The Oklahoma Eagle (Tulsa, Okla.), Vol. 86, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 22, 2007 Page: 4 of 12
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EDITORIAL
EDITORIALS
man
See BERLIN WALL, P.5
fl
have gone through one of the worst natu-
jobs, safety and education are crucial to
See CHILDREN, P.5
THE BURNING BUSH
FROM THE EDITOR
Psalms. 119:9
?■
e-mail: news@theoklahomaeagle.net
Over 40 Million U.S.
Adults Are Illiterate;
Problem Is Worldwide
Menu Foods Announces
Precautionary Dog
And Cat Food Recall
citizens. What kind of nation turns its
back on its children and families who
Wright
Edelman
I
I
between the United States and
the Soviet Union. In their first
one-on-one session of the sum-
The opinions of our guest columnists do not
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I
i
tyMrtaWrWtttai
President of the Children s
Defense Fund
DiDkM
mr
Guest
Contributor
hint;
HISTORY
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1868), Civil
Rights Leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient was bom,
January 15th in Atlanta, GA.
BIBLE VERSE
"How can a young man stay pure? By reading your
Word and following the rules."
QUOTE
"Every successful revolution puts on in time the
robes of the tyrant it has desposed."
- Barbara Tuchman
one becomes obligated to it,
has to make sacrifices for it,
and sometimes even die be-
cause
will actually raise our hands
to volunteer for that kind of
"We make America better when we aid our people."
E.L. GOODWIN, SR. (1902-1978), Publisher, 1936-1978
Edward L. Goodwin, Jr., and James O. Goodwin
Co-Publishers
Eddie L. Madison, Jr.
Editor Emeritus
we have just released an updated report
that focuses on one achievable step that
our Congress, President, and political
people who wanted to join a
free American society because
sponses to this phenomenon.
The world only wants so
many saviors, and only so
<
Katrina's children are
still waiting for their coun-
try to come to their rescue
with life and hope giving
health and mental health
care and a secure place called home.
Over a year and a half after the storm
flooded their houses, schools and neigh-
borhoods and took away their family
members, pets, sense of safety, trust in
their nation and belief in the future, tens of
thousands of children, teenagers and Kat-
rina survivors are languishing in a purga-
tory of uncertainty. No doctors. No
mental health counseling. No school
space. No safe place to play. No afford-
able decent housing. Few familv jobs. A
dearth of after school programs. Few
summer alternatives to the streets. And
Illiteracy is a worldwide problem.
The United Nations estimated that in 2000 there were
862 million illiterate adults in the world. In 2000, approxi-
mately 70 percent of the world’s illiterate adults lived in
three regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia, and
the Arab States and North Africa. East Asia and the Pacific
reported an estimated total illiterate population of 185 mil-
lion The Latin American and Caribbean region has an illit-
erate population of 39 million.
Women account for two out of three illiterate adults. In
2000, there were 236 million more illiterate women than men.
The gender gap was more pronounced in the Arab States and
North Africa and in South and West Asia.
In the United States, the National Adult Literacy Survey
(NALS) of 1992 estimated that 40-44 million adults—21-23
percent of the adult population—function at the lowest level
of literacy skill. Adults who were bom in the United States
may have poor literacy skills due to undiagnosed learning
disabilities, growing up in poverty, childhood trauma or ill-
ness, inconsistent attendance in school, or inadequate in-
struction. Many have high school diplomas. Many more are
dropouts.
Very few adults in the United States can be considered il-
literate. The NALS did not measure illiteracy because it did
not intend to treat literacy as a condition that individuals do
or do not have; rather NALS evaluated the skills of adults in
three areas: prose, document, and quantitative proficiency.
NALS established five levels of skill ability representing the
progression from simple (Level 1) to more complex cognitive
skills (Level 5, the highest). These levels cannot be equated
to grade levels used for children. They represent adult
knowledge and skills measured against criteria that were de-
veloped by literacy assessment experts.
Globally, the United Nations has defined illiteracy as the
"inability to read and write a simple message in any lan-
guage.
In the United States, the most widely used definition is
that offered by the U.S. Congress, in the National Literacy
Act of 1991. It defined literacy as "an individual's ability to
read, write, and speak English and compute and solve prob-
lems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job
and in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's
knowledge and potential."
The U.S. Department of Education, in its 1992 and 2003
national assessments of adult literacy, defined literacy as
"using printed and written information to function in soci-
ety, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge
and potential."
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defined literacy
as "an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English,
compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency neces-
sary to function on the job, in the family of the individual
and in society."
The term "functional illiterate" refers to those individu-
als who are not illiterate, but who lack the skills required to
be successful in the family, in the workplace, and in the com-
munity.
