30 October 2006

Alberta Street Racial Lines


photo: Mark Washington/Portland Observer

By Sarah Blount/The Portland Observer
African Americans much less happy with street

Black businesses and organizations are less happy with their non-minority counterparts when it comes to opinions of Northeast Alberta Street.

Portland State University professor Daniel Sullivan has just completed a study compiling the opinions of the changes on the street known for new residents, art galleries, restaurants and storefronts.

Among all people, there was a general sense the neighborhood is losing its diversity, especially longtime African American businesses and organizations.

Sullivan, an associate professor of sociology, evaluated responses from 88 businesses, churches and non-profit organizations on or near the thoroughfare between Northeast 11th and 30th Avenues.

He said he chose to study the street because, unlike most neighborhoods in Portland, it is racially and economically diverse.

Most disagreements over the changes on Alberta fell along racial lines.

"What really surprised me is it seems like I expected a lot more disagreement," Sullivan said. "It seems most people like what's going on, except African Americans."

He found that many white respondents embrace the idea of diversity, but feel nothing can be done about it. Some even lament the fact that few of their clientele are African American.

"Many of us here would love to keep the multicultural element," said one artist surveyed, "but it's controlled by economic forces."

A concern for 60 percent of respondents was affordability. Renters and art studio operators feel the most vulnerable to displacement, regardless of race.

Black respondents tended to believe that there are more problems on Alberta than do other races. For example, 64 percent of black respondents state that "police not caring" is a problem, compared to only 28 percent of other respondents. Seventy-nine percent of blacks surveyed see racial tensions in the neighborhood as a problem, compared to only 45 percent of those questioned from other races.

Although most respondents liked the Last Thursday art walks, African Americans were half as likely to view it positively.

Sullivan is careful to say his study was not an effort to promote particular change, but rather an attempt to reduce biases among businesses and organizations of different ethnicities, many of which he found do not communicate with each other. He stresses the importance of discussion among everyone with a stake in the neighborhood, and offers a few practical suggestions to preserve and enhance racial diversity along Alberta, including hiring a racially diverse staff from the neighborhood, offering products and prices that attract a range of residents and advertising in diverse venues.

Another less obvious suggestion concerns dogs in gentrifying neighborhoods - Sullivan found some respondents are uncomfortable or intimidated around dogs, whether tied to poles on sidewalks outside of businesses or on adjacent patios. A dog's presence, even if well behaved, is unwelcoming to those passing by who are forced to make contact.

This is Sullivan's second study, following a focus on gentrification among Alberta neighborhood residents. After a month spent talking to a random selection of about 185 neighbors, he found many participants liked some of the changes, but were uneasy about others. He was surprised to find only a quarter of those surveyed expressed significant concern about the dramatic rise in housing costs and decreasing racial diversity.

"I thought more people of color would say they don't like the changes because this is an area that has had a large concentration of minorities and cultural institutions," Sullivan said about his first study.

Sullivan notes that Alberta will likely evolve rapidly over the next five years, especially concerning racial diversity, and that business and organizations can play an important role in influencing these changes.

27 October 2006

In other news...the sun set today.


LONDON (MarketWatch) -- EMI Music Chairman and Chief Executive Alain Levy Friday told an audience at the London Business School that the CD is dead, saying music companies will no longer be able to sell CDs without offering "value-added" material.
"The CD as it is right now is dead," Levy said, adding that 60% of consumers put CDs into home computers in order to transfer material to digital music players.
EMI Music is part of EMI Group PLC (EMI.LN).
But there remains a place for physical media, Levy said.
"You're not going to offer your mother-in-law iTunes downloads for Christmas," he said. "But we have to be much more innovative in the way we sell physical content."
Record companies will need to make CDs more attractive to the consumer, he said.
"By the beginning of next year, none of our content will come without any additional material," Levy said.
CD sales accounted for more than 70% of total music sales in the first half of 2006, while digital music sales were around 11% of the total, according to music industry trade body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
CD sales were worth $6.45 billion and digital sales $945 million, the IFPI said.
Levy said EMI is continuing to hold talks with Google Inc. (GOOG) on an advertising-revenue sharing partnership with the community video Web site YouTube, which the Internet search giant acquired in October for $1.6 billion in stock.
EMI's rivals, Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG), Sony BMG - a joint venture between Sony Corp. (SNE) and Bertelsmann AG - and Universal Media have all signed content deals with YouTube.
"The terms they were offering weren't acceptable," Levy said, adding that EMI continues to be concerned about copyright issues.
Company Web site: http://www.emigroup.com

