îllP sportiani* COhsmier
Page A4
May 14. 2008
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We
welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
-tZ ?
Vote for Sean Cruz
V o te rs in Senate D is tr ic t 23, w h ic h in c lu d e s n o rtheast and
southeast P o rtla n d , P arkrose and M a y w o o d Park, have a c h o ic e
to m ake in the contest to f i l l the seat le ft w ith m y tra n s itio n fro m
the L e g is la tu re to le a c h in g at P o rtla n d State U n iv e rs ity .
1 w ill be v o tin g fo r Sean C ru z , m y v e ry able c h ie f o f s ta ff fo r
o v e r 5 years, and urge y o u to d o the same.
H ere is w h y : T h e le g is la tu re needs m o re vo ic e s that w il l speak
o u t fro m e xp e rie n ce about the needs o f O re g o n ia n s liv in g in
p o v e rty in o u r s till ric h state. Sean C r u / w ill d o th is p a ssio na te ly
and w ill not fo rg e t to put the needs o f the m o st v u ln e ra b le
p o p u la tio n s, m eaning o u r seniors, c h ild re n and people liv in g w ith
d is a b ilitie s , first.
A s a p ro u d M e x ic a n A m e ric a n w ith fa rm -w o rk e r fa m ily
ro o ts, Sean C ru z w ill be p a rtic u la rly se n sitive to and a c h a m p io n
fo r issues o f co n ce rn to a ll o f O re g o n 's un d e rse rve d and p o o rly
served ra cia l and e th n ic p o p u la tio n s .
Senate D is tric t 23 needs a c h a m p io n fo r h e a lth care and
m e n ta l health re fo rm in a state w here o u r d is tric t p ro p o rtio n a te ly
saw the m ost people lose th e ir health cove ra g e u n d e r the O re g o n
H e a lth Plan. Sean C r u / w ill be that c h a m p io n .
Sean Cruz, w ill c o n tin u e to be a passionate v o ic e fo r o u r m any
veterans w h o are re tu rn in g b ro ke n in th e ir p h y s ic a l and m ental
health.
M id d le class O re g o n ia n s have th e ir c h a m p io n s in the H ouse
and Senate, but there are to o fe w c h a m p io n s fo r the p oor. Send
Sean C ru z to the O re g o n Senate. He is q u a lifie d and ready to
se rve .
Court Sanctions Modem Poil Tax
A blow to the right to vote
Avel Louise Gordly
District 23 Senator
by
THE
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing senes of questions and answers about Amenca's natural healing profession
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
Part 18. Chiropractic And Prevention:
Life doesn't have to he a series o f emergencies anymore
It seems that I am always
sick. I do what my doctor
sayTbut i f anything my colds and
ther. People who have regular C h i
ropractic checkups report that they
get fewer colds and influenza. They
keep the stress o ff their nervous
systems. Keeping irritation o ff the
nervous system also helps you
flu attacks are getting worse.
What do you think?
: Constant colds and in flu
enza indicate that the im avoid morning backache and head
and allows you to cope w ith
mune system (and the body aches
in
general) is h ighly stressed. Did stress better. A nd yo u ’ d be amazed
A
you know that recently leading
scientists have discovered that
the entire immune system is an
out-grow th o f the nervous sys
tem? I f you nervous system is
stressed and irritated, the immune
system cannot w ork properly ei-
at the energy you have w ith pre
ventive Chiropractic checkups. I f
yo u ’ d like to trade in your colds
fo r a bounce in your step, call us
fo r an appointment today. It could
be the healthiest call you have
ever made. Isn 't time you stepped
up to Chiropractic?
Flowers' Chiropractic Office
2124 N.E. Hancock Street, Portland Oregon 97212
P h o n e : ( 5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 -5 5 0 4
M arc M orial
This election sea
son has been fu ll o f
stories about b o w l
in g sco re s, b a r
room boilermakers
and pick-up basket
ball. But, a little -n o
ticed U.S. Supreme
Court ruling may have jeopardized
Americans' precious right to vote.
In C raw ford v. M arion County
Election Board, the Supreme Court
ruled to uphold the most restrictive
voter identification law in the coun
try and failed, I think, in its duty to
protect the vo tin g rights o f all
Americans. In its 6-3 decision, the
Court sanctioned the practice o f
requiring Indiana voters to present
government-issued photo id e n tifi
cation in order to vote.
Poll taxes, w hich were used to
disenfranchise Southern black vot
ers by requiring them to pay a
tax inorderto vote, were struck
down by the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1966.Thiscurrent ID
requirem ent appears to be
nothing more than a th in ly
disguised modern-day poll tax
that places a burden upon
many citizens - especially
m inorities, low -incom e, the
elderly and people w ith disabilities
- seeking to exercise their constitu
tional right to vote.