Illiteracy and low literacy in adults can be linked to al-
most every socioeconomic problem in the United States and
abroad. In the U.S., research indicates that low literate adults
do poorly in the job market, lack the skills to help their chil-
dren be successful in school, are more likely to suffer from
poor health, and are more likely to receive public assistance.
Globally, illiteracy contributes to poverty, child labor, the
trafficking of women, the spread of HIV I AIDS, and human
rights violations in developing countries.
The per capita income in countries with a literacy rate
less than 55 percent averages about $600.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, workers 18 and
over with a bachelor's degree eam an average of $51,206 a
year, while those with a high school diploma eam $27,915;
those without a high school diploma average $18,734.
Twenty-five percent of all U.S. students who do not receive a
high school diploma have received government assistance.
used in the same sentence, es-
pecially by educated men like
to know better.
The first time I encoun-
tered this silly comparison
was in the summer of 21X11
ing and deplorable. The words while reading newly declassi-
"Berlin Wall" and "U.S.-Mexico tied minutes from the Decem-
border fence" s! uld not be ber 1987 Washington Summn
CHILD WATCH
No light at the end of a long dark tunnel
plastered with broken promises from their
political leaders in the richest nation on
earth.
While Iraq’s terrifying quagmire
dominates the news and Congress' cur-
‘ ‘' > What's more, I wonder if
ignored the burning bush and that man or woman who is
Ml
bachev that he was pleased
that some Soviet Jews were fi-
nally being allowed to leave
the Soviet Union, he believed
that more should be permitted
to emigrate. These hundreds
of thousands of Soviet Jews
were not permitted this basic
human right. As he had at the
previous two summits,
Geneva and Reykjavik, Gor-
badiev bristled.
The eventual Nobel Peace
Prize winner snapped at Rea-
gan, telling him that he was
not an accused criminal stand-
ing trial and that Reagan was
not a prosecutor. Gorbachev
insisted that Reagan "had no
right" to bring up such Soviet
"domestic matters." He then
tried to turn the tables on Rea-
gan, pointing to a U.S. Con-
gressional proposal to build a
fence along the Mexican bor-
der, which, said the Soviet
general secretary, was as bad
as anything the USSR had ever
done.
Reagan realized thus was
mit, Ronald Reagan and utter nonsense. He replied that
Mikhail Gorbachev squared a border fence was meant to
off on human rights-the issue stop illegal immigration by
that Reagan always raised
first, and always to the con-
sternation of Gorbachev.
While R?agan told Gor-
P~4 • THE OKLAHOMA EAGLE • THURSDAY, MARCH 22. 2007
OPINION
eatit America's "Berlin Wall?" A ridiculous analogy.
a *__a ————————— - karlwv lA/ac
I tend to
avoid the im-
Dr. Kengor migration de
bate, which, for various
reasons that agitate some of
my conservative friends, doe*-
not get me riled up. Nonethe-
less, in the context of this de-
bate, the Mexican leadership
continues to make an outra-
geous analogy, one that needs j
to be answered.
Both the previous Mexi- I
can president, Vicente Fox, I
and the new one, Felipe I
Calderon, have compared the I
U.S. decision to construct an I
additional 700 miles of border |
fencing-authorized in October AGUA PRIETA, MEXICO: In the early morning mist, a Mexican
by a Senate bill signed by Pres- man plunges over the U.S./Mexico border fence from Agua
ident George W. Bush-to the pneta. Mexico to Douglas, Arizona. Berlin Wall (inset).
decision to build the Berlin
Wall. Fox called the move an
"embarrassment for the , , ,
United States, and Calderon Fox and Calderon, who ought
dubbed the decision "de-
plorable."
Actually, the analogy to
the Berlin Wall is embarrass-
It was there that Moses was
told he would be the one to
lead his people out of
bondage and into freedom in
a new land.
Not long ago 1 realized
that this was not a one time o ,
event. That it can be seen as a it comes with a lot of respon- that prompted God to appear "pharaohic" system
metaphor which repeats itself sibility. By acknowledging it
throughout human history.
The bush still bums enlight-
ening others and inspiring
them on to equally great and
rewarding actions. All great
spiritual leaders have seen it,
KATRINA'S CHILDREN are still suffering
with no doctors, no health mental . .
too little child care when parents work, counseling, no school, no place to safely while housing reconstruction moves at
play and no decent housing.
A call to conscience and action for Katrina's children
Julia Cass writes in the Children's Defense
Fund's (CDF's) new report. Katrina's Chil-
dren, Still Waiting tossing about in a still
raging sea of terror, uncertainty, fear, and
unresolved loss in the aftermath of a dis-
aster? Surely America can do better!
In April 2006, CDF released Katrina s
Children: A Call to Conscience and Ac-
tion. In the ensuing months, despite the
valiant efforts of many organizations and
individuals and much media attention, far
too little has been done to protect children
- and adults - whose chronic and acute
post traumatic stress disorders continue.