23 October 2006

Christy Mathewson & the 1905 World Series

| 27 IP | 0 Runs | 14 hits | 18 SO's | 1BB | 3-0 | 0.00 ERA |



In the 1905 Series opening game, N.Y. Giants ace Christy Mathewson was matched up against lefthander Eddie Plank, a twenty-five game winner for the Philadelphia Athletics. It remained a pitcher's duel until the fifth inning when the Giants finally broke through for two runs. Mathewson himself contributed a single that inning as well as a key sacrifice in the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, he completed his four-hit, 3-0 victory without walking a batter.
Pitching on two days rest, Mathewson was given the start for Game 3 and once again dominated the game holding the A's scoreless with only four hits and one walk.
Finally, Mathewson pitches Game 5 on only ONE day of rest; closing out the Series, again allowing Philadelphia no runs on six hits with no walks.
Mathewson was obviously the most valuable player of the 1905 World Series although the award had not yet been established then. In the space of six days, he pitched three shutouts and permitted only fourteen hits. The Giants' ace struck out eighteen and walked one in twenty-seven innings. This is quite possibly the greatest pitching performance ever in a world series.

15 October 2006

I thought I was going to cry...

Tigers to World Series


Ordonez finishes off the A's

04 October 2006

Day of Mass Resistance: Portland



October 5: National Day of Mass Resistance

World Can't Wait - Portland! General Strike OCTOBER 5th at noon - South Park Blocks - Help us spread the word about the GENERAL STRIKE on October 5th. No work. No school. Be THERE. Help us drive the Bush regime out! At noon on October 5th at the South Park Blocks at SW Main and SW Park. Show the country that Portland can't wait to drive Bush out! [ read more ]

Oct 5--Day of Mass Resistance--World Cant Wait--Portland - Join us for the national day of mass resistance. Hundreds of cities nation wide will be holding this day hostage in order to scream: WE WILL NOT BE SILENT. DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME!!! Oct. 5--PSU/South Park Blocks--Portland, OR [ read more ]

CALL TO ACTION: October 5: National Day of Mass Resistance--Drive Out the Bush Regime - October 5 is the date for this nation-wide opportunity to gather as a People and DEMAND that Bush and his Administration resign from office. Contact the Portland Chapter of World Cant Wait to find out more: www.worldcantwait.org. The following is a collection of information for the reasoning, planning, and implementation of this momentous day. [ read more ]

World Can't Wait--Strike and Demonstation Oct. 5th - Plans for a worldwide protest are set for Octobler 5th. Actions will take place in Olympia and Seattle. Seattle--All Day and into the Night University of Washington, Capitol Hill, Downtown Seattle. Starting at 10am October 5th and continuing all night at State Capitol In Olympia. [ read more ]

related: [ 911 Truth Supports World Can't Wait and October 5 Day of Mass Resistance | CALL TO ACTION: October 5: National Day of Mass Resistance--Drive Out the Bush Regime | Oct. 5, 2006: A Day of Mass Resistance | full-page ad in new york times calls for october 5 protests to drive out the bush regime | october 5: national day of resistance | October 5: There is a day, there is a way to drive out the Bush Regime! ]

Oct 5th Jail support: 503-233-3194