Most Recommended Stories
Sun. March 11, 2007
1. Field burning ban would improve quality of health in Oregon
2. The censorship of science undermines democracy
3. Salem police could use vacant buildings to add jail space
4. Despite Castro's best intentions, racism lingers in Cuba
These articles can be accessed by using the Statesman Journal link found in the "links" section of this Blog.
The article "Hispanic Workers Lead U.S. Job Growth" had the greatest relevance to this weeks reading. In particular, I direct you to the last paragraph, which stated that while the median weekly earnings increased for Hispanic workers in general, the earnings of "foreign-born Hispanic workers" actually decreased in 2006. Chapter seven of our text describes the exploitation of workers in third world countries. Yet here, in the richest country in the world it is much the same. As long as the employers of these undocumented workers continue to break the law by exploiting this slave labor, America is no better than the least of them. We have are own "third world" citizens living right here!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Hispanic Worker's Lead U.S. Job Growth
THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal
March 11, 2007
Hispanics make up 13.6 percent of the U.S. employment population but accounted for 36.7 percent of the 2006 U.S. job growth, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
The construction industry was a key source of jobs for Hispanics, despite a slump in the housing market. Hispanic workers landed two out of three new construction jobs in 2006, Pew analysts said.
Most of those jobs were in the West and South, which is consistent with the overall distribution of the Hispanic work force, according to the Pew fact sheet.
"That puts Oregon in a category that's above the national average of new jobs being landed by Hispanics," said Art Ayre, an economist with the Oregon Employment Department.
In Oregon, Hispanics increased their grip in construction occupations from 12.5 percent in 2002 to 14 percent in 2005, officials at the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that in recent years about two-thirds of the rise in the employment of recently arrived Hispanics was due to authorized migration.
The median weekly earnings of Hispanic workers increased from $420 to $428 between 2005 and 2006, the fact sheet found. The median weekly earnings of foreign-born Hispanic workers fell from $400 to $388 in 2006.
tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815
Statesman Journal
March 11, 2007
Hispanics make up 13.6 percent of the U.S. employment population but accounted for 36.7 percent of the 2006 U.S. job growth, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
The construction industry was a key source of jobs for Hispanics, despite a slump in the housing market. Hispanic workers landed two out of three new construction jobs in 2006, Pew analysts said.
Most of those jobs were in the West and South, which is consistent with the overall distribution of the Hispanic work force, according to the Pew fact sheet.
"That puts Oregon in a category that's above the national average of new jobs being landed by Hispanics," said Art Ayre, an economist with the Oregon Employment Department.
In Oregon, Hispanics increased their grip in construction occupations from 12.5 percent in 2002 to 14 percent in 2005, officials at the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that in recent years about two-thirds of the rise in the employment of recently arrived Hispanics was due to authorized migration.
The median weekly earnings of Hispanic workers increased from $420 to $428 between 2005 and 2006, the fact sheet found. The median weekly earnings of foreign-born Hispanic workers fell from $400 to $388 in 2006.
tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815
Friday, March 9, 2007
Overprotecting Kids is Dangerous in the Long Run!
March 9, 2007
"Save the children" is the battle cry we hear from many legislators who sponsor bills such as SB 49. Should we legislatively be discouraging an activity that brings children and families together in a fun, wholesome and recreational activity?
What about horseback riding? Should we make a law prohibiting Hanna and Conner from riding a 1,500-pound, unpredictable mass of potential injury and death?
The gravest concern I have about this type of bill is this: Should we, as a society, be mitigating any and all the risk we can to our children? When does the overprotection of our children become a detriment to them later as adults? We protect, protect and overprotect some more; then, our children turn 18 and they get the cold hard boot of reality.
At that time, we expect them to know how to take appropriate risk in the college classroom, in business, in a profession or in a trade. Thank goodness for the soldiers, farmers, police, firefighters, business owners, entrepreneurs, mothers and fathers who teach their children that "risk" is an essential part of "life."
