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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1978)
* ♦ ♦ e < / »■ » <»»*■»•• < • * « « « « « « * « « « • « • « »' • ♦ « • • * The Von Braschler, General Manager Coroline DoH, Office Manager Editorial & Opinion Free kid’s games, prizes bring smiles to many Smiling children with darting, bright eyes filled virtually every corner of Oddfellows Hall last Saturday during a special Kids' Day sponsored by local merchants. They enjoyed everything from dart toss to bean bags and a fishing pond. The games were all free, and everyone won prizes. In fact, the prizes ran out halfway through the two-hour funfest at several booths, due to the popularity of the games. The first game to shut down dispensed some 400 free prizes in half an hour to a line of waiting children. The occasion was a big success for the merchants’ Christmas committee, Jaycees and Kiwanians who set up the many games and a stage set for a Festival Players’ children’s play. The idea of bringing Christmas joy to local children represents the best in Christmas spirit. The Sandy merchants who dug into their pockets to make the day possible showed a lot of class. (VB) John Kline, Editor Mark Floyd, Stoff Reporter K aye Barton, s ta ff re p o rte r 6— SANDY, OREGON. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 19/8 Salem scene: Legislature to eye shoplifting law (Ed. note: Salem Scene is a legislative report provided weekly newspapers by Jack Zim m erm an of Associated Oregon Industries.) Security personnel halted two suspicious individuals leaving a major Salem department store during the height of this year’s Christmas shopping season. Special pocket and slits in their coats contained $1,100 worth of merchandise. Their car in the store parking lot Oregon move to repeal 55-mph ill advised A Rickreall man, Karl Wiensz, is seeking to gather sufficient signatures to place an initiative on the 1980 ballot to repeal Oregon’s mandatory 55-mph speed limit. Wienz has until July 1980 to gather the necessary 54,000 signatures. Should the initiative be ap proved, the Federal Highway Department warns that federal funds could be cut off. For fiscal 1979-80, that would amount to $34 million, which is no small potatoes. For our part, we disagree totally with Wiensz. In the first place, the 55-mph limit saves gasoline. In the second place, it has been proven that it also saves lives by (a) reducing accidents and (b) reducing the severity of those which do occur. Even though freeway traffic still seems to exceed the 55-mph limit substantially, there is a growing trend toward its acceptance. The FHA has figures which indicate 55 percent of Oregon’s motorists now obey the law. As far as we’re concerned, 55- mph gets us there fast enough. Saving even a single life makes it worthwhile. Teens show support fo r traditional values One of the most reassuring ar ticles we’ve read for some time reported on attitudes held by a cross-section of the nation’s out standing teen-agers. Some 21,500 students, nominated for “ Who’s Who Among American High School Students,’’ were polled as to their attitudes on religion, sex and marriage, human rights, alcohol, drugs, etc. Here are some of the responses: Six out of 10 go to church every week, and 81 percent said they belong to an organized religion. Half the students felt religious beliefs influenced their decisions on moral questions. Some 82 percent said they wanted a traditional marriage, 54 percent would not live with a member of the opposite sex before marriage, and 75 percent had not had sexual intercourse. Half never had taken an alcoholic drink, 79 percent felt alcohol was a dangerous drug and 84 percent never had smoked a cigarette. Roughly 89 percent had not smoked marijuana. They were concerned about their futures. Nearly 40 percent planned to enter the professions; 19 percent will aim for business careers. Inflation was perceived as the nation’s biggest problem. A majority would increase spending on energy conservation, en vironm ental protection and defense. Only 16 percent would spend more on welfare. About half favored the Equal Rights Amend ment, but 63 percent felt the job of full-time homemaker can be suf ficiently rewarding. Again, these were 21,500 of the nation’s outstanding high school students. Their support of traditional values has increased markedly since 1972 when the surveys first were taken. This is heartening news. Tougher entry standards wise for colleges We agree totally with suggestions that tougher admission standards be applied to students seeking to enroll at Oregon’s state- supported four-year colleges. Edward Harms of Springfield, a Member of the State Board of Higher Education, suggests that by 1983-84 all entering freshmen must have completed four years of English, including a year of composition; four years of social sciences, including a year of U.S. history; two years of science, and either three years of math or one year of math and two years of a foreign language. The opposite view is expressed by Alvin Batiste, a member of the Board of Education, who says: “ Everybody who wants to go to college should have the opportunity to do so.” Batiste’s view has prevailed since World War II and, un fortunately, has led to filling fresh men classes with some students who, academ ically, have no business being there. A year or so later, all too many of them drop out, having wasted a lot of time and even more money. We think it is much better to have realistic entrance requirements, i.e., admit only those students with proper preparation. College just isn’t for everyone. Washington report: Packwood faces tough climb in re-election bid WASHINGTON — ‘‘After Jimmy Carter got the nomination for president, I gave up guessing who was strong and who could get through I was one of those who said there was no way, no possibility.” That’s as much speculation as Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., offers as to his likely opponent in 1980 Packwood is sitting