®lf* Ç ortlanh (Obstruer
December I, 2010
Page
L aw
School-to-Prison Pipeline Found
ACLU report
shows uneven
punishment
A new re p o rt by the A m e ric a n
C iv il L ib e rtie s U n io n o f O re g o n
s h o w s th a t A fric a n A m e ric a n ,
L a tin o an d N a tiv e A m e ric a n s tu ­
d e n ts are s u b je c te d to h a rs h e r
d is c ip lin e th an th e ir w h ite p e ers
in O re g o n .
A C L U o f O reg o n E x ecu tiv e D i­
re c to r D a v id F id a n q u e said th a t
su ch d is c rim in a to ry im p a c ts are
c o n s is te n t a c r o s s th e c o u n tr y
e v en th o u g h stu d ie s h av e sh o w n
th a t stu d e n ts o f c o lo r are no m o re
lik e ly to v io la te sc h o o l ru le s th an
th e ir w h ite c o u n te rp a rts.
H e sa id th e A C L U and m a n y
o th e r o r g a n iz a tio n s h a v e lo n g
b e e n c o n c e rn e d a b o u t th e d is p ro ­
p o rtio n a te p u n ish m e n t o f y o u n g
p e o p le o f c o lo r.
“ W h at w e ’ve seen is th a t th is
h a rs h e r p u n is h m e n t in sc h o o ls
e v e n tu a lly ‘g ra d u a te s ’ to a g re a te r
lik e lih o o d o f in te rv e n tio n and in ­
c a rc e ra tio n in the ju v e n ile ju s tic e
sy ste m , an d la te r to th e a d u lt j u s ­
tic e s y s te m ,” F id a n q u e said.
T h e A C L U re p o rt fo c u s e s o n
O re g o n p u b lic s c h o o l d is c i p lin ­
a ry d a ta fo r th e 2 0 0 8 -0 9 s c h o o l
y e a r b ro k e n o u t b y ra c e a n d
e th n ic ity . T h a t r e p o r t in c lu d e s
d a ta on s u s p e n s io n s , e x p u l­
s io n s , r e f e r r a ls to a lte r n a tiv e
e d u c a tio n s e ttin g s , a n d d r o p ­
o u t r a te s . In a d d itio n , th e re p o rt
c o n firm s th a t th e d is p r o p o r tio n ­
a te r e p r e s e n ta tio n o f y o u th o f
c o lo r is a ls o r e f le c te d in d a ta fo r
th e ju v e n ile a n d a d u lt c o r r e c ­
tio n s s y s te m s .
A m o n g th e fin d in g s in the re ­
c e n t re p o rt:
A frican A m erican students rep ­
resent about 3 p ercent o f all O regon
students, but they rep resen t 7 p er­
cent o f students w ho receive out-
o f-sch o o l su sp en sio n s;
N a tiv e A m e ric a n stu d e n ts re p ­
re se n t 2 p e rc e n t o f all stu d e n ts,
b u t th ey re p re se n t 3 p e rc e n t o f
stu d e n ts re m o v e d to a lte rn a tiv e
e d u c a tio n s e ttin g s;
H is p a n ic s tu d e n ts r e p r e s e n t
a b o u t 17 p e rc e n t o f all stu d e n ts,
b u t th ey re p re se n t m o re th a n 25
p e rc e n t o f all s tu d e n ts e x p e lle d ;
an d w h ite stu d e n ts re p re se n t 68
p e rc e n t o f al, s tu d e n ts, b u t o n ly
6 1 .5 p e rc e n t o f th o se e x p e lle d .
Video Shows Robbery Suspects
“ O n c e stu d e n ts are re fe rre d to
th e ju v e n ile ju s tic e sy ste m , the
d is p a ritie s fo r stu d e n ts o f c o lo r
b e c o m e e v en g re a te r,” F id a n q u e
said. “ O n ce ag ain , A frica n A m e ri­
c a n s re p re se n t 3 p e rc e n t o f the
y o u th p o p u la tio n , b u t 13 p e rc e n t
o f th o se in “c lo s e ” c u sto d y ju v e ­
nile c o rre c tio n s fa c ilitie s o p e ra te d
by the O re g o n Y o u th A u th o rity .
H is p a n ic s c o m p ris e 15 p e rc e n t o f
th e y o u th p o p u la tio n , b u t 25 p e r­
c e n t o f th o se in c lo se c u s to d y .”
F idanque noted that state and
m any local ed u catio n officials have
been w orking to close the “ach iev e­
m ent g ap ” betw een students o f color
and th eir w hite peers on the as­
sum ption that there is a c onnection
betw een academ ic achievem ent and
success in school.
“T he point o f o u r report is that it
is also urgent to address discipline
practices that are pushing young
students o f co lo r out o f o ur public
sch o o ls,” Fidanque said.
H e said th a t A C L U re p re s e n ta ­
tiv e s h av e m et w ith S ta te S u p e rin ­
te n d e n t o f P u b lic In s tru c tio n S u ­
san C a s tillo an d m e m b e rs o f h e r
s t a f f to d is c u s s th e d a ta a n d
A C L U ’s re q u e st th a t h e r d e p a rt­
m en t issu e a n n u al re p o rts on the
d is c ip lin a ry d ata.
