50 jé
years
•'com m unity servi
Scramble to Survive
Hip Hop Helping Schools
Food Stamps don't
cover rising costs
Leading acts come together
fo r music programs
See Health Matters, page B2
See story, Metro inside
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‘City of Roses’
Established in 1970
w w w .p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIII. N um ber 21
.Week ¡n
The Review
Wednesday • M ay 21, 2 0 0 8
Fighting
a Stigma
Kennedy has. Brain Tumor
A c a n c e ro u s
b r a in tu m o r
cau sed the se i
zure Sen. E d
w a rd
M.
K en n e d y s u f
fered ov er the
w eekend, d o c
tors said T uesday in a grim d ia g
nosis for one o f A m erican p o li
tics' m ost end u rin g figures. S ee
story, p ag e A 3.
Pernell Brown and Leslie Esinga walk the streets
of New Columbia to check on neighborhood
complaints and keep in touch with residents
about concerns.
Three-year-old
New Columbia
prioritizes safe
activities
Obama Packs Waterfront
bv R aymond R endi . eman
T he P ortland O bserver
Sen. BaraCk O bam a drew the larg
est political crow d in O regon h is
tory S unday w hen 75,000 packed
the P ortland W aterfront to hear
the D em ocratic presidential c a n
d id ate speak. S ee r e la te d s to r y ,
p ag e A2.
Community organizers in the New Colum
bia neighborhood o f north Portland gear up
each spring to prom ote a safe environm ent,
and this year th ey ’re confident that a full
slate o f activities will prevent any flair-ups of
violent activity.
The first residents o f New C olum bia
moved in during the spring o f 2005 as con
struction replaced C olum bia Villa, the low
cost public housing that had turned into a
focal point o f gang-related concerns.
Now that the new houses, apartm ents,
streets and businesses that replaced the
Villa will be fully occupied for the first sum
mer, optim ism runs high, especially for the
Housing A uthority of Portland and most of
the neighborhood's 2,5(X) residents.
"I never really felt as though this was an
experim ent,” says Leslie Esinga, a H A Pem -
ployee for New Colum bia who, as a single
mother. I i ved i n Col u m b i a V i 11 a be fore safe t y
concerns led to its razing in 2003.
Quran Shooting Apology
P resident Bush has ap ologized
to Iraqi Prim e M in ister Nuri al-
M aliki and p rom ised p ro sec u
tion o f a U.S. so ld ier accused o f
u sing a copy o f the Q uran for
target practice, Iraqi officials said
on T uesday.
Oil Drives Downturn
W all S treet tu m b led T uesday
after oil prices spiked to a new
record above $ 129 a barrel and a
g o vernm ent report raised in v e s
to rs’ con cern s about the im pact
o f in f l a t i o n o n c o n s u m e r
sp e n d in g .
continued
on pane AS
P h ila d e lp h ia P o lice C o m m is
sio n e r C harles FI. R am sey fired
fo ur police o fficers w ho w ere
cau g h t on telev isio n n ew s-h eli
co p ter video b eating three su s
p ec ts in a d ru g -re la te d trip le
sh ooting on M ay 5. R am sey said
three o th e r o ffic ers have been
su spended and one o ffic er has
been dem oted.
In the Neighborhood
by
Ho moni » R endi kman /T he P orti
photo by
Officers Fired for Beating
R aymond R endi . kman and M ark W ashington /T iie P ori land O bserver
The gas prices are giving me extra
motivation to do what ! should be
doing already, which is bike to work.
-Jan Underwood'
and O bsery er
Are your plans for Memorial Day weekend
llliptlC tC cl b y t h e SOU1 111^2 COSt Ot g clS O llIie ?
/ don't ever drive because I
can't afford it, but / hope to be
able to buy a car someday.
We’ve got to stay close to hom e.
I hope it gets better, but what
can we really do?
-DawaGyaltsen
-Shelli Curry
Homeowner Rescue Plan
A key S enate panel approved a
h o m eo w n er rescue plan T u e s
day to give ch e a p e r, g o v e rn
m ent-backed m ortgages to up to
5 0 0 ,0 0 0 strapped borrow ers. It
also in c lu d es to u g h e r re g u la
tio n s f o r g o v e r n m e n t- s p o n
so red m ortgage g ia n ts Fannie
M ae and Freddie M ac.
