Money
Out-of-state money has become a big factor in the race for
state representative from Seattle’s 36th District—a somewhat
surprising development, given that such races are generally decided by
a few thousand votes, and that state legislators make less than
$42,000 a year.
Nonetheless, the race between Reuven Carlyle and John Burbank, two
Democrats contending for the seat, has sent tens of thousands of
dollars flying across state lines. Carlyle has taken nearly
$43,000 in out-of-state donations, or about 21 percent of his total
contributions—much of that from California, Washington, D.C., and
Maryland. Burbank, meanwhile, brought in about $32,000 from out
of state, or about 20 percent of his contributions, much of that from
California, Oregon, New York, and Massachusetts.
Burbank, unlike Carlyle, also spent a large amount of money out of
state. About $32,000, or 42 percent of his spending so far, went
to an Oregon consulting firm called Winning Mark, which Burbank says he
chose because “they work primarily on environmental and progressive
issues, and I wanted to keep my [campaign] work in the [Pacific
Northwest] region.” ERICA C. BARNETT
Marijuana
More black people than white people continue to be arrested and
prosecuted for marijuana possession in Seattle, according to data from
the City Attorney’s Office. Of the 153 people charged in the past year
and a half, 77, or more than half, were black (the rest were
white, Asian, or Native American). Only 8.4 percent of the city’s
population is African American.
The recent data reflect a pattern of racial disparity announced in January, when a city council–appointed panel
released a report on marijuana enforcement between 2000 and 2006. (Full
disclosure: I was a member of the panel.)
The ACLU of Washington has since requested copies of thousands of
police reports from those years, and the University of Washington’s
School of Sociology will examine the records to determine the
circumstances that led to the arrests. “We are specifically doing
this because the Seattle City Council expressed its concern about the
racial disparity,” says the ACLU’s Alison Holcomb, who was also a
member of the panel. “We are looking to see if we can find a cause for
that.” DOMINIC HOLDEN
Media
Over the summer, Seattle Central Community College quietly
eliminated its journalism program—and its student newspaper,
the City Collegian, may be in jeopardy as well.
In June, after a battle over control of the editorial reins, the
paper’s faculty adviser, Professor Jeb Wyman, stepped down from his
position, firing off an angry letter to the school’s
administration.
In the letter, Wyman accused the school’s publications board chair,
Laura Mansfield, of attempting to exert administrative control over the
direction of the student-run paper, and claimed Mansfield forced the
paper to adopt a policy requiring City Collegian staff to be
enrolled in at least 10 credits at the school. Such a policy, Wyman
wrote, “would remove about a third of the Collegian‘s senior
editors, degrade the students’ paper, and needlessly stifle
journalism education at this school.”
Because of Wyman’s resignation, the City Collegian is
officially on hiatus. Last year, North Seattle Community College put
its student paper, the Polaris, on indefinite hiatus as the
school reassessed the program.
Mansfield—who is also SCCC’s spokeswoman—did not return
calls for comment. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE
Ummm, 77 out of 153 is indeed more than half, in fact a whopping total of 0.32679 over the 50% mark, but if they had arrested another non-African-American offenderm then it would be exactly half. Perhaps the reason that more AA are being arrested for smoking pot, is that they do not have as safe a place as the non AA members of your fine city to consume such. Perhaps another reason, or if you prefer impacting factor, might just be that there are less non AA smoking pot, some cultures really push their pepople to not use, just look at Japan for instance where not only does the smoker go to jail/prison, but the rest of his/her wonderful family gets re-education as well, read: forced labour camp. I live in Canada (Screw Harper) and I can tell you from personal observations that many people of AA parentage smoke pot openly and loudly, while whites, indigenous peoples, asians etc. are more likely to find someplace quiet and out-of the way to consume as to not attract attention to themselves. Perhaps non AA peoples, who don’t seem to be as social/community oriented, as AA peoples are, are at a slight advantage due to genetic preprogramming or societal pressures that drive them into “safer” areas in which to consume? Smoke for thought?