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Page A4
A p ril 26. 2006
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Zero Tolerance
t°r Wrongdoing
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Build a stronger voter-owned system
BV
message that if you violate the
system, there are harsh conse­
quences.
The League of Women Voters
has zero tolerance for wrongdoing.
Our coalition will continue to be
watchdogs over this fair, open and
accountable system, one that was
supported and advocated for by a
diverse coalition of grassroots or­
ganizations representing tens of
thousands of Portlanders.
I'm encouraged by the auditor’s
quick and strict response to spend­
ing abuse by the Boyles campaign
as well as careful review and denial
of Lucinda Tate’s certification due
to rule violations.
C arol C ushman
The League of Women V oters of
Portland is committed to creating a
more open and fair system for city
elections, but also a level playing
field with strict and meaningful safe­
guards against fraud.
Emilie Boyles violated the strict
spending rulesofthe Voter-Owned
elections system and we are com­
mitted to learning from these start­
up issues to build a stronger sys­
tem moving forward.
The League of Women Voters
of Portland and the grassroots
coalition behind Voter-Owned
Élections were the first to call for
a full and swift investigation into
Carol Cushman is the president
the Boyles campaign. The penal­
ties levied against the Boyles of the League o f Woman Voters o f
campaign should send a clear Portland.
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Massachusetts Moves Toward Universal Health Coverage
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W ith the rising co sts o f
healthcare, it is becoming more and
more difficult for many Americans
to access necessary medical ser­
vices. Realizing that the U.S. has a
bona fide crisis on our hand and
with no help coming from the fed­
eral government, the Massachu­
setts State Legislature has ap­
proved a bill that would require all
residents to buy health insurance.
Supported by the state’s Repub­
lican Governor and reported Presi­
dential hopeful Mitch Romney,the
bill would require all uninsured
adults to purchase some kind of
insurance policy by sum­
mer 2007 or face a fine.
With this bill, Massa­
chusetts is positioned to
become the first state to
provide nearly universal
health care coverage to its
residents. While this is a
great accomplishment on
the part of the Massachu­
setts, the state shouldn’t shoulder ernm ent-run healthcare system
this responsibility alone. The fed­ isn’t the way to go. He prefers a
eral government needs to follow private health care system, where
Massachusetts' lead and provide Americans are free to “choose.”
universal healthcare coverage for Unfortunately, most Americans are
forced to choose between food and
all Americans.
President Bush says that a gov- medicine, between heat and a trip to
Currently the U.S. spends more
date a range of income
on health care than any other in­
levels.
L ow -incom e re si­ dustrialized nation - and all of those
dents wouldn’t have to countries provide health insurance
pay a prem ium and to all of their citizens!
The unlimited spending power
would only be respon­
sible for small fees for of the healthcare lobby shouldn’t
visits to the emergency dictate whether or not Americans
room and doctor's of- have adequate healthcare cover­
f * fice. If residents fail to age. Write your local legislators
purchase the required insurance, and demand they push for univer­
they will still be treated - and will sal healthcare. As candidates gear
up for the next election cycle, re­
face their fines later.
The healthcare lobby is very search and support those that sup­
powerful and has been able to con­ port a universal system. The U.S.
vince or pay policymakers to be­ government should serve the needs
lieve that universal healthcare cov­ of its citizens, not corporate inter­
erage would be too expensive. The ests. Your vote can make sure the
truth is that past studies by the message is heard loud and clear.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
Congressional Budget Office have
shown that a universal health care vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
system would save the country and a national board member o f
hundreds of billions of dollars each the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
year.
Past studies by the Congressional
Budget Office have shown that a
universal health care system would
save the country hundreds o f
billions o f dollars each year.
Chronic Headaches & Neck Pain?
STUDY VOLUNTEERS
NEEDED!
the doctor. There are about 45
m illion Americans without health
insurance and, while many of
them are poor, a significant num­
ber are working class people that
sim ply c a n 't afford to have the
fees required by their employer-
provided plan deducted from their
paychecks.
Under Massachusetts’ plan, resi­
dents of the state would be able to
choose from a wide selection of
policies, private and government
subsidized, that would accommo­
ta the
We are seeking participants for
a headache-related research
project. If you are 18 or older
and have frequent headaches
with neck pain, you may qualify
for this important study.