As M elaine Campbell writes in
the National Urban League’ s State
o f Black America, "Today, there are
still over 54 m illio n e lig ib le unregis
tered voters, i nc I ud i ng over 30 per
cent o f A frican Americans and over
40 percent o f Latino Americans who
are unregistered. Yet there are those
w hoconsistently advocate fo r p o li
cies that discourage elig ib le c iti
zens from becoming active pa rtici
pants in our representative democ
racy.”
Indiana is one o f agrow ing num
ber o f states that have passed o r are
considering sim ilar restrictive voter
ID measures. It's one thing to have
the right to vote and quite another
to have unfettered freedom to exer
cise that right.
Despite m y disappointment w ith
the court's ruling, I am encouraged
that the Justices have left open the
p ossibility that such laws could be
challenged in the future w ith p ro o f
that the laws prevented e lig ib le
voters from exercising their rig h t to
vote.
A s the historic presidential elec
tion o f 2(X)8 draws near, we should
be m aking it e a sie r- not more d if f i
cu lt - fo r e lig ib le voters to p a rtici
pate.
Marc Morial is president and
chief executive officer of the Na
tional Urban League.
Leave Child Law Behind
Priority should
be classroom
instruction
|NEW SEA SO N S J
M A R K E T
N O W D E L IV E R IN G
Y o u r fa v o rite n e ig h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s to r e n o w d e liv e r s
g r o c e r ie s r ig h t to y o u r h o m e o r o ffic e .
w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t.c o m
you click, we deliver, (or pull up for pick up)
by J udge G reg
M athis
S ig n e d in to la w in
2001. the N o C h ild L e ft
B e h in d la w was sup
p o se d
to
im p r o v e
A m e rica ’ s public-school
system. In itia lly , the leg
isla tio n inspired hope; it
h e ld s c h o o l d is tr ic ts
m ore a c c o u n ta b le fo r
student perform ance and gave
parents m ore fle x ib ility in choos
ing w hat schools th e ir ch ild re n
attended.
Seven years later, many are left
disappointed: The la w ’ s many
fla w s have been exposed and no
one can say fo r certain w hether
o r not schools are d o in g any b e t
ter. W hat we do kn o w is that
p u b lic - s c h o o l d is tr ic ts have
turned in to test m ills , parents
d o n 't alw ays take advantage o f
the tu to rin g o r tra n sfe r options
available to them and real in stru c
tio n is m issing fro m o u r class
room s.
From the ve ry b e g inn in g , No
C h ild L e ft B ehind had its c ritic s .
The la w 's penalties caused many
school d is tric ts to lo w e r th e ir
achievem ent standards to avoid
p ro b a tio n and o th e r ‘ p u n is h
m ents.’ M is s o u ri, fo r exam ple,
im p ro ve d testing scores fo r stu
dents, but o ffic ia ls there have
adm itted that they low ered the
standards.
O ther school d istricts have ‘ re
c la s s ifie d ’ drop-outs, creating an
unclear p ictu re o f w ho is staying
in and w ho is leaving school.
One o f the biggest draw backs
o f No C h ild L e ft B ehind is the
emphasis it places on standard
ized testing and what that does to
classroom in stru ctio n .
“ T eaching to the test” has be
com e co m m o n , w ith teachers
spending hours o f classroom tim e
teaching a lim ite d c u r-
ric u lu m , o fte n at the
expense o f developing
c ritic a l th in k in g s k ills
in students.
Under N o C h ild Left
B e h in d ,
p a re n ts
whose c h ild re n attend
schools on p robation
are able to take advan
tage o f fe d e ra lly funded tu to rin g
services, e ith e r at the school o r
elsewhere. Research shows that
m any parents are not aware o f
these services.
A d d itio n a lly , a pa re n t can
tra n sfe r th e ir c h ild to another
school i f the one in th e ir local
d is tric t c o n tin u a lly fa ils to meet
federal perform ance standards.
Parents, again, are not ta k in g
advantage o f th is o p p o rtu n ity .
School d istricts do a p oor jo b o f
c o m m u n ica tin g to parents ju s t
w hat o ptions they have under
the law.
A m e ric a 's p u b lic schools can
be fix e d . Congress should co n
tinue to review the la w and w o rk
to amend it - o r create a new one
- that tru ly benefits A m e ric a 's
school ch ild re n . It should be a
top p o lic y p rio rity to d e liv e r an
education b ill that requires m an
d a to ry s k ill im p ro v e m e n t fo r
teachers, reduced class sizes and
an increase in real w o rld learning
and in stru ctio n .
A strong education is the fo u n
dation fo r future success. A m erica
has struggled fo r too long to de
liv e r to o u rc h ild re n the tools they
need to become p ro d u ctive c i t i
zens. We must w o rk q u ic k ly to
create a so lution that w orks.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member of
the Southern Christian Leader
ship Conference.