“ W ith a p p r o p r i a t e s a f e ­
g u a r d s , m a k in g m o re d a ta a v a il­
a b le to th e p u b lic , g o v e rn m e n t
o f f ic ia ls a n d e le c te d le a d e rs w ill
h e lp s c h o o l o f f ic ia ls a n d th e
p u b lic e v a lu a te a n d im p le m e n t
m o re e f f e c tiv e p o lic ie s a im e d at
s h u t t i n g o f f th e s c h o o l - t o -
p ris o n p ip e lin e at th e fro n t e n d ,”
F id a n q u e s a id .
How t0 Prevent Car Prowls
The
T
he V ancouverPnlirp
an co u v er Police Df»nart.
D epart-
m ent is once again enco u rag in g
citizens to rem ove valuables from
th eir vehicles b efo re leaving their
vehicle unattended.
C ity w id e statistics show auto
prow ls are up 5 6 percent from
9OOQ
m J p rev en tio n is the 1,^..
2009 and
key to
cu rb in g this crim e trend.
W ith the h o lid ay sap p ro ach ing it
is a b so lu tely critical that citizens
practice crim e p revention strategies
by k eep in g th eir vehicles free o f
tem p in g item s.
- DEPRESSION -
THEINVISABLE TOXIC CONTAMINANT
Store security cameras captured images of three men police say are suspected of robbing banks in
Gresham and Troutdale.
Police are seeking the public's
help in identifying three m en they
believe robbed banks in G resham
and T routdale and attem pted to rob
another bank in G resham in the span
o f ju s t tw o hours.
Photos o f the suspects taken from
store surveillance cam eras, as well
as photos o f the vehicle the m en are
believed to have been driving, w ere
released to the public.
T h e first ro b b e ry o c c u re d N ov.
6 at the U .S. B ank on 300 E. Pow ell
B lvd. in G re sh a m at 9 :3 0 a.m . T he
sam e d ay at ab o u t 11:30 a.m ., three
s u s p e c ts a tte m p te d to ro b the
B an k o f th e W est at 825 N .E .
H o g an in G re sh a m . E le v e n m in ­
u tes la te rm the W ells F a rg o B ank
lo c ated in sid e the S afew ay at 2501
S. W . C h erry P ark Rd. in T ro u td ale
w ere ro b b ed .
Police believe the sam e suspects
are responsible for all three crim es.
A nybody w ith any inform ation
as to the identity o f the suspects is
en co u rag ed to call the G resham
Police tipline at (503)- 618- 2719 or
Troutdale Police tipline at (503)- 613-
7633.
Wyden Opposes Military Ban
U .S. Sen. R on W yden, D -O re.,
has called on the S enate to repeal
the D o n ’t A sk D o n ’t T ell policy as
part o f the annual D efense A utho­
rization bill m aking its w ay to the
S enate floor after T hanksgiving.
W yden, w ho voted against the
law 17 years ago as a m em b er o f the
H ouse o f R epresentatives and has
w orked for its repeal in the Senate
ev er since, calling the ban on openly
gay m ilitary a “toxic co m b in atio n ”
that is harm ful to national security
and detrim ental to individual free­
dom s.
W yden has sent a letter to Senate
M ajority L ead er H arry R eid asking
that the N ational D efense A u th o ri­
zation A ct com e to the flo o r w ith the
D on ’ t A sk D on ’ t Tel 1 repeal am en d ­
m ent intact.
D ecem ber 12th - from 9:00 A M to 10:30 A M at E m m anuel
C hu rch C o m m u n ity C en ter - P a sto r F ra n klin A. Alvey, P h D.,
T h .D ., a 30 plus y ear m em b er and sen io r c o u n selo r o f E m m anuel
C hurch, w ith a history o f 51 years in m arriage, will p resent a
forum on the subject o f D epression and its effects on the
individual and fam ily. T his w ill include the w hys o f feeling
depressed, ho p eless and helpless. He w ill also provide som e
prescriptions for ridding p eople o f this soul destroyer. T his no
charge forum w ill be held in E m m an u el’s C om m unity C en ter at
1033 N orth S u m n er Street. S ea tin g is lim ited due to outside
m edia coverage.
Som e sub jects to be discussed w ill be the w hys of:
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Persisting sadness, anxiousness or moods of emptiness.
Feelings o f depression due to overwhelming financial strain.
Feelings of guilt or worthlessness.
Trouble sleeping; difficulty in rising or subject to over sleeping.
Tendencies to rely heavily on sleeping medications.
Thoughts o f suicide or "they ’d be better off without me. ”
If God really loves me why doesn’t he heal me o f this problem?
Depression brought on by abuse or rejection.
Being mentally held captive due to another's mind control.
Some proscriptions for overcoming depression.
F or m ore info rm atio n call 5 0 3 .2 8 7 .2 2 2 3 from 9 A M through 4:30
PM T uesday th ro u g h Friday o r on lin e at w w w .em m anuelpdx.com