Thousands of Katrina's children are
still scattered across our nation, uncertain
whether they ever will be able to return
home. Many who remained in their storm
devastated states are packed into flimsy,
temporary, over crowded trailers in
FEMA camps that are no place for chil-
dren or any human being in this wealthy
nation for any significant period of time,
’ t a
snail's pace and violence flares in New Or-
leans.
CDFs April 2006 report made nine
ral disasters in our history? How are chil- action recommendations. While housing,
dren to believe in the values of a nation j_‘__, —2_v —2 -2—7
that values them so little? What kind of child, family and community' wellbeing
rent attention, Katrina's terrifying quag- nation leaves hundreds of thousands of its
mire has become yesterday's story for too children and teenage disaster survivors
many political, policy, media leaders and who have "experience d ’ level of loss,
trauma and dislocation unprecedented in
modem American history," as observer
column after such. In the Scripture (Exodus
3v4) it says, "And when the religi<
Lord saw that he (Moses)
turned aside to see, God
Moses tices or principles. In fact, the
We had no sooner started to put the recall on peanut but-
ter on the back burner when the Menu Foods Income Fund
announced the precautionary recall of a portion of the dog
and cat food it manufactured between December 3,2006 and
March 6,2007. The recall is limited to "cuts and gravy" style
pet food in cans and pouches manufactured at two of the
Fund's United States facilities.
The announcement was made March 16. Since that time
the Fund has received feedback in the United States (none in
Canada) raising concerns about pet food manufactured in
early December, and its impact on the renal health of pets
consuming the products.
In order to determine whether cat and dog food in their
possession is subject to recall, consumers should refer to the
list of brand names ("listed products") at menufoods.com.
There is an 800 number for both cats and dogs. However, we
have had difficulty getting through. Callers get either a busy
signal or a message directing consumers to call back at a later
time.
Menu Foods manufactures pet for many companies
using their own brand names
There have been 10 pet deaths attributed to the recall.
at all. ment of biblical proportions,
If it had it might have and AIDS.
metaphorically speaking. It is life? Exactly, that's why been simply to say that Moses
the light. there's so few. i„ ‘ ' ’ „' ’
1 think the problem - the I won't always approach his people continued to suffer walking past that burning
problem being that most be- issues from a biblical perspec- fr,r ,<znnrp
lieve it could and did hap- tive, but I do want to explain many more years. Just think
pened only once - is not in the my approach. This is not a 1
• ", * 1 83,116 bush, ignoring that's sure to come. That bush
the light and enlightenment, is still burning.
and languish in Egypt for bush right now will ignore it
\ or respond appropriately so
how many "Moseses" passed we can avoid the next disaster
lack of occurrences but in the bible study. Further, I believe by that
failure of appropriate re- in people, so I see things in a f "J
who merely ig-
I . I______•__L- lL..
all of a sudden in Genesis „
14vl3 with no explanation at bush. And, if they had
So, it was not due to any light they saw, how much
particular religious affiliation
The light is heavy in that or action on behalf of Moses
Hebrew, was not of a specific
ious sect. In other words,
he was not of a group
founded upon religious prac-
Hardman
the desert, the burning bush, called unto him...'
had the appropriate response; word "Hebrew" just pops up there
he acknowledged the light
and went to it.
Unfortunately, most of us all.
see the light and ignore it,
even run from it.
It's still burning...enlightening and inspiring others
By DM IMM sponses to this phenomenon, much more cosmopolitan causing the Hebrew people to
■ Eagle Staff Water The world only wants so way than some people are remain in Egypt under the
* used to. What manv fail to re- cruel oppression of the
I titled my many will accept the call to be alize is that Moses, although Pharaoh for over 400 years.
• — a._ — /c—1..„ Hebrew, was not of a specific 1 can't help wondering
the encounter 3v4) it says, "And when the religious sect. In other words, how many David Walkers,
Moses had Lord saw that he (Moses) he was not of a group Frederick Douglases, Rosa
with God in turned aside to see, God founded upon religious prac- Parkses there were; how
many Malcolms and Martins
’ • were who merely ig-
nored the light burning in the
1 re-
sponded appropriately to the
knur miirn
sooner our suffering under
this oppressive American
_.._k—j wouid
in the bush. Further, if Moses have ended. How we could
had not responded the way have avoided lynchings, Jim
he did the story of Moses and Crow, the three-headed
the burning bush probably plagues of crack cocaine,
of it. How many of us would not have been written gangs, and levels of imprison-
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The Oklahoma Eagle (Tulsa, Okla.), Vol. 86, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 22, 2007, newspaper, March 22, 2007; Tulsa, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1807681/m1/4/?q=+%22Latimer%22: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.