December 12. 2007
Æ,K|Jiirtlanh (©bseruer
Page A2
Oprah Endorses Obama for President
Brings star
power to stage
for Democrat
( AP) - O prah W infrey, one of
the most prom inent entertainers
in the world, is using her star
pow er to back the presidential
campaign o f Sen. Barack Obama.
"South Carolina — January
20th is your moment," W infrey
said, referring to the state D em o­
cratic primary date during a cam ­
paign stop Sunday alongside the
Illinois senator. "It's your time to
seize the opportunity to support a
man w ho. as the Bible says, loves
nierey and does justly."
Obam a's campaign said more
than 29.0(H) attended thé event at
the University o f South Carolina's
football stadium. It had the feel
of a rock concert, with bands
playing for early arrivals and cam ­
paign supporters yelling "fire it
up" to the crowd.
Winfrey, who also campaigned
for O bam a on Saturday in Iowa,
offered a touch o f talk show-like
advice during a 17-minute speech.
"There are those who say it's not
his time, that he should wait his
turn. Think about where you'd
be in your life if you’d waited
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-lll. (left) and wife Michelle
are joined by talk-show host Oprah Winfrey (right) during a campaign rally in
Manhcester, N.H., Sunday. (AP Photo)
when people told you to," she
said.
"I'm sick o f politics as usual,"
W infrey said. "W e need Barack
Obama."
A recent A P-Pew Research
poll has New York Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton leading in South
Carolina with 45 percent o f likely
Democratic primary voters, fol­
lowed by O bam a's 31 percent.
The two candidates break even
on the black vote here, and that's
w here W infrey's appeal could
becom e a factor — along with
her pull am ong women.
O bam a, during his address,
criticized the Bush adm inistra­
tion and took several veiled swipes
at Clinton, though never refer­
enced his rival by name.
"I'm tired o f Democrats think­
ing the only way to look tough on
national security is to act like
G eorge Bush," he said. "We need
a bold D emocratic Party that's
going to stand for something, not
just posture and pose."
He said if he's the party nom i­
nee, an opponent won't be able to
say he supported going to w ar in
Iraq, which C linton did-
"It's not good enough to tell
the people w hat you think they
w ant to hear, instead o f what
they need to hear. That just won't
do. Not this time," he said. "We
can't spend all our time triangu­
lating and poll-testing our posi­
tions because we're worried about
what Mitt or Rudy or Fred or the
other Republican nominees are
going to say about us."
He said voters will need to cast
ballots in favor of a candidate —
not against an incumbent who is
leaving office.
"The name G eorge W. Bush
will not be on the ballot," he said,
a rem ark that brought the crowd
to its feet for several minutes.
"The name o f my cousin Dick
Cheney won't be on the ballot,"
O bam a added, a reference to their
more than 300-year-old, distant
fam ily connection. "That was
som e em barrassing stuff when
that cam e out."
O bam a was accom panied by
his wife, M ichelle, and said it
w as h is c a m p a ig n ’s b ig g e st
crowd. "You know you've got a
good p rogram w hen I'm the
third-best speaker on the stage,"
he said.
A fter tw o days o f cam paign­
ing, W infrey said she had over­
com e her initial nervousness.
"I'm beginning to like this,"
she said. "I'm beginning to like
this because I can feel that you
are ready for change."
Crack Sentencing Guidelines Eased
Retroactive decision impacts 19,500 inmates
The late Seif Enhancement, Inc. Librarian Genia Adair is pictured with one of her students. SEI
will name its school library in honor of Adair during a ceremony on Monday, Dec. 17 at 5 p.m.
SEI to Honor Librarian’s Legacy
Self Enhancement, Inc. in­
vites the community to celebrate
the leg acy o f M s. E u g en ia
“G enia" Adair at a library dedi­
cation event on M onday, Dec.
17 at 5 p.m. in the SEI gym na­
sium.
The Collins M ulticultural Li­
brary will formally be renamed
as the Eugenia Adair M emorial
Library - Collins Foundation.
Adair, who passed away in
April o f this year, was the li­
brarian at SEI for over 9 years.
She transform ed an empty room
at SEI into a vibrant space full of
books and energy.