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Let's not go down that path.
-- Alex Olsen, Keizer
"Save the children" is the battle cry we hear from many legislators who sponsor bills such as SB 49. Should we legislatively be discouraging an activity that brings children and families together in a fun, wholesome and recreational activity?
What about horseback riding? Should we make a law prohibiting Hanna and Conner from riding a 1,500-pound, unpredictable mass of potential injury and death?
The gravest concern I have about this type of bill is this: Should we, as a society, be mitigating any and all the risk we can to our children? When does the overprotection of our children become a detriment to them later as adults? We protect, protect and overprotect some more; then, our children turn 18 and they get the cold hard boot of reality.
At that time, we expect them to know how to take appropriate risk in the college classroom, in business, in a profession or in a trade. Thank goodness for the soldiers, farmers, police, firefighters, business owners, entrepreneurs, mothers and fathers who teach their children that "risk" is an essential part of "life."
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Let's not go down that path.
-- Alex Olsen, Keizer
The End of Logging Subsides?
By Jeff Barnard
the Associated Press
March 9, 2007
TALENT — The end of a little-known federal subsidy that funneled millions of dollars to rural counties to compensate them for restrictions on logging is forcing communities in the West to close libraries, reduce police patrols and put off road repairs.
“We’re building libraries in Iraq and we are not funding libraries in Jackson County,” Dana Rayburn grumbled as she looked for a book for her first-grader in the brand-new Talent branch library, one of 15 in Oregon’s Jackson County now slated to close.
For generations, revenue from the cutting of timber in national forests allowed many rural counties in the West to build roads and schools and cover other expenses. The money enabled some counties to keep their property taxes extraordinarily low.
In the 1990s, though, restrictions aimed at protecting spotted owls, salmon and other wildlife led to severe cutbacks in logging, and Congress authorized subsidies to timber communities to cushion the blow.
Now, those subsidies are coming to an end. Late last year, Congress refused to renew the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, which has paid out $2.9 billion over the past six years to 700 counties in 39 states. The last checks are going out this month.
To make up for the lost revenue, Lane County, home to the University of Oregon, has instituted an income tax. And three other counties in Oregon’s rugged timber country have put property tax increases on their May ballots.
But rural Oregon has a reputation for hating taxes and is not afraid to vote down increases even for such things as schools and libraries.
“We wouldn’t need these taxes if we went back to sustainable logging,” she said. Because of logging cutbacks, “the social and economic welfare of people I know in the past 20 some years has gone straight downhill. I’ve seen people have to go on welfare. The drinking starts. The divorces.”
The federal government has been sharing timber revenue with rural counties for nearly a century, under an arrangement worked out by President Theodore Roosevelt to gain their support for the creation of national forests.
National forest timber production hit highs of more than 12 billion board feet a year in the late 1960s and late 1980s, but plummeted 80 percent to 2.3 billion last year, in part because large swaths of the woods have been declared off-limits for environmental reasons. Last year’s harvest brought in just $221 million.
To make up for the downturn, Congress started giving Northwest timber communities subsidies in the 1990s to tide them over while they came up with new sources of revenue. After that expired, Congress passed the Secure Schools Act, which spread the safety net to all counties with national forests.
the Associated Press
March 9, 2007
TALENT — The end of a little-known federal subsidy that funneled millions of dollars to rural counties to compensate them for restrictions on logging is forcing communities in the West to close libraries, reduce police patrols and put off road repairs.
“We’re building libraries in Iraq and we are not funding libraries in Jackson County,” Dana Rayburn grumbled as she looked for a book for her first-grader in the brand-new Talent branch library, one of 15 in Oregon’s Jackson County now slated to close.
For generations, revenue from the cutting of timber in national forests allowed many rural counties in the West to build roads and schools and cover other expenses. The money enabled some counties to keep their property taxes extraordinarily low.
