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About Vernonia freedom. (Vernonia, Oregon) 1978-198? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1980)
Page 2— Vernonia Freedom Thursday, February 21,1980 ’ Public Forum Page Mow Hear This The "Exxon War" by G. G. Connely I get a gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach every time I hear the commercial on T V by Rosalynn Carter planHing for support of the American people on behalf of the starving and diseased Cambodians. I most certainly have compassion in my heart for starving sick children and adults but, for once I would like to hear from someone near the status of Mrs. Carter, come up with a commercial asking for the American peoples support of money and food for the thousands and thousands of those, who live here in the United States of America, starving and dying with disease every minute of every day. A s I have said before, un til the bureaucrats in Washington decide that we cannot feed the whole world nor, be the worlds bredbasket we are in trouble. Jimmy Carter’s profession of being bom again has rubbed off on several people in the recent past, including a congressman from Illinois, who, by the w ay is s till a candidate for t h e • Presidency, as well as some of those who were caught up in the Watergate scandal. It has been said that the President prays daily for our country and its people. I’m a firm believer in prayer and I am glad that our President thinks about us in our great time of need. I wonder if Chicago’s Mayor Jane Byrne is on the President’s prayer list? She needs all the help she can get. Mayor Rym e undoubtly dