Minority & Small Business Week
Page 4
October 6, 2010
GOP Pollster Called Extremist Cascade
For hateful statements
on gays, women, blacks
Four com m unity leaders are calling on R epub­
lican candidates to the state Senate to publicly
repudiate their G O P pollster Dennis O liver W oods,
saying, “ W oods is an extrem ist, w hose view s are
broadly hateful, but especially to w om en, A frican
A m ericans, and the gay and lesbian c om m unity.”
T he group — com prised o f form er Gov. B ar­
bara R oberts, Rep. Lew Frederick, D -Portland,
Rev. C huck C urrie o f P ortlan d ’s U nited C hurch
o f C hrist, and Basic R ights O regon E xecutive
D irector Jeana Frazzini — released a letter to the
candidates citing m edia reports o f statem ents
W oods has m ade on his personal w ebsite, and in
the 1998 book “ D iscipling the N ations.”
The letter m entioned that W oods recently w rote,
“ ,n m any, if not m ost cases, slaves in the old South
w ere purchased for m uch the sam e reason that
C hristians today engage in overseas adoption: to
rescue them from a life o f hopeless paganism .
T h eir condition w as u su ally happier, h ealth ier
and m ore secure than that o f a typical E uropean
w age e a r n e r ...”
W oods has also m ad e statem en ts about how
in the B ible, “the death p en alty is specified for
a num ber a crim es ..: (in clu d in g ) h o m o sex u al­
ity,” and also that “ A m erica's founders lim ited
the franchise (vo tin g rights) to m ale heads o f
households.”
T he com m unity leaders w ant R epublican
candidates to term in ate any relatio n sh ip they
have w ith W oods, and to refuse o r refu n d any
m oney from groups continuing to em ploy W oods.
O v er the past three years, W oods' D am ­
ascus-based com pany, T arget M arket S trate­
gies, has polled for the Senate R epublican
caucus, conservativ e interest groups, and sev ­
eral O regon Senate races this year.
So far, no R epublican can d id ate has o ffi­
cially distanced h im self o r h e rse lf from W oods.
A nd it now appears as though all o f the
content on W oods' w ebsite, w hich w as re p e at­
edly cited in the letter, has been rem oved.
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Preparing for
New Jobs and
Professions
O bam a’s stim ulus plan has fun-
neled nearly $2.8 billion in con­
tracts, grants and loans to O r­
L et’s not m ince words. The egon, all o f it aim ed at getting
economy is still in shambles. While O regonians back to work.
certain indicators seem to suggest
So where are the jo b s, you may
that a recovery is imminent - rising be tem pted to ask? Many have
stock prices, for example - too many already been created, and many
Americans are either out o f a job or more are to come. For example, the
live in constant fear o f losing the MEMC Inc. (formerly Solaicx Inc.)
one they have. For most people, the solar-panel fabrication plant in
recovery w o n ’t start until the north Portland, is expected to triple
economy begins to consistently add its capacity and m ore than double
jobs rather than lose them.
its w orkforce in the next year,
While w e’re being brutally hon­ thanks in large part to the federal
est, let’s face one basic fact: the stim ulus program . This trend will
vast m ajority o f people determ ine only increase as m ore and more
their econom ic health by one fac­ stim ulus projects get under way
tor a lo n e -g a in fu l employm ent. If and the need for w orkers in­
som eone has a job, then he or she creases.
has a m easure o f econom ic health.
W hich brings us back to my
If not, then very little stands be­ earlier question - will you be
tween dislocation or all-out eco­ ready?
nomic ruin.
The answ er could depend on
And lest you think I’m sim ply the choices you m ake right now.
trying to scare you, let me be per­ L e f’s say you want to land a jo b
fectly clear: the current dow nturn m aking solar panels or com po­
w illend. While not all old jobs will nents for w ind g en erato rs, or
return - perhaps more importantly m aybe you want to go to work
- new jobs will be created, many in installing or m aintaining those
professions that d id n ’t exist even products once th ey ’re m anufac­
a few years ago.
tured. How do you take steps to
The question is will you be ensure y o u ’re ready to answ er the
ready?
call when the time com es? W here
Before I dig into this topic, a do you acquire the necessary
little background. First, w hile our skills?
present econom ic slum p is the
At a community college campus
worst since the Great Depression, near you, o f course.
there is a reason - several, actu-
There are simply no other educa­
a lly -fo rm y optimism. Like Presi­ tional options that offer as much
dent Franklin Roosevelt did in the bang for the buck as community
1930s, President Obam a is m ar­ colleges. I challenge anyone to name
shalling the pow er o f the federal another institution that offers such
governm ent to put people to work a comprehensive combination o f
expanding and restoring our na­ high-quality instruction and facili­
tional infrastructure.
ties, student support services and
R oosevelt’s New Deal was re­ range o f subject areas at such a
sponsible for the creation o f hun­ reasonable price.
dreds o f roads, bridges, dams,
For exam ple, at Portland Com ­
schools, com m unity centers and munity College, a student can take
other landm arks in com m unities a full-tim e load for approxim ately
all over the country, m any o f $3,500 per year - a little less or a
which are still in use today. Presi­ little m ore, depending on which
dent O bam a’s stim ulus legislation courses he or she elects to take. In
calls for many o f these same kinds the w orld o f higher education,
o f projects, but also extends to a believe me when I say this is a
whole range o f com m unications, bargain.
transportation and energy infra­
However, times are tough, and I
structure projects the likes o f realize that any price tag - however
which Roosevelt could scarcely reasonable-can be intimidating for
have imagined.
someone who is out o f work. But
Fiber-optic networks. Solar and don’t let that stop you. There is
wind farms. Rail and streetcar lines. plenty o f financial aid available,
W eatherization and energy-effi­ enough to defray the cost o f attend­
cien cy en h an cem en t p ro jects. ing community college significantly.
Projects like these, and many more,
So will you be ready? You can be,
are already under way or slated to if you make the right choices now.
begin here in our state, including Visit a community college campus
the construction o f what will be near you to learn more.
the w o rld ’s largest wind farm in
Algie Gatewood is president o f
eastern Oregon. All told, accord­ the Portland Community College’s
ing to reco v ery .g o v, President Cascade Campus.