in the small working space of his personal office, where a desk is placed against a wall, with overhead spot lamps craning down on it. There’s a telephone mounted on the wall and two speakers mounted over the desk are connected to a radio- phonograph system. The dominant face of Packwood’s political life for the next two years will be his impending re-election campaign. ‘‘The longer you’re in office, the more you run on your record,” Packwood said. ‘‘By the time you’ve made vote after vote after vote, that is what you run on. You have no choice. If you wanted to run away from it, you can’t run away from it. ‘‘Example: Right to Life. You saw the story. I’m at the top of their hit list. Whereas somebody who’s running against me and has never had to vote on it might have my same position but can duck that issue.” There is a conventional wisdom held by a number of Democratic politicians in Oregon and even by some Republicans concerning Packwood’s support among the voters. That phrase you hear repeated is that his support may be broad, but it is thin. People know who Packwood is, the politicians say, but they don’t know what he is about. ‘‘If that’s so, I guess that’s my fault, because I go back (to Oregon) frequently,” Packwood said. “I don’t try to hide how I voted on things. “Wayne Morse made a great fight against Lewis Strauss when he was up for secretary of commerce, and people said, ‘Oh, what a courageous thing.' I vote against Joe Califano (who was nominated by President Carter to be secretary of health, education and welfare) and very few people knew it, and maybe that’s my fault.” One difference between Morse’s fight against Strauss and Packwood's against Califano, which was over the issue of abortion is that Morse was one of several who opposed the Strauss nomination which was, in fact, defeated by the Senate in a 46 to 49 vote. Packwood cast the only vote against Califano’s nomination. Some observers believe Packwood's early warning system detected the likelihood of a Neil Goldschmidt challenge quite awhile ago. Hence, the analysis goes, Packwood led a group of important Oregon Jewish Republicans on a trip to Israel. Thus, also, Packwood’s By S T E V E FORRESTER fiery speech delivered to a Jewish group in New York City last spring. “Israel is America’s strongest ally in the Middle East,” Packwood says. “We would be lucky to have allies like that around the world. If you talk about a staunch, stick-to-it people and a country, it’s Israel. We need them as a bastion to protect not only our interests but the interests of Saudi Arabia and a half dozen other of those monarchical shiekdoms. I just feel so com mitted to the right of Israel to exist. If the United States were to turn its back on Israel, it would be a betrayal beyond words.” Packwood’s influence within the Republican party should increase next year if he is elected chairman of the Senate Republican Conference Committee, which develops long-range party policy. “I would like to see us take a much stronger position on civil liberties,” Packwood says. “By that I mean traditional civil liberties such as protection of the in dividual against the government. The longer I’ve been here, the more I watch the government, the more dangerous it appears to be to individual citizens’ rights. “I wish the Republican party would stand for the philosophy that I've been talking about for a number of years, of attempting to have the bulk of social services in this country provided through tax incentives, and encouraging businesses and unions to gather together to do it instead of the government doing it. “I don’t think the Republicans can just turn their backs and say, ‘No, we’re not going to face these problems. If government shouldn’t do it, nobody should do it.’ That’s not an answer.”__________________ __ Steve Forrester is a Washington. D.C.-based political columnist who writes a weekly report for The Sandy Post. Letters to the editor Presents stolen To the Editor: We had been gone two hours catching up on last minute Christmas shopping. Walking in the back door with packages in arms something felt wrong. “The sewing machine is gone ” The festive sight of brightly decorated presents under the tree was now a vacant space on the floor From upstairs cam e Mary's voice in faltering tones of shock and frustration “They“ took my old clocks and the stereo set. too Tish’s presents are gone" As Mary and I dashed about surveying what had been our home, our sane tuary, now had been invaded by intruders, thieves “ They” had taken our Christmas “They” even took the tools with which we could have created another collection of gifts to share in the giving spirit of the holidays. We are not wealthy people to go out and simply “ buy” other Christmas presents. I am left angry, frustrated and feeling powerless As much as it seems contrary to the open, giving spirit of the holidays, my advice for this time of year is, “ be on guard” . Calvin Bertram Marmot Road Sandy Sandy Tri-Met The following letter was sent to George T im blin, Sandy, from T ri-M et General Manager P eter Casa. It is in response to a letter sent by Timblin and seven other Tri- Met riders from Sandy which requested that Sandy be made No. 91 MKC F lyers for faster service to the downtown area. The original letter was printed in the Aug. 17 edition of The Post. Dear Mr. Timblin: Thank you for your letter and petition regarding service to Sandy, Oregon. I am sorry about the delay in our response We have recently undergone a line by line performance analysis of all our bus routes, in response to the Tri-Met Board’s request to provide a more cost-effective bus system The staff just recently recommended a number of service reductions to be voted on by the Board on October 5. Bearing in mind these current budget con straints, improved or new serve must be careful./ evaluated and prioritized. Your suggestion to provide trips to and trom bandy, on Line No. 91-Banfield Flyer MKC is a good one. However, our Service Planning and S c h e d u lin g