In the 1990s, though, restrictions aimed at protecting spotted owls, salmon and other wildlife led to severe cutbacks in logging, and Congress authorized subsidies to timber communities to cushion the blow.
Now, those subsidies are coming to an end. Late last year, Congress refused to renew the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, which has paid out $2.9 billion over the past six years to 700 counties in 39 states. The last checks are going out this month.
To make up for the lost revenue, Lane County, home to the University of Oregon, has instituted an income tax. And three other counties in Oregon’s rugged timber country have put property tax increases on their May ballots.
But rural Oregon has a reputation for hating taxes and is not afraid to vote down increases even for such things as schools and libraries.
“We wouldn’t need these taxes if we went back to sustainable logging,” she said. Because of logging cutbacks, “the social and economic welfare of people I know in the past 20 some years has gone straight downhill. I’ve seen people have to go on welfare. The drinking starts. The divorces.”
The federal government has been sharing timber revenue with rural counties for nearly a century, under an arrangement worked out by President Theodore Roosevelt to gain their support for the creation of national forests.
National forest timber production hit highs of more than 12 billion board feet a year in the late 1960s and late 1980s, but plummeted 80 percent to 2.3 billion last year, in part because large swaths of the woods have been declared off-limits for environmental reasons. Last year’s harvest brought in just $221 million.
To make up for the downturn, Congress started giving Northwest timber communities subsidies in the 1990s to tide them over while they came up with new sources of revenue. After that expired, Congress passed the Secure Schools Act, which spread the safety net to all counties with national forests.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Summary of News Events this Week by Mark Young
Most Recommended Stories
Sat. March 3, 2007
1. Target bad drivers, not older drivers
2. Air service will stay if it's used
3. Lawmakers won't fight illegal immigration
4. Sharing their stories to help others
5. Men, women serving in war deserve respect
6. Letters show parents divided about ex-teacher
7. More must be done to protect ocean
8. The Rant
9. Group elects new board member
10. Mercury and health connection isn't 'complicated'
These articles can be accessed by using the Statesman Journal link found in the "link" section of this blog.
"Disabled Residents Rally For Awareness"
Virginia Hill is another example of individuals who find themselves "socially excluded" from many things that average citizens take for granted. While she is "Mentally Impaired" this disability has not stopped her from trying to improve her life.
Virginia's steadfastness for better education and employment opportunities for the disabled is something to be admired. Too often in our society, physical or mental impairments leave individuals ostracized from the so called "normal" life that most of us enjoy.I hope that our legislators will give the issues that Virgina and others are bringing to the table their full attention. These citizens deserve their voices to be heard and to be treated with dignity and respect.
For more information on Virginia Hill see news article posted on this blog.
Sincerely, Mark J. Young
Sat. March 3, 2007
1. Target bad drivers, not older drivers
2. Air service will stay if it's used
3. Lawmakers won't fight illegal immigration
4. Sharing their stories to help others
5. Men, women serving in war deserve respect
6. Letters show parents divided about ex-teacher
7. More must be done to protect ocean
8. The Rant
9. Group elects new board member
10. Mercury and health connection isn't 'complicated'
These articles can be accessed by using the Statesman Journal link found in the "link" section of this blog.
"Disabled Residents Rally For Awareness"
Virginia Hill is another example of individuals who find themselves "socially excluded" from many things that average citizens take for granted. While she is "Mentally Impaired" this disability has not stopped her from trying to improve her life.
Virginia's steadfastness for better education and employment opportunities for the disabled is something to be admired. Too often in our society, physical or mental impairments leave individuals ostracized from the so called "normal" life that most of us enjoy.I hope that our legislators will give the issues that Virgina and others are bringing to the table their full attention. These citizens deserve their voices to be heard and to be treated with dignity and respect.
For more information on Virginia Hill see news article posted on this blog.
Sincerely, Mark J. Young
Bill To Help Mobile-Home Owners Stirs Debate
STEVE LAW
Statesman Journal
March 3, 2007
Mobile-home owners and landlords sat side by side Friday to present their joint approach to aid Oregonians displaced by mobile home park closures.
