White House Fans
Gumbo of Adventure
President Obama and his
family cheer on Oregon State
and his brother-in-law coach
The great city o f New
Orleans is the backdrop fo r
Disney s newest princess
See Sports, page A6
Roses
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The Review
Obama Sends More
Troops to Afghanistan
President Barack Obama is dis
patching 30,000 more troops to
A fghanistan, accelerating a
risk y and e x p e n siv e w ar
buildup, even as he assures the
nation that U.S. forces will be
gin coming home in July 2011.
War of the Roses
The 113th Civil War rivalry
game between lOth-ranked Or
egon and 16th-ranked Oregon
State this Thursday night is
creating a lot ofpregame hoopla.
The contest will decide the Pac-
10’s representative in the Rose
Bowl. See Sports, page A6.
Jeff Advances at State
Jefferson High School has ad
vanced to the semifinals o f the
Oregon 5 A football champion
ship series for the second year
in a row. The Democrats face
Sherwood on Saturday, Dec. 5
at 3 p.m. at PGE Park. See
Sports, page A6.
Cop Murders Suspect Killed
A m an su s
pected o f gun
ning down four
police officers
in a suburban
Tacoma coffee
shop was shot
and killed by a
lone Seattle patrolman investi
gating a stolen car early Tues
day. Four people were arrested
for allegedly helping the sus
pect elude authorities during a
massive two-day manhunt. See
story, page A3
Officer Returned to Duty
C ity C o m m issio n e r Dan
Saltzman has changed his deci
sion to suspend a controver
sial police officer who shot a
12-year-old girl last month with
a beanbag gun. Saltzman had
in itia lly p u t C h risto p h e r
Humphreys on paid leave pend
ing an investigation. See story,
page A3.
TriMet Fires Operator
TriMet fired a MAX operator
last week for creating a potential
danger to the public when he did
not respond to four calls on the
train’semergency intercom from
Aaron Bailey, the father who
had been separated from his son
last month when the train’s doors
closed behind him.
Serena Williams Fined
was
B
fined a record
day for a ti
rade against a
line judge at
last summer’s
U.S. Open. She could be sus
pended from that tournament if
she has another "major
Lincoln Coach Guilty
Lincoln High School coach
David Adelman was found
guilty o f drunken and reckless
driving Monday. A judge re
jected a claim that the arrest
was unlawful and motivated by
a parent who sought retribu
tion over Adelman ’ a coaching.
years «
•S com m unity service
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www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV. Number 47
iam s
See Arts & Entertainment, page A9
Wednesday • December 2, 2009
Water Bureau
Looks for Cause
After E.coli found in reservoir
The Portland W ater Bureau con
tinued to drain its W ashington Park
Reservoir No. 3 Tuesday, a process
that w ill take until at least until
W ednesday, a fte r E -coli bacteria
was found in the system over the
Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
A boil water notice was lifted on Sun
day to Westside residents and the city
declared Monday that all taps to the
entire city system were safe to drink.
The contam inated reservoir was
taken off-line. It will be tested, investi
gated for contamination and cleaned
before it is put back on line.
O fficials said they hope to test the
E-coli sample to help determine if the
bacteria generated from animal or
human waste.
T he co n tam in ated w ater put
The Portland Water Bureau's Reservoir No. 3 at Washington
Portland’s open air reservoirs in a con
troversial light.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
agency expects the city to stop using
open-air reservoirs because of safety
concerns, including the Washington
Park and Mt. Tabor reservoirs by year
2015. Residents also complained about
the city not getting information out to
the public in a timely manner.
Equity Push in High Schools Overhaul
Superintendent
discusses
the obstacles
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
When Portland Public Schools
finishes a proposed overhaul o f
its high schools. Superintendent
Carole Smith expects a more eq
uitable educational opportunity
for each child in the district.
The ambitious plan is barrel
ing along, and seeks to address
the high drop out rate, the
achievement gap, and the un
even distribution o f course of
ferings.
