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.
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TmeCwwewt
WELFARE 5WTO«~
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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