NOTICES
Web Sites Offer Information on Candidates, Issues
Project Vote Smart
Democracy Net
front www.vote-smart.org
from www.dnet.org/About_Dnet.htm
Thousands of candidates and
elected officials. Who works for you?
Who is seeking your vote? Project Vote
Smart, a citizen’s organization, has
developed a Voter’s Self-Defense
system to provide you with the neces
sary tools to self-govem effectively -
abundant, accurate, unbiased, and
relevant information.
Project Vote Smart (PVS) covers
candidates and elected officials in five
basic categories: biographical informa
tion, issue positions, voting records,
campaign finances, and interest group
ratings. To find out more about PVS,
visit www.vote-smart.org/program_
about_pvs.php or call our voter’s
research hotline -1-888-VOTE-SMART
- with any questions.
Forty national leaders, including
former Presidents Gerald Ford and
Jimmy Carter, formed PVS in 1992.
PVS constructed a user-friendly voter’s
self-defense system accessible through
a Web site and a toll-free hotline over a
10-year period.
A knowledgeable electorate is the
strongest component of a functioning
democracy. Information about elected
officials and candidates is crucial to
maintaining the defense of one’s rights
and privileges guaranteed in the
Constitution. In that spirit, Project Vote
Smart (PVS) provides a comprehensive
database about thousands of candidates
and elected officials for president, Con
gress, governors, and state legislators.
Less-detailed information is available
at the county and local level.
The PVS Web site also includes
public statements made by U.S. senators
and governors; voter registration forms
for each state; contact information for
state and local election offices; polling
place and absentee ballot information;
ballot measure descriptions for each
state, where applicable; links to federal
and state government agencies, political
parties, and issue organizations; and
information about PVS membership
and internship opportunities.
You can access this information
through our toll-free Voter’s Research
Hotline by calling 1-888-VOTE-SMART
(1-888-868-3762). Hotline operators
are available Monday through Friday
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Mountain Time).
In even-numbered election years, hotline
hours expand, beginning in October.
Looking for Veterans of WWII
Battles of Saipan and Tinian
The Oregon Department of
Veterans’ Affairs, in conjunction with
the Committee for the Commemoration
of the 60th Anniversary of WWII, is
asking for your help in locating veterans
who fought in the WWII battles of
Saipan and Tinian.
Veterans who took part in these
battles will be honored in an anniversary
event to be held June 12-16, 2004, on
the island of Saipan, Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands.
More than 70,000American marines,
soldiers, sailors, and airmen fought the
WWII battles for Tinian and Saipan,
and more than 4,000 lost their lives. The
airfields on Tinian and Saipan were
critical for the B-29 missions that
hastened the end of the war, including
the historic flight of the Enola Gay.
The committee is soliciting help
from newspapers, churches, state, and
local chapters of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, veterans associations, non-profit
organizations, and family members to
help identify veterans to be recognized.
If you or someone you know was
involved in either battle, send the name
and contact information to Jessica Jordan,
marianas04anniversary@yahoo.com;
phone 670-234-721; or mail PMB 409
Box 10000 Saipan MP 96950.
For more information, contact
Jordan or visit www.WorldWarII.info.
The DemocracyNet (DNet) is an
interactive Web site designed to improve
the quality and quantity of voter
information and create a more educated
and involved electorate. A project of the
League of Women Voters Education
Fund, DNet encourages candidates to
address a wider range of issues, and to
address them in greater depth, than they
might in other media.
Our goal is to increase voter under
standing of important public policy
problems, allow candidates to debate
their positions in an “electronic town
hall’’ before on-line audiences, reduce
the pressure on candidates to raise
campaign funds, foster greater civic
participation and interaction between
voters and candidates, and create new
online political communities.
Unlike candidate Web sites and
newspaper or television Station sites,
DNet creates a truly interactive and
unfiltered educational area. Candidates
enter their own statements and positions
on issues they choose without any outside
editing. Participation is not limited to
the two or three frontrunners, but it is
open to all candidates on the ballot.
DNet allows candidates to commu
nicate with voters without forcing them
to raise huge campaign war chests.
All candidates can enable voters to
e-mail them directly to ask questions,
volunteer, or donate. Voters also can
submit questions to the League of
Women Voters for inclusion in the grid.
Our database is easy to use. It gives
voters the opportunity to research
issues, find the offices, ballot measures,
elections dates, what election events are
occurring, and see who’s running in
their area, all based on their ZIP code.
DNet, created by the Center for
Governmental Studies, began service
in 1996.
Aquarium Dives into Days of Yore
with Glastonbury Renaissance Faire
NEWPORT, Ore. - With lance and
shield in hand, the Oregon Coast
Aquarium is on a quest to support
the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts
(OCCA) in bringing medieval and
renaissance Europe alive at the Fifth
Annual Glastonbury Renaissance Faire
on May 8-9 at South Beach State Park.
With little or no parking available
at South Beach, the aquarium will donate
its overflow and RV parking areas for
this year’s faire. A shuttle will transport
faire goers to the main entrance.
In addition to parking, the aquar
ium will help market this year’s event
by promoting the faire on its Web site
and in its lobby, offering advanced
ticket sales, and offering a combo ticket
rate to both the aquarium and the faire.
Child Abuse Prevention/ Awareness Month
April is Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month. The following
Web sites contain information on preventing child abuse:
www.yeslcan.orgwww.ispcan.orgwww.preventchildabuse.org
The faire celebrates the history and
legends of medieval and renaissance
Europe. Families are welcome and
revelers are encouraged to come
dressed in period clothing.
Children can enjoy magicians,
puppetry, and treasure hunts. Dueling
knights also will be on hand and for
older children and adults, local vendors
will display their wares.
In addition to local businesses such
as the aquarium, volunteers play a vital
role in the success of each year’s faire.
Individuals interested in volunteering
to work at this year’s faire should
contact Ginny West at 541-574-0768.
Newport offers visitors an array of
attractions, activities, entertainment,
lodging, and restaurants, in addition to
beautiful beaches, a working water
front, parks, and lighthouses.
For more information about New
port, call the Greater Newport Chamber
of Commerce at 1-800-262-7844 or
541-265-8801, or visit the city’s Web
site at www.DiscoverNewport.com.
April 2004 □
Siletz News
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