Jefferson Closure Talk
An Oregonian editorial last week
suggested Jefferson should be
closed because it is the high school
with the smallest number of stu­
dents. This reasoning fails to rec­
ognize that the Jefferson attendance
area actually has the largest num­
ber of high school students living
within its boundaries. The num­
bers are Jefferson-1,950; Marshall-
1,864; W ilson-1,697; G rant-1,622;
M adison-1,524; Franklin-1,476;
Roosevelt-1,395 ; Cleveland-1,379;
and Lincoln-1,323.
For years, the federal No Child
Left Behind law and Portland Pub-
No financial obligation to participants.
This is a drug-free study.
CALL 800-678-9072
For more information
W ESTERN STATES CHIROPRACTIC COLLEGE
Funded by National Institutes o f Health
SEASONS
lie Schools policies have encour­
aged students to transfer out of
Jefferson.
The school's design team mem­
bers and parents repeatedly asked
PPS to get feedback from neighbor­
hood families during the recent
Jefferson redesign process to de­
termine what programs and other
changes were needed at Jefferson
to retain and attract more neighbor­
hood students. But it never hap­
pened.
So, rather than adopting changes
that will increase student enroll­
ment, PPS sealed Jefferson's fate
by approving narrowly focused
programs (two single gender pro­
grams, and two technology-based
programs) which will appeal to a
smaller fraction of the neighbor­
hood students and result in further
declines in enrollment. Only 34 stu­
dents have applied for those pro­
grams so far.
Statem ents in the d istric t’s
reconfiguration proposal (which are
being parroted by the Oregonian
and others) suggest that we can
expect a closure announcement in
2(X)9 for Jefferson and even earl ier
for M arsh all, M adison, or
Roosevelt.
Those statements indicate to me
that the district and others are bank­
ing on the failure of schools that
serve a higher percentage of low
income and minority students.
Nicole Hreedlove
North Portland
OHSU Shield Unfair
M eet y o u r P h a rm a cists,
M elinda B u tle r a n d Todd Martin
AT A R B O R L O D G E /
kte art, a r&fbfar p/tarmaaf!
^ W e fill p r e s c r ip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
h ig h b lo o d p re s s u re m e d ic a tio n s ,
a n ti- d e p re s s a n ts , b irth c o n tro l, a n d m o re .
| / w e h a v e k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts
w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a re in fo r m a tio n .
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O u r p r ic e s a re c o m p e titiv e W e a c c e p t m o s t
in s u r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s
re q u e s te d .
W e s p e c ia liz e in c u s t o m c o m p o u n d in g .
Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D , N E IG H B O R H O O D
P H A R M A C Y AT ARBOR LODGE
N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E A P O R T L A N D B L V D
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f t
OHSU privatized its doctors so
they could double their pensions.
More egregiously, with the protec­
tion of the Oregon Tort Claims Act,
the OHSU Medical Group solidi­
fied its immunity from malpractice
liability while shamelessly conceal­
ing its negligent doctors.
Adding to the serious problems
of patient safety and rising costs,
the absence o f accountability
makes the prognosis grim for our
state’s health care system.
I support the legal challenges to
tort immunity by Ken Ackerman
and others, as I think that OHSU
physicians now enjoy an irrespon­
sible shield of corporate protec­
tion.
While this discrepancy may be
unfair to non-OHSU physicians, I
am more concerned about my pa­
tients, who 1 may need to refer to
OHSU. They deserve full constitu­
tionally guaranteed protections of
our civil justice system.
I pray that a jury will level the
playing field for all patients and
physicians, helping to heal our
health care system.
Tom Saddoris II, M.l).
Northeast Portland
Supporting Foxworth
W ithout qu estio n D errick
Foxworth has been the best role
model for African Americans in the
Rose City’s 160-year history.
As Northeast Precinct Com ­
mander and later as Police Chief,
Foxworth was cool, dignified, rea­
sonable and sensible.
He did much to heal the rift be-
tween the police and the public;
and between the white community
and the black community.
Let us hope it will not take an­
other 160 years to find a role model
as good as the one shattered by
one newspaper story.
Charles E. lamg
Northeast Portland