www . ThESkANNER . COm
F EBRuARy 16, 2011
P ORTLANd & S EATTLE
V OLumE XXXIII, N O . 17
25
CENTS
i NSide
African Film Festival
page 9
Serge Severe
page 8
Inmate Programs
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Oregon
Probes
Tazo Tea
page 5
New
Tech
Starbucks workers
allege discrimination
at Portland plant
By Brian Stimson
Of The Skanner News
T
he Bureau of Labor and Industry’s
investigation into charges of racial
discrimination by Starbucks’ Tazo
Tea aren’t the only allegations the company
has faced.
After an investigation last week by the
Skanner news found at least four Black
Starbucks workers that claim to have been
wrongfully fired from the company’s Tazo
Tea factory, reporters decided to look fur-
ther. In June of 2009, Starbucks agreed to
pay $120,000 to settle a lawsuit of racial
discrimination and retaliation in the case of
Victor Washington, an African American
lead network engineer.
At the time, Starbucks said an internal
investigation found Washington’s allega-
tions to be “unsubstantiated and without
merit” but decided to settle in order to
“avoid further costs of litigation.”
PHOTO BY Julie keefe
Giorgio Johnson, CEO and
founder of Nyxio Technologies
shows off his cutting edge
products, designed in Portland,
Ore. See story on Page 11.
Tazo firings
In total, the Skanner news has confirmed
that four Black workers have been fired
within the last two years from the
Starbucks-owned company. The Skanner
News was able to only speak to three of
them. A fifth employee – now deceased –
was also dismissed, but The Skanner News
was unable to confirm details of his employ-
ment.
While the complaints and situations
around their firings from Tazo are different,
each man tells a similar tale of disparate
treatment and dismissal by management
when compared to the actions of their White
co-workers. All of the Black workers were
employed in the manufacturing/shipping
section of the Tazo Tea factory in Portland.
The complaint alleges that Black employ-
ees were placed under closer scrutiny than
any other employees at the plant. The for-
mer employees who spoke to The Skanner
say the atmosphere made the working con-
Region Looks to Expand Broadband
Why everyone must have access to high-speed Internet
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
I
n his State of the Union
speech, President Obama
stressed the importance of
high-speed Internet access for
all, pointing out that America’s
top engineers give our current
broadband infrastructure a mis-
erable D grade.
To compete internationally,
Obama said, we need to have
both a strong national network
and a technologically trained
workforce.
“Within the next five years,
we’ll make it possible for busi-
nesses to deploy the next gener-
ation of high-speed wireless
coverage to 98 percent of all
Americans,” he promised. “This
isn’t just about faster Internet or
fewer dropped calls. It’s about
connecting every part of
America to the digital age. It’s
about a rural community in
Iowa or Alabama where farmers
and small business owners will
be able to sell their products all
over the world. It’s about a fire-
fighter who can download the
design of a burning building
onto a handheld device; a stu-
dent who can take classes with a
digital textbook; or a patient
who can have face-to-face video
chats with her doctor.”
Being wired for speedy
Internet access is crucial for the
U.S. national economy and for
our state and local economy.
But 100 million Americans still
don’t have access to broadband
connections at home.
So last year, the FCC laid out
a national broadband strategy
that includes major investments
See TazO on page 3
iNdeX
in broadband and urges govern-
ment at all levels to push for
robust competition.
Portland’s Newest effort
That’s why the City of
Portland launched a new
Broadband Strategic Planning
effort Jan. 28, which seeks to
deliver affordable high-speed
Internet to every home and busi-
ness in the city.
Joanne Hovis, president of
Columbia Telecommunications
See Wired on page 3
Sugar Affects Brain’s Rewards System
News ....2,3,7,11,12,13
New OHSU study explores how fructose affects your behavior
Opinion ..................4,5
By Brian Stimson
Of The Skanner News
Obituaries..................6
T
A & E .................8,9,13
Bids/Classifieds ...14,15
hat soft drink in your hand is telling
your brain to do things.
Researchers at Oregon Health and
Sciences University say that a certain kind
of sugar – fructose – is found to affect a part
of your brain in a different way than other
kinds of sugars.
Fructose is an extremely common sugar
found naturally in nearly everything we eat.
It’s an essential nutrient, but it’s overabun-
dance in processed food has also earned the
ire from nutrition scientists who say it is
partially to blame for the obesity epidemic
in the United States.
For processed food manufacturers, High
Fructose Corn Syrup has become a staple
ingredient in everything from bread to soda.
To fully understand what the study means –
and doesn’t mean – it’s important to under-
stand the basics of sugar.
Basic white sugar – which is typically
derived from either sugar beets or sugar
cane – is made up of pure sucrose. Sucrose
is a carbohydrate formed from the combina-
tion of the molecules of fructose and glu-
See Sugar on page 7