Lawmakers were so keen to see both sides compromise that 79 of 90 House and Senate members co-sponsored the coalition's proposal, House Bill 2735.
But the first hearing Friday before the House Consumer Protection Committee showed there's still significant opposition, despite 18 months' work to forge a compromise.
The Manufactured Housing Landlord/Tenant Coalition proposal would provide cash payments of $5,000 to $9,000 for mobile home owners forced from their parks. It would extend a $10,000 tax credit and enable more people to qualify. Home owners, whose homes plummet in value once a closure is announced, could leave their homes on site without having to pay thousands of dollars in disposal fees
Sixty-five mobile home parks have closed in Oregon since 1990, said Rep. Jerry Krummel, R-Wilsonville, but 31 of the closures occurred in just the past two years.
As a result, no other bill before the 2007 Legislature has so many co-sponsors, said Krummel, who has championed mobile home owner concerns the past two legislative sessions.
"This is a problem that's not going to go away," said Greg Harmon, the president of Commonwealth Real Estate Services, a major landlord and coalition member. The compromise bill "is the most generous and comprehensive mobile home park closure bill in the United States," he said.
But some mobile home owners say the bill doesn't go far enough.
Ashley Taylor, who lives in an older mobile home park in Silverton called Stardust Village, said the bill won't fully compensate her and her neighbors' losses if the park closes.
"I believe that we should get better compensation," Taylor said. "A lot of these people, if they lose their home, they've got nothing; $5,000 would take them nowhere."
Peter Ferris, a Waldport mobile-home owner, said what is needed is money to help owners buy the land underneath their homes.
State Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, the House committee chairman, said he hopes to produce some relief for displaced mobile home owners. "I don't think that we've got a comprehensive solution to this problem yet," Holvey said. That will take more than just this bill, he said.
"I do pray that they can come to some conclusion," Taylor said, "because newer parks than ours have closed and it hurts thousands and thousands of people that have nowhere else to go."
slaw@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6615
Statesman Journal
March 3, 2007
Mobile-home owners and landlords sat side by side Friday to present their joint approach to aid Oregonians displaced by mobile home park closures.
Lawmakers were so keen to see both sides compromise that 79 of 90 House and Senate members co-sponsored the coalition's proposal, House Bill 2735.
But the first hearing Friday before the House Consumer Protection Committee showed there's still significant opposition, despite 18 months' work to forge a compromise.
The Manufactured Housing Landlord/Tenant Coalition proposal would provide cash payments of $5,000 to $9,000 for mobile home owners forced from their parks. It would extend a $10,000 tax credit and enable more people to qualify. Home owners, whose homes plummet in value once a closure is announced, could leave their homes on site without having to pay thousands of dollars in disposal fees
Sixty-five mobile home parks have closed in Oregon since 1990, said Rep. Jerry Krummel, R-Wilsonville, but 31 of the closures occurred in just the past two years.
As a result, no other bill before the 2007 Legislature has so many co-sponsors, said Krummel, who has championed mobile home owner concerns the past two legislative sessions.
"This is a problem that's not going to go away," said Greg Harmon, the president of Commonwealth Real Estate Services, a major landlord and coalition member. The compromise bill "is the most generous and comprehensive mobile home park closure bill in the United States," he said.
But some mobile home owners say the bill doesn't go far enough.
Ashley Taylor, who lives in an older mobile home park in Silverton called Stardust Village, said the bill won't fully compensate her and her neighbors' losses if the park closes.
"I believe that we should get better compensation," Taylor said. "A lot of these people, if they lose their home, they've got nothing; $5,000 would take them nowhere."
Peter Ferris, a Waldport mobile-home owner, said what is needed is money to help owners buy the land underneath their homes.
State Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, the House committee chairman, said he hopes to produce some relief for displaced mobile home owners. "I don't think that we've got a comprehensive solution to this problem yet," Holvey said. That will take more than just this bill, he said.