Smith sat down with the Port
land O bserver to discuss the
obstacles she faces.
The proposal could put two
to three schools on the chop
ping block, which is a prickly is
sue as schools are cherished as
sets to the neighborhoods o f
many Portlanders who are un
easy with the idea o f closing any
o f them.
“Let me tell you: Do I know
that it’s tricky? I so know it’s
tricky,” said Smith.
In April, Smith settled on one
o f three options proposed for
the redesign that put emphasis
on neighborhood schools, with
some options for students to at
tend specialized schools that are
geared toward students with
specific goals or learning needs.
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith visits
Currently, PPS has an open Grant High.
transfer policy that allows stu
Because schools are allocated
dents to attend schools not in money based on their enrollment,
their neighborhood. As a conse smaller schools find themselves
quence, there are widely differ starved for cash and unable to
ent enrollment numbers in the offer the same course offerings
high school system ranging from at every school.
about 500 students at Jefferson
“We just sort o f have a hodge
High School to about 1,500 at podge o f who gets access to
access to academic opportuni
ties as any other.
Smith sees a future where high
school students would have the
opportunity to attend a compre
hensive community high school
that serves 1,200 to 1,350 stu
dents from their adjacent neigh
borhoods or a specialized
school.
She is unapologetic about the
possibility o f school closures.
Because of the cash-per-student
formula that funds schools, PPS
can only staff and fund so many
schools that offer the same ac
cess to quality courses, she said.
“It’s weighing nostalgia over
what do we want for the future
o f our kids,” said Smith, who
pointed out that taxpayers would
have to pony up more money if
they want to maintain the same
number o f schools and allow
them to offer the same quality
curriculum. “We don’t get it all
unless we’re willing to pay for it
all”
She stressed that no decisions
have been made about what
schools are on the chopping
with families at Astor School.
block. Community conversa
tions are on-going.
"The reason I'm not talking
what,” said Smith.
For instance, some schools, about any individual campus yet
like Lincoln High School, have a is because I don’t want anyone
full offering o f college prep to feel like, ‘okay, w e’re safe.’
courses w hile others, like Once anyone feels like they’re
Jefferson, have just recently in off the table, and everyone else
stituted such courses. She hopes is at risk, then it totally stops
that by the end o f the redesign
continued
on page .45
each student will have the same
Community Media Tackles Disparities
Sharing tools
to bridge
digital divide
by J akf . T homas
T he P ortland O bserv er
In the minds o f many, cable
access television is an outlet for
quirky and amateurish program
ming, lacking many o f the fil
ters associated with more com
mercial media outlets.
But P ortland C om m unity
Media wants you to know that's
it gone beyond that.
Over the last half decade, the
local non-profit organization
has been working to make sure
that no one is left behind in the
digital age.
According to a report from
the Pew Internet and American
Life Project, African Americans
and Hispanics are less likely to
use digital technologies like the
Internet than their white coun
terparts, which could put them
at a distinct disadvantage.
Sylvia M cD aniel, PC M ’s
chief executive officer, explained
that this disparity poses a seri
ous impediment to disadvan
taged communities as society
photo by J ake
T homas /T he P ortland O bsf . rv er
Portland Community Media executives Ray Larson and Sylvia McDaniel show off the television equipment housed at its
non-profit cable access facility, located at 2766 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
becomes increasingly reliant on
technology. Only communities
who have access and under
standing o f how to use digital
tools will prosper, while others
arc left behind, she said.
"W hen it com es to jo b s,
who's going to get the jobs?"
said McDaniel. "The digital di
vide affects those underserved
populations much more than
they do anyone else"
McDaniel notes that PCM
has a strong youth focus, so
that kids who might not have
computers at home have oppor
tunities to learn media basics,
and perhaps take them home to
their parents.
O f the four cable channels
PCM operates, one specifically
highlights shows produced by
kids aged 10-1X While working
on the show s, the youth are
exposed to software and tech
nology that could help them
continued
on page .42