China Takes Toll
R e scu e rs freed a 6 0 -y e a r-o ld
w om an T u e sd a y w ho w as
trap p ed for m ore than 195 hours
after last w ee k ’s e a rth q u ak e and
had survived by drin k in g ra in
w ater, w hile the confirm ed death
toll rose to m ore than 4 0 ,0 0 0 in a
d isa ste r that left m ore than 5
m illion hom eless.
Child Pornography Ruling
T he S uprem e C o u rt's 7-to-2 d e
cisio n M onday has upheld an
effo rt by C o n g ress to m ake it
illegal to o ffe r or prom ote child
p o rn o g ra p h y . T he hig h c o u rt
said the law p ro tects innocent
ch ild ren from a thriving form o f
a b u se .
W ere being a lot wiser about the
types o f business trips we take.
Z now think about which car has
better gas mileage and how many
people we can fit in the ear.
--Robert Bush
--DaveForsIund
\ll traveling has to be done
in more moderation.
-L arry Collins
Roots Festival Celebrates Diversity
cam p aimed at raising aw areness o f g eno
cide and the current crisis in Darfur.
"The art installation will show visitors
through photos, histories, questions, m aps,
and DVDs what happens during genocide
and what people can be doing now to end the
current ethnic cleansing in the D arfur re
gion," says Katie-Jay Scott, com m unity
outreach cixirdinatorol Stop G enocide Now.
C am p Darfur was invited to participate
because of its work to ignite social change
and raises awareness.
"This year’s them e o f diversity through
politics and activism supports the idea that
art. music, dance, and dialogue are great
ways to honor a culture, but can also be used
as a tool to preserve, cherish and ensure a
culture's survival, "says Scott, "C am p D arfur
w orks to create com m unity betw een those
who can bring an end to genocide in Darf ur
and the victims of the genocide in D arfur."
The annual festival is alw ays held on
Thursday because th a t's the day o f the
week when the most students are on ca m
pus.
" It's difficult to determ ine how many
people will attend since many sim ply drop in
or walk th ro u g h ," says M eijer, “ But we are
expecting more people than usual since we
have such a fantastic schedule o f events
planned."
Event to heat up
PSU Park Blocks
C harity P rater
T he P ortland O bserver
by
People o f all backgrounds will com e to
gether to celebrate diversity on the Port
land Stale U niversity cam pus for the third-
annual Roots Festival, sponsored by the
m ulticultural student groups.
The festival will heat up beginning at 10
a.m. Thursday, May 22 on the South Park
Blocks. A ctivities will then continue until 8
p.mt The celebration will include local music
and dance, international cuisines and a
variety o f m ulticultural artwork.
This y ea r's them e is “D iversity in Poli
tics and A ctivism ," which will educate and
inspire the com m unity to em brace civic
engagem ent and a m ulticultural perspec
tive in political action.
“We are going to have local, hip-hop
artist Lifesavas perform ing, and our first
com m unity mural that the com m unity will
participate in creating," says Leah Meijer,
Roots Festival coordinator. "W hen it’s fin
ished, it will be bn display in the Portland
State University library."
The Roots Festival has a full day o f fun
and entertainm ent scheduled including
reggae music, DJs, Native A m erican dance,
hip hop and Latin dance lessons.
“The Festival gives us a chance to ex
plore our roots by celebrating and recogniz
ing our sim ilarities,” says Meijer.
S to p g e n o c id e n o w .o rg w ill d isp lay
"Cam p Darfur "at the event, a mock refugee
Native Americans from Painted Sky Northstar are among the diverse groups to
perform Thursday at the Portland State University Roots Festival. Pictured are
Colt Nicol o f the Cree nation, Mary Bodine o f the Warm Springs tribes, Betty
Stephens o f the Dine/Yaktma nation, Rebecca Friedländer o f the Atnabascan
native Alaskan nation and Reggie Johnson o f the Umatilla tribes.
I
O ther noteworthy events will include a
speech from Charles M cG ee about his non
profit Black Parent Initiative. M ikeS truw in
will be perform ing acoustic roots m usic, the
PSU Breakers will perform with DJs and
Eatcho will be painting live.
continued y f on page A2