“G enia was not only our li­
b ra ria n ,
sh e
w as
th is
com m unity's librarian." saidTony
Hopson, president and chief ex­
ecutive o fficer o f SEE "H er
contributions to our students and
staff will be felt for generations
to com e."
The SEI library is currently
named after the Collins Founda­
tion because o f their longstanding
support o f the library program.
W hen approached by Hopson
with the idea o f renam ing the
library for Adair, the foundation
graciously consented without a
second thought.
T he dedication program will
h ig hlight students, staff, and
c o m m u n ity r e p r e s e n ta tiv e s
talk in g about the im pact Ms.
A dair had on their lives. A fter
the program , the plaque b e a r­
ing h er nam e will o fficially be
hung.
goal is to be an electronics technician. ”
W inter classes start January 7.
(AP) -- The U.S. Sentencing
Commission voted unanimously
Tuesday to allow some 19,500 fed­
eral prison inmates, most of them
black, to seek reductions in their
crack cocaine sentences.
The commission, which sets
guidelines for federal prison sen­
tences, decided to make retroactive
its recent easing of recommended
sentences for crack offenses.
Roughly 3,800 inmates could be
eligible for release from prison
within a year after the March 3
effective date of Tuesday's deci­
sion. Federal judges will have the
final say whether to reduce sen­
tences.
The commissioners said the de­
lay would give judges and prison
officials time to deal with public
safety and other issues.
U.S. District Judge William Ses­
sions of Vermont, a commission
member, said the vote on retroac­
tivity will have the "most dramatic
impact on African-American fami­
lies." A failure to act "may be taken
by some as particularly unjust,"
Sessions said before the vote.
The seven-member commission
took note of objections raised by
the Bush administration, but said
there is no basis to treat convicts
sentenced before the guidelines
were changed differently from those
sentenced after the change.
Inmate family representatives
A man places a piece of crack cocaine into a pipe to be smoked.
and other advocates had said a
Supreme Court decision on Mon­
day could only improve chances
the commission would address the
long-criticized disparity in sen­
tences for crack and powder co­
caine offenses. Crack is predomi­
nantly used by blacks; powder
cocaine, predominantly by whites.
The administration restated its
opposition to the easing on Tues­
day before the commission voted.
"Our position is clear," said
A tto rn e y G e n e ra l M ic h a e l
M ukasey at a news conference.
"We oppose it."
The attorney general said the
convicted crack offenders were sen­
tenced under an existing standard
and to change that standard retro-
Kicker Tax Rebates M ailed Out
(AP) — Kicker checks were in
the mailbox last weekend for most
Oregonians.
The state sent out more than 1.6
million of the income tax "kicker"
rebate checks in time for holiday
shopping and bills.
Bu, some decided to donate
their share of the record $1.07
billion in rebates by checking off
on their 2006 tax returns that they
w anted their kicker rebate to go pected. By Monday afternoon,
to the schools fund, officials said, nearly 3,700 folks had called the
a collective $6.7 million contribu­ Oregon Revenue Department with
kicker-related queries. Most of the
tion.
It was twice as many people — calls were from people notifying
and nine times as much money — the state of address changes in
donated to the State School Fund order to get their cheeks. Others
in 2001, the last time there were wanted to know why the state de­
ducted some of their rebates to
personal tax rebates.
Some checks apparently didn't offset past taxes or other outstand­
make it, or were smaller than ex­ ing debts.
il!r ^Jortlatib (Obscrucr Established 1970
o make your dreams come true,
Take the Next Step at Clark College.
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actively dismisses any mitigating
factors the sentencing judge con­
sidered when deciding how long a
prison term to set.
In addition, the release of in­
mates would cause problems for
communities whose probation and
supervisory systems are not ready
to receive crack offenders, he said.
In two decisions Monday, the
Supreme Court upheld judges who
rejected federal sentencing guide­
lines as too harsh and imposed
more lenient prison terms, includ­
ing one for crack offenses.
In the crack case. Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg's majority opinion
said Derrick Kimbrough's 15-year
sentence was acceptable, although
guidelines called for 19 to 22 years.
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