50j£
Special
Coverage
Inspirational Legacy
Black
Issue
Film honors late
counselor AI Fort hem
See story, M etro section
Month
iJortkm it ©íiseruer
Volume XXXVIII. Number 9
.W eek in
Thc Review
Economic Woes
M ore econom ic woes for the U.S.
econom y as new indexes show
c o n s u m e r c o n f id e n c e
has ;
plunged, inflation has soared, the
num ber o f foreclosed hom es has i
jum ped, hom e prices fell sharply
and a report Tuesday predicted
big increases in healthcare costs.
In addition, gas prices jum ped 17
cents in the past week.
Dodd Endorses Obama
As a New York Tim es/CBS poll
sh o w e d b ro a d e r s u p p o rt fo r
Barack O bam a across the coun­
try, Sen. Christopher Dodd en­
d o rs e d h is
o n e -tim e
p re sid e n tia l
rival on Tues­
day. He en-
co u ra g ed
Democrats to
join forces to
defeat the Republicans but de­
nied he w as nud ging H illary
Clinton to end her candidacy.
FstnhlKhpd in 1970
Established
www
n n rtla n d n h s e rv p
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • February 27, 2008
Concordia
EXPANDS
Landmark becoming
major university
by R aymond R kndleman
T he P ortland O bserver
College cam puses tend to create a stir with
expansion into adjoining properties, but not
Concordia University, the 103-year-old institu­
tion at Northeast 27th Avenue and Holman
Street.
As Concordia prepares to raze about 30
structures over a two-block area on its north
side to make way for a new library and sports
fields, there has been little controversy. All of
the properties were purchased by the private
Lutheran university voluntarily over several
years.
Concordia officials argue that surrounding
neighborhoods stay happy if higher education
maintains a genuine sense of com m unity part-
PHOTOBY
Army ‘out of Balance’
<
The U.S. military reports serious
strain and wants to reduce the length
o f combat tours to prepare for an
uncertain future. "The cumulative
effects of the last six-plus years at
war have left our Army out of bal­
ance,” Gen. George Casey told a
Senate panel on Tuesday.
Concordia Univer­
sity will expand two
blocks north to
Northeast Dekum
Street with athletic
fields and a library,
replacing about 30
existing structures.
Construction on the
library will begin
this spring.
Working Pregnant
W om en have children later, work
longer into pregnancy and return i
to work faster than they did four ,
decades ago, the Census Bureau
said Monday. In the early part of
this decade, 55 percent returned
to work within six m onths after j
giving birth; that figure was 14
percent in the early 1960s.
Oregon Health Plan Rush
Going into its final week of accept- j
ing names, the reservation list for
the Oregon Health Plan’s Stan­
dard benefit package has attracted
the nam es o f more than 76,000
uninsured O regonians. After the
reservation list period closes Fri­
day, at least 3,000 people will be
selected at random and get sent
applications.
R aymond R endi . eman AT he P ortland O bserver
Concordia University President Charles Schlimpert (right) and Chief Financial Officer Dennis Stoecklin oversee a
major expansion o f the college's northeast Portland campus.
nershipatall levels. In this case,
that included the charge o f find­
ing ways to reach out to the
African-American and Hispanic
populations o f the immediate
area.
The outreach involved initia­
tives such as opening meeting
and office space for the N A ACP
and the Black Parent Initiative,
organizing a large corps of stu­
dents and staff to volunteerregu-
larly at nearby struggling schools,
and finalizing the unveiling of a
fu ll-rid e s c h o la rs h ip fo r a
continued
on pane A3
Priority H ighfor Healthcare Overhaul
Senator Wyden
addresses
concerns
by R aymond R kndleman
T he P ortland O bserver
Changes in Rosaria
As health disparities widen
The Rose Festival will open its
for minority and disadvantaged
royal positions for the first tim e to
populations, the stakes were high
girls from nearly 3 0 suburban high
for U.S. Sen. Ron W yden's visit
schools from Forest G rove to
to
th e
U rb an
L ea g u e
Sandy, starting in 2009. Also, Port- j
M
ulticultural
Senior
Center
in
la n d hig h s c h o o ls th a t have
the heart o f Portland's African-
struggled recently to field many
American community.
princess candidates might lose
their traditionally guaranteed slots
Two women with concerns
on the court.
about high prescription costs took
seats near the center’s entrance
School Budgets Outlined
last Friday to shake the senator's
By freezing the salaries o f custo­
hand
as Wyden tours the state
dians and 38 top officials at dis­
to explain his support for over­
trict headquarters, kindergarten
class sizes would decrease and K-
hauling the way healthcare is
8 schools w ould receive more
administered in America.
money. The details are part of
Lorraine Thom pson, 66, and
S uperintendent C arole S m ith's
Celia Yancey, 82, were among
proposed budget for the 2008-09
the approxim ately l(M) attend­
school year.
ees that took advantage o f the
opportunity to wrestle with the
struggles currently facing the
h
local community.
i ’ iiotoby M ark W asiiington /T iie P ortland O bserver
‘‘His being here means to me
S îp û
D'Norgia Price, Urban League o f Portland senior-services director, welcomes U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden to a community meeting at the
that he cares about his constitu­
Multicultural Senior Center on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
ency, especially the elders who
are facing horrible, horrible times
able." she says.
now in terms of the econom y,”
T he D em o cratic sen ato r,
D 'N o rg ia P rice, an U rban
whose home is in Portland and
League senior-services direc­
who was first elected to the
tor, told the Portland Observer.
House o f Representatives in
Price hopes that the senator's
1980 to represent O regon's 3rd
effo rts to pass a universal
Congressional District, echoed
healthcare bill will fetch less of
the concerns o f the group.
a patchwork in insurance plans
"W ith respect to Medicare
and more of a feeling o f stability
especially, we know that every
for underserved populations.
year too many of our seniors are
"Fewer people will fall through
falling between thc cracks."
the cracks because they will
- D’Norgia Price, Urban League of Portland senior-services director
continued y ^ on page 43
know that healthcare's avail-
Hz
His being here means to me that he
cares about his constituency, especially
the elders who are facing horrible,
horrible times now in terms o f the
economy.
f