and staff this
fall - they’ll be losing their second families.
Thus far, 20 full-time positions are set to
be cut from the north Portland campus,
about a third of its entire staff leaving 40 full­
time positions for 650 students next year.
And that’s after Superintendent Vicki Phillips
got five full-time positions added back into
the mix for special enrollment and student
achievement needs.
From departments in science, math, En­
glish, performing arts, social studies and
physical education, the cuts are across the
board.
The school serving both north and north­
east Portland is being hit harder with budget
cuts than any other high school and most
other schools because of its heavy reliance
on state desegregation monies, which have
evaporated.
Despite increased test scores and com­
munity involvement, the school is also los­
ing funding from low enrollment. The total
loss of budgeted monies makes it more dif-
ficult to sustain achievement at its current
levels or to even go beyond that.
Jefferson isn’t taking the losses lightly.
“You try to create and build and imple­
ment a culture of high achievement, you try
to make the connections throughout the
educational system and I don’t care what
you do, you lose 20-plus people, it’ll have a
big of an effect on things,” said Jefferson
Principal Larry Dashiell.
The teachers leaving may end up at other
Portland schools.
“The schools that will get them with get
very well-trained teachers,” Dashiell said.
“We tried to create a more interactive staff.
You build all these pieces and do special
training. Some are new to education at the
time so you’re growing them as teachers.
Dashiell said Jefferson’s current slate of
teachers had become “a family, which is
sometimes really hard to do.”
Whether or not teachers lose their job
depends on where they are in the system. A
third year teacher is allowed to interview in
the first round of any future hiring within the
school district. There are no such provisions
for first or second year teachers.
“At first everybody was really shocked
and upset, even those who were staying,”
Dashiell said. “W e’ve made great process in
continued
on page A 6
Hip-Hop Summit Opens Dialogue Gang Activity
Creates Debate
Event to attract the
socially conscious
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
It’s in the way we talk, the clothes we
wear and the way we view life.
It’s hip-hop, and like many others,
K aranja Crew s feels like it's getting a
bad rap. Rather than focusing on the
negative side o f hip-hop that the media
often portrays, with images o f thugging
and drug dealing, Crew s wants to fea­
ture the positive, socially conscious
side o f the musical genre rarely seen in
the m ainstream .
At the first annual Hip-Hop Summit,
dialogue about the style will be opened to
a whole new level.
Speak Life Inc. and The Koinonia Project
are partnering with The Black Cultural
Affairs Board of Portland State University
and the Black Student Union of Portland
Community College at Cascade for the
event, held on May 28 at the PCC Cascade
gymnasium with the panel discussion
beginning at 2 p.m. and a concert follow­
ing at 6:30 p.m. It's free and open to the
public.
“People can come out o f it knowing
how tochange theircommunity. The older
generation will no longer have a false
perception of hip-hop. Hopefully people
will come out with a whole new perspec­
tive,” Crews said.
The aims of the project include: expos­
Civil rights groups
weary of crackdown
Soul Plasma is one of the local musical guests to headline the first annual Hip-
Hop Summit in Portland.
ing the conditions o f the African American
community; rallying and mobilizing every­
one to bring about change within these
communities; and exposing youth, young
adults, and elders to see a new positive
sound of hip-hop and rap music to inspire,
motivate and influence.
A variety of panelists from different back­
grounds such as youth, youth leaders, busi­
ness professionals, politicians, educators,
and community leaders will discuss the fol­
lowing questions;
Does hip-hop influence young people in
a negative or positive way? How do we
bridge the gap between the hip-hop genera­
tion and the civil rights movement genera­
tion? And where do we go from here?
“The leadership in the African American
community is lacking among our elders and
it’s time for a whole new generation of
leaders to come and step up to the plate,”
Crews said. “There’s no one really stand­
ing up for our issues. T hat's the reason why
I wanted to put this together for my genera­
tion.”
Through uplifting music. Crews said,
the image of hip-hop can be turned around.
“Music that speaks in an atmosphere of
death, that’s the type of atmosphere it’ll
reap. If you speak about life, it’ll be more
continued
on page A5
(AP) - The rapid spread of vicious street
gangs is causing alarm in cities and suburbs
nationw ide, igniting bitter debate about how
best to combat the threat and inspiring a
comprehensive anti-gang bill in Congress.
The measure is depicted by supporters as
the only ef fective way to counterattack gang
violence, and assailed by critics as an over­
reaction that could clog both federal courts
and adult prisons with youthful offenders,
most of them minorities.
Sponsored by Rep.Randy Forbes, R-Va.,
the bill moved swiftly through the House
Judiciary Committee last month and is sched­
uled for a House floor vote Wednesday. It
would turn many gang-related violent of­
fenses into, federal crimes punishable by
mandatory sentences of at least 10 years,
expand the range of crimes punishable by
death, and enable U S. prosecutors to try 16-
and 17-year-old gang members as adults in
federal courts.
In Virginia recently, gang victims have
been hacked by machetes and had fingers
cut off. Affiliated gangs in Central America
are suspected in several recent beheadings
of young women.
The bill's supporters include the National
Sheriffs' Association and the Fraternal Or-
continued
on page A6
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