*
♦
♦
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