Half-Million Oregonians
Live Below Poverty Line
Editor’s Note: This is the
first of five articles which will
focus on what and where pov
erty is in Oregon and who is
working to alleviate it. The
second part of the series in
Wednesday’s Emerald will fo
cus on poverty-stricken Indians
in Oregon.
By LINDA MEIERJURGEN
and LAURIE PADILLA
Of the Emerald
Five - hundred twenty - six
thousand Oregonians live in
poverty. They have a family in
come of less than $3,000 a year,
which is the Office of Economic
Opportunity’s break-off point
between poverty and average
living standards.
What is poverty? Kenneth
Viegas, University professor in
sociology and a former worker
in Lane County’s war on pov
erty, thinks it is these 526,000
Oregonians who are unable to
survive in present society.
“When speaking of poverty,
we should talk in terms of eco
nomic adequacy and resources
to provide for the existence of
the family and/or individual,”
Viegas said.
Viegas sees the problem as
basically whether an individual
could live under present socie
tal conditions on $3,000 a year.
“Essentially, everyone ought
to be provided with enough
money with which to live,” he
said.
Eugene Mayor Edwin Cone
thinks these are “insufficient
funds to meet the needs for a
reasonable level of living.”
According to the Lane Hu
man Resources commission
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(LHR) 6,132 people in the Eu
gene area are unable to meet
the needs for a “reasonable”
level of existence.
How do these people live?
Poverty is people living in
rat-infested, run down, antique
remnants of houses, eating less
food than they need to subsist
and learning less than they
need to be alive, according to
LHR.
Income is the standard way
of determining those who are
poverty stricken. The total num
ber of low income families in
the Eugene area has increased
37 per cent since 1960, accord
ing to LHR.
These people fall into three
main groups: the aged, aid to
dependent children families
(ADC) and the unemployed.
Part of the problem in defin
ing poverty, to Elwin Grout of
LHR, is that no statistics are
available except those taken in
the 1960 census.
Lane Human Resources now
has a project going to collect
these statistics, but the opera
tion “is hard,” Grout said.
Another problem in defining
poverty is the difference in peo
ple’s needs. “The $3,000 may
not be enough for some people
cut sufficient for others,” Viegas
thinks. The purchasing power of
$3,000 keeps changing also, he
Dinner Honors
Retired Faculty
An invitational dinner to
night will honor four retiring
University faculty members rep
resenting more than 130 years
of service.
Special citations will be pre
sented by University President
Arthur S. Flemming.
Paul Washke, professor of
physical education; Joel Berre
man, professor of sociology; An
drew Vincent, professor of art;
and Lois Baker, professor of li
brary administration and law li
brarian will be the honored
guests at the dinner.
Washke, who has been at the
University for 39 years, “has
reached 75,000 students with
programs emphasizing good
sportsmanship, wholesome re
creation . . . through the physi
cal service and intramural ath
letics,” the citation reads.
The citation for Vincent,
whose work has been widely ex
hibited throughout the North
west, reads, “Through his paint
ing and through a multitude of
grateful students, the work of
Andrew Vincent has happily
permeated our region and our
time.”
Berreman is cited as “a vig
orous advocate of social justice
“For more than 30 years, Lois
Baker has devoted her ener
gies and wisdom to the further
ance of legal education” at the
University, says the citation for
Mrs. Baker.
said.
The following are Lane Coun
ty’s statistics on poverty:
• In 1965 there were an esti
mated 14,764 residents who
were 65 years of age or over.
Of these, 3,025 were low-income
families.
• At present there are 8,875
individuals in poverty due to
the low incomes of the elderly
heads of households.
• LHR says they assume all
ADC families can be considered
low income families. In Decem
ber 1966 there were a total of
817 ADC families.
• In 1966 there were ap
proximately 8,400 low income
families in Lane County.
