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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS }fINIONS IfHlftS to TMf f Flood sweeps farms, federal promises away ■ OUR OPINION: After all the 'federal aid* hype, some farmers gel left holding a goose egg Many Oregon and Wash ington residents will remain Imr <h« Flood of *9® for * long time. Some am •till dealing with washed mil home* and ruined dream*. immediately following (be devastation. (kivemor Kitrlidwr waved a magu wand by declaring part* of the Male national disaster area* President Clinton oven flew in with a small team of Federal Emergency Management Agency off! dal* and swept through areas such as downtown Portland's waterfront park and other moderately flood ed places in Oregon and Washington, promising immediate emergency aid to the victims. Playing only part of his hand, Clinton and his han dlers strategically avoided the people and land hit hardest by the flood After all, it's an election year, there's only enough time to get exposure in the big cities lee reuse that's where the most votes live. FKMA officials left promising everything except the check in the mail Maybe they knew that many people would never ge t that check Some Willamette Valley farmers are finding those Itmtnises for aid to he bro ken promises and worse — not only are many farmers not getting the aid they so desperately need, hut the government is also telling them that they could haw received federal aid if they had only paid the $50 for an annual federal catastrophic crop insurance policy. After tilling out form* fur FTIMA grants and low-inter n«l loan*. )*n Goar ( whow Scio greenhouse received mow than $200,000 in flood damage) wu (old by FEMA official* that she wasn't all gible for assistance because she didn'l hsve the federal insurant« "Who is getting llhe feder *1 aid)?" she recently asked the Associated Press "What dona it take to get some help?" Goar said the didn't buy the federal insurance because she didn't know it even existed. According to federal offi cials. farmers should know about the crop insurance because it is required by law The existence of this law makes Goar either a selective memory candidate or puts the blame on some one else (the bank, or the federal Farm Service Agency) for dropping the ball in a big way fine fanner, who knew about the insurance but declined to buy It, lost approximately $250,000 worth of crops, soil and equipment His gamble with planting on a flood plain and refusing to insure it is now his loa*. but that's not what he's upset about. His anger is directed toward dams that used to protect his crop# and that the government has fsiled to repair in part because of the budget impasse between Congress and President Clinton Taxpayers should not be required to shoulder the burden of farmers who refuse to insure their crops, but when s farmer’s liveli hood is destroyed bec ause of misunderstanding or mis take. the Fed should make good on its promises. fit'll MMfttf TmeCwwewt WELFARE 5WTO«~ / 5u« TUt NKW, STRtAMUUtX) wmACT: SvtTtM _ AIDS quilt carries victim’s memories Hit name »*t Thomas “Thomas f Aoquario." my brother informed m* at we were speaking on the telephone Uun day; he In hi* BosUwt apartment and me in our mother* kitchen in Michigan “Or Tommy Bui Chko is how ha's known to those who love him beat." my brother confidad I tell friends now that it was on that hot. mid summer evening that I knew 1 would meet this Thom** And that I. above all else, wanted to las one ol those who loved him well enough to cal! him Chico Friends now **k me when 1 first realised that Thomas was HIV positive Looking beck, I real ise that 1 wondered whether be was poattive the first time I met him. late that same summer His bame was thin, even fur a man of his height, and his purple T-shirt hung loosely, its hem untucked over « pair of loo-large. faded leans Later, there was his requesting a glass of water, in addition to the fun* that the waitress placed in boat of him in a Boston t ala, so he could take his medicine I must admit that it was no sur prise when 1 walked into their bathroom and t ame acmes a number of bottles filled with vari ous scripts in Latin, the only letters r*» ogmzeble to me were “HIV " Over the oast year, Chico's status seemed to move quickly bom HIV positive to having full blown AIDS, a transformation that began the summer I met him in Boston Already , there were concerns about his health, unvoiced for the moat pari, but they were there 1 could feet them settle in around me at night as I lav in bed in their Boston apartment. I could feel them set tie around m* as thickly as the city heat that enveloped my body. I observed the progression of the disease as time passed Hat h conversation with my brother turned less boro their daily activities and mom toward what would be best few my brother, Chico, and their “situation ’ 1 felt AIDS grow mg into the unmanageable monster that it would later become, consuming my brother’s lover's strength a bit at a time, slowly at first, and then mom and mom quickly. 1 heard it in my brother s voice, strained, weak and lamas as I asked him hesitantly how COMMENTARY npiuMUr Chico wu. In • hurried voice, he aniwrnl sim ply. "!«'• clear that ha s dying." And I hoard it again, for the last limn, in my brother’s message left for me late at night last December. "|oy. if* your brother Bob If* finished " From May 12 through May 14. a group that has become known a* the Community AIDS Consortium, consisting of University staff, stu dent*. county public health worker* and AIDS activists, is going to bring 20 panels of the NAMES Prop* t AIDS Memorial Quilt to the EMU Ballroom for display. The first panel of the Quilt was created in 19*7 when a man by the name of Cleve Jones took a can of spray paint to a bed sheet to create a memorial for (hose who had died of AIDS His goal, and the goal of others who soon became involved in creating subsequent panels, was to help people understand the devastating impact id the AIDS epidemic Today, the Quilt, which ha* grown to span a space larger than a football field, provides an opportunity not only for AIDS education, but also for a spate in which the healing process can begin for thoae who are grieving few lovers, friends and family who have died or will die of AIDS. I urge you to come and view the Quilt panels during the three day* they will be on campus Remember Chico and those who we will never meet, the ones whose stories are told to us now only through their panels I write to promise that, should you come, the experience will not be soon forgotten. For more information about the Quilt and vol unteer opportunities contact Annie Duchnal. Health Educator, Student Health Center. 346-2728 Joanne Frank. Director. Health Education, Stu dent Health Center. 346-2728 Bonnie Kanler, Acting Director. Women's Center. 346-4093 fay Sterner is a Researcher with the University of Oregon Foundation and a member of the Lane County Community AIDS Consortium If TUBS I agree that whan "street people" begin to intimidate other* trying to do business on t3th Avenue, there U a problem What i object to U Anderaaon’a name-calling and lack of compassion for these people {ODE. May t» "Street scuzz" and 'hatrbelUr These people are human being*, and for that reason alone they deserve respec t Many of them are abused and neglected children La*y» Maybe, but even laziness is often rooted in some deeper problem Most of these kids are from broken or uncaring homes. The idea that they are alt a hunch of middle-class kids who h»v« "chosen" to hang out Is too simple Many of th«n are bitter. angry and anti social Iwuum no one ever taught them to ha otherwise My tolerance for diversity and respect does not extend to lazy lawlessness and my dona Uonsare confined to those who merit com pas aion.” Andersson wrote. If she truly understood the meaning of com passion end tolerance, she would realize that both are reserved, not just for more obvious cases of hard luck, but also for those whom we least understand dim Bcttortt Eugene