S e c t io n ’s evaluation indicates this could not be accomplished without add’ng a bus or buses (which is extremely costly) to the current schedule on Line No. 91. Current load checks on Line No. 91 indicate an average of 48 riders per trip in the AM peak and 45 riders per trip in the PM peak. Rerouting this service to provide for passengers from Sandy would overcrowd the current trips. In order to balance those loads, ad ditional bus-buses would have to be allocated to the service. Providing peak trips to and from Sandy as we currently do on Line No. 19- Division and Glisan and Line No. 9-Powell is the most cost- effective way since it only requires additional time in the schedule and not an additional bus and operator I do thank you for your suggestion. It will be kept in our Service Planning files and considered again as resources become available. Sincerely, E.R Peter Cass General Manager Tri-Met Memories To the Editor: Nostalgic letters recalling memories of the Mt. Hood area remind me that in the early 20’s the journey from Portland to Sandy was at least an hour when the cruising speed of an automobile was 30 miles an hour Beyond Sandy the road surface was gravel and periodically oiled to keep down clouds of dust It was a nightmare when the roads were freshly oiled, there was an annoying rattle as small pellets of gravel covered with sticky oil were picked up by the wheels and thrown against the fenders The debris usually adhered to the under parts of the car, while the driver was getting a free undercoating of the chassis — in years to come he would pay good money for this service. Just south of Sandy, an early horseless carriage was rusting away in a farmer's dooryard. It had high, wooden-spoke wheels with metallic tires. I stopped once to investigate. I have no idea what grade of gasoline was used at the time, but when I unscrewed the gas cap the fuel tank had the aroma of an open sewer This early vehicle later appeared in Portland — someone with foresight had purchased it from the far mer Today it likely rests in a museum and would bring a fancy price from a collector of antique cars. Motoring in the early 20’s was often a traumatic ex perience for clutches and axles would break down And the small high pressure tires (60 pounds) might cause a gentleman of the cloth to utter profanities as the tire casings burst. Once on a journey from Portland to Sandy I had 14 flats on a model T Ford It was a roccoco age — but one did not live under the threat of nuclear warfare, and petrol sold for 15 cents a gallon Robert B Magurtin 3019 NE Ankeny St. Portland, Ore 97214 worth of goods — much still bearing price tags Such activity is only the tip of the shoplifting iceberg and the remaining bulk of this growing crime likely will produce proposals for new laws when the Oregon Legislature convenes on Jan. 8. Anti-shoplifting bills were introduced during both the 1975 and 1977 sessions of the Legislature but died in committee. Nevertheless, the same type of legislation appears destined to re-appear in 1979. And it won’t be directed a g a in s t p r o f e s s io n a l boosters. Oregon law already deals sufficiently with thieves who steal goods valued at $200 or more. The new proposals will be aimed at petty thieves who shoplift merchandise of much lesser value Total annual cost of shoplifting nationwide is estimated at $6.5 billion. Law enforcement agencies figure the professionals account for about 5 percent of that figure, drug addicts about 10 percent, adult amateurs about 35 percent and juveniles 50 percent! New laws to be proposed in Salem will deal with of fenders responsible for the largest share of perpetrators — amateur adults and juveniles. And the proposed laws won’t be criminal statutes. They will seek civil redress. Most western states already have enacted laws that permit civil proceedings against shoplifters and sponsors will ask Oregon to follow suit. The civil procedure in essence is designed to make it safer and more practical for mer chants — large and small — to detail a suspected shoplifter, prosecute and recover damages covering costs of stolen articles and inconvenience. T e c h n ic a lly , m o st shoplifting consists of stealing merchandise valued at less than $1200. Oregon law now lists such crimes as second degree theft — a c la ss-A m isd em ean or, punishable by fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment for not longer than a year. But only a fraction of this type of shoplifting is prosecuted under the criminal statute for several reasons. Unless a business is large enough to employ professional security per sonnel, it becomes prohibitive to prosecute petty theft under the criminal statutes. Few small store owners can afford the time to participate in a criminal prosecution, let alone leave the store long enough to file a criminal complaint. Without trained security personnel, few merchants are willing to detail suspected shoplifters for fear of liability for false arrest. And in both cases, there are legal fees to be considered and balanced against the loss of a low-priced article of merchandise. These factors and others have combined to produce growing pressures for civil remedies for a crime that is growing at an estimated 35 percent each year. At present, those most interested in achieving more productive civil procedures against shoplifters appear to favor a statute paralleling Washington’s civil shoplif ting law, which became effective in September 1975. Basically, that law allows the retail merchant to recover actual damages, penalty damages and ad ditional damages These damages involve the retail value of stolen goodB, and sums as high as $1,200 for adults and emancipated minors. Parents and guar dians of minors are liable for retail value, plus damages up to $700. Under Washington's new law the restrictions against d e t a in in g s u s p e c te d shoplifters have been eased and much civil procedure can be conducted in that state’s small claims court without incurring attorney fees