On the basis of these sta
tistics LHR concluded in 1966
that there was a total popula
tion of 201,000 in Lane Coun
ty, and of these 29,292 lived in
poverty.
This means 14.6 per cent of
the people in Lane county lived
in poverty in 1966.
“There is no reason to be
lieve these figures haven’t in
creased in two years,” Grout
said.
McCall Plans Meeting
With Poor Marchers
SALEM i.'P>—Oregon Gov.
Tom McCall confirmed today
that he will meet with poverty
marchers when they come to
the capitol Saturday morning.
“We want to be responsive.
I believe they are genuinely
concerned people,” the gover
nor said.
McCall, just back from a
meeting of Western governors
in Honolulu, said a nephew, San
dy McCall of Gearhart, a Uni
versity student, is among those
planning the march.
He described his nephew as
an altruistic youth, deeply con
cerned with the plight of oth
ers.
The governor said he hoped
to talk to the march organizers
Thursday about their aims, and
then to be on the Capitol steps
Traffic Accident
Eugene police reported an ac
cident on the corner of 13th
and Agate on campus involving
two cars Monday night.
Salem March Jells
By JIM SPOO
Of the Emerald
Twenty-five hundred to 4,000
Oregonians will assemble at Sa
lem during the Poor Peoples’
March on Salem Friday and
Saturday, Roy Bennett, march
co-ordinator, said at a week -
end news conference.
Bennett, a University divin
ity major, listed two major pur
poses of the march in which
people will march from Eugene
and Portland. First, Bennett
said, the march will make Orego
nians aware of poverty in Ore
gon. He said 25 per cent of Ore
gonians make $3600 or less a
year.
Secondly, Bennett said, the
march will be the beginning of
efforts to give the poor in Ore
gon a new pride in place of de
pendence on others.
The other march co-ordina
tors, Nick Garcia, liberal arts
major, Alfred Williamson, busi
ness administration major, and
Dick Jones, ASUO President,
were at the Friday news con
ference in the EMU.
Jones noted his reason for
the march. He said, “The oppor
tunity to participate has not
been made a part of education.
I will do everything I can for
participation.” He said sup
port of the march is in line
with his support of the ASUO’s
Operation Citizenship and mi
nority adviser.
The marcii leaaers said they
want the legislature in its 1969
session to address itself to the
lack of jobs, education and
housing that face the poor. A
petition of grievances will be
gathered from the poor and
handed to Gov. Tom McCall
after the Salem assemblage.
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Jones said he hoped the Ore
gon legislature would welcome
the chance to make this an inno
vative state in solving problems
of the poor before the prob
lems are out of hand.
Williamson also called for ac
tion from the legislature. He
said, “Where do we go from
here if they don’t accept the
grievances? Peopye are tired of
marching and tired of talking.
I can walk for days and get my
feet sore but that’s not going
to change the problems.’’
Bennett has been around the
state organizing the poor for
the march. He said he had been
to many rural towns contacting
the clergy for help to find the
poor. He said many of the poor
support the march but many
are apathetic, feeling their
pleas are no longer heard.
The march leaders said the
poor come from four groups: In
dians, Mexican-Americans, Ne
groes and Whites. They said the
worst problems of the poor are
in the migrant labor camps.
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Saturday to give his response
to their demands.
He said arrangements have
been made for the marchers,
who are converging from Eu
gene, Hillsboro and Portland, to
stay Friday night on the fair
grounds and to use the state
fair cafeteria to prepare their
food. They also will have use of
an auditorium at the fair -
grounds.
Search Committee
Requests Nominations
Students wishing to nominate
persons for the presidency of
the University may do so by
submitting the names of pros
pective candidates to Ken Metz
ler, executive secretary of the
Presidential Search Committee.
Nominations should be in
writing, preferably supplement
ed with supporting biographical
data, and should be sent to Metz
ler, 211 Susan Campbell Hall.
Names thus submitted will be
presented to the committee at
its next regular meeting, ac
cording to Metzler.
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