Galton nam ed to Commission Sid G alton has recently been appointed to the M etropolitan Human Relations C om m is sion. G alton is the General Manager and President o f the Gay M en’s Chorus, and an attorney and referee on the W orker’s C om pensation Board. G alton describes him self as a "toughie" and as an “ open person." He hopes his pre sence on the C om m ission w ill "break down barriers." Galton was appointed to fill the vac ancy left by Keeston Lowery's resignation. G alton also serves on the Citizen's Advisory C om m ittee to Portland Police Bureau’s C entral P recinct The values of com parable worth by Don Davis " . . . we re all up against it in this. And we m ust all carry on. This piece is a challenge to all of us to go the extra mile. ALL of us. Let s drop the ego, the protocol, the tradi tions, the politesse, the noblesse oblige. Let s all ju st be as willing as we can to change, to go forward, to ask questions, to give answ ers, to be a bitch, to help som e one, to love someone, to love ourselves. It 's only our lives.'' Being diagnosed with AIDS Related C om plex has changed m y life in m any positive ways. I have m et m any w onderful people and developed lasting friendships w hich are car P W A s s p e c n tc cD in r ing and supporting o f living life in a m eaning ful way. Many conversations have been shared dealing with hopes and fears, jo y and sorrow, anger and frustration, loving and healing, and the shared pain o f the deaths o f friends and loved ones fro m our group. Looking at m y life today I am caught by a strong sense o f living in a society guided by the values o f com parable worth. Som etim es this value system feels O K — checking for the best buys to purchase necessities while staying w ithin a lim ited budget, planning the day to m axim ize on efficiency while conserv ing on energy, o r weighing the positive as pects against the negative before taking a course o f action. Then there are the tim es when this system DOES NO T FEEL OK — having com parable w orth applied to human con ditions and life itself. I have been willing fo r to o long to ignore m y perceptions o f this no t only in society, governm ent, organiza tions, but also in friends and myself. The HTLV-III virus and its associated dis ease AIDS and ARC have focused m y atten tio n on the com parable value system like nothing else has been able to. More than 15,000 people have been diagnosed with AIDS with m ore than 7,000 o f those people now dead and many people believing AIDS to be 100% fatal. Physicians are reporting about 10 cases o f ARC fo r every AIDS case w hich puts the num ber o f ARC cases around 150,000. Studies show 10% to 25% (depend ing on the study) o f ARC cases w ill develop frank AIDS. An unknown percentage of ARC patients w ill die from its com plications w ith o u t being diagnosed with AIDS. Nationally, it is a “ reasonable estim ate" that 1000 Am eri cans may have died from ARC, said Dr. An thony Fauci, director o f the National Institute o f Allergies and Infectious Diseases, although nobody knows fo r sure because nobody is m o nito ring this AIDS related epidem ic. The HTLV-III virus has also spread to unknown num bers o f people who are asym ptom atic but have been exposed to the virus with re cent studies showing possibly 20% o f this num ber w ill develop AIDS or ARC. The pri m ary groups who have been diagnosed AIDS/ARC are believed to be homosexual m ales and I.V. drug abusers. W hat response have we seen to this epidem ic from our elected officials, our research teams, our mass m edia, our society as a whole, from ourselves? We now know the virus causing the dis eases; how to protect our blood supply from contam ination; better methods o f treating the opportunistic infection; and how to stop the spread o f this virus. We also know that money, support services, treatm ent protocols, and a never-ending list o f inadequately m et needs o f AIDS/ARC people are an ongoing problem w ith no end in sight because m ost o f these services are provided by volunteer organiza tions (God bless them all!) operating largely on personal contributions. Perhaps one day when "en ou gh” people have died the gov ernm ent m ay be w illing to help alleviate som e o f these problem s. Let’s use the same statistics from this arti cle and name the virus BCD, the disease SET, the com plications o f the vim s SÜB SET and the asym ptom atic group SUB SET 1. The prim ary groups to becom e infected with the virus w ill be called the top 25% o f this co u n try’s diplom ats, industrialists, and politicians. W hat kind o f response would then be seen to this epidem ic from our elected officials, research teams, mass media, our society as a whole, and from ourselves? W ould we see the ongoing financial crisis to help treat the diagnosed, the lack o f educa tio n fo r ou r society, the ongoing rejection by society as a whole on the issue? U nfortunately, it appears to many that the response to crises depends upon who is af fected by the crisis — the value system of com parable w orth at its worst! Looking at another crisis may illustrate this system for those o f you w ho have not been touched by AIDS, if there are any. We live in a country o f incredible wealth, power and technology; this sam e country is also the hom e o f indigents living on the streets — “ B ut they are only winos,” grow ing unem ploym ent, “ B ut they are to o lazy to work,” grow ing welfare lists, “ B ut why should we feed or take care of them ,” unfed children, "B u t their parents are responsible," an increasing num ber o f elderly needing m edical treatm ent, housing, and love, “ B ut they should be taken care o f by th e ir fam ilies,” etc. Com parable w orth value system s are creating an ever-widening gap into w hich m ore and m ore people are falling so governm ent priorities can continue to be m et W hat can we do about an adm inistration w hich continually places higher value and com parable w orth on m ilitary buildup, tech nological advances in space, all at the cost of w e the people? I believe we m ust start at the ground level and w ork up. Each o f us can becom e as w illing as possible to produce change in ourselves: Love yourself enough to practice safer sex; change your lifestyle to one w hich contributes to your own well be ing, if you haven’t done so; care enough to ask questions, to give answers; let your elected officials know how you feel and what you w ould like to see done about your issues o f concern; follow through by seeing what officials not only say in response but what they DO and if the action does not follow their words, let them know their jobs depend upon th e ir constituency. These are actions we can all take and if enough o f us care and love ourselves and one another to do so. we can m ake a positive change. Friday, February 28,1986 8p.m . Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall M em bers of th e O reg o n S y m p h o n y O rch estra M em bers of th e P ortland C horal C o n so rtiu m T he P ortland Civic T heatre T he Pacific Ballet T heatre T he W oody H ite Big Band Ticket prices range from $ 161 ) 0 - $ 52 . 75 , available at Civic Auditorium, G.I. Joe's, Stevens & Sons Lloyd Center, Portland Civic Theatre. Don't miss this special benefit concert, the first of its kind in Portland. Just Out. February, 1986 .\f ,'ic.v;rk. fuOizui 7 6