"I do pray that they can come to some conclusion," Taylor said, "because newer parks than ours have closed and it hurts thousands and thousands of people that have nowhere else to go."
slaw@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6615
Disabled Residents Rally for Awareness
THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal
March 3, 2007
Most days are a joy for Virginia Hill. Other days, it's a struggle to get past labels and other challenges she encounters in the community.
"I want to learn to read better," Hill, 26, said recently while taking a break from her job at Mount Angel Training Center. "But when I talked to different colleges about taking a reading class, they told me they didn't offer that for people like me."
So Hill, a 2002 graduate of Woodburn High School, decided to become a self-advocate for her disability, mental retardation.
On Friday, she and other people like her who rely on state social programs such as developmental services, foster care and mental-health services shared their stories during a rally on the steps of the state Capitol.
They were there to tell lawmakers that they are capable of making independent decisions, living on their own and to demand their voices be included in public policies that affect their lives.
"It's really important for self-advocates to tell their stories because it gives them a sense of empowerment," said Shelley Joyce, a spokeswoman for Victory Alliance, the organizer of Friday's rally
The presence of lawmakers at Friday's rally is an indication that attitudes among some policymakers are gradually shifting, advocates say.
State representatives Brian Clem, D-Salem, and Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, spoke about measures they're sponsoring aimed at improving access to education, employment and transportation for the developmentally disabled.
Clinically, developmental disability refers to any lifetime handicapping condition that occurs before age 18 that significantly impairs learning, language skills, mobility and the ability for some to live independently. It includes mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and neurological disorders.
Decades ago, services for the developmentally disabled were concentrated in state-run institutions. Today, many disabled people are able to live on their own, attend school and hold jobs.
Self-advocates, such as Hill, say that far more people deemed developmentally disabled can assume a level of responsibility for decisions than is generally thought.
After being labeled mentally retarded, Hill attended special-education classes throughout school. She lived with her grandmother until several years ago, when the elderly woman passed away.
"I am independent," she said in abbreviated statements. "I don't feel different. I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."
tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-681
Statesman Journal
March 3, 2007
Most days are a joy for Virginia Hill. Other days, it's a struggle to get past labels and other challenges she encounters in the community.
"I want to learn to read better," Hill, 26, said recently while taking a break from her job at Mount Angel Training Center. "But when I talked to different colleges about taking a reading class, they told me they didn't offer that for people like me."
So Hill, a 2002 graduate of Woodburn High School, decided to become a self-advocate for her disability, mental retardation.
On Friday, she and other people like her who rely on state social programs such as developmental services, foster care and mental-health services shared their stories during a rally on the steps of the state Capitol.
They were there to tell lawmakers that they are capable of making independent decisions, living on their own and to demand their voices be included in public policies that affect their lives.
"It's really important for self-advocates to tell their stories because it gives them a sense of empowerment," said Shelley Joyce, a spokeswoman for Victory Alliance, the organizer of Friday's rally
The presence of lawmakers at Friday's rally is an indication that attitudes among some policymakers are gradually shifting, advocates say.
State representatives Brian Clem, D-Salem, and Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, spoke about measures they're sponsoring aimed at improving access to education, employment and transportation for the developmentally disabled.
Clinically, developmental disability refers to any lifetime handicapping condition that occurs before age 18 that significantly impairs learning, language skills, mobility and the ability for some to live independently. It includes mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and neurological disorders.
Decades ago, services for the developmentally disabled were concentrated in state-run institutions. Today, many disabled people are able to live on their own, attend school and hold jobs.
Self-advocates, such as Hill, say that far more people deemed developmentally disabled can assume a level of responsibility for decisions than is generally thought.
After being labeled mentally retarded, Hill attended special-education classes throughout school. She lived with her grandmother until several years ago, when the elderly woman passed away.
"I am independent," she said in abbreviated statements. "I don't feel different. I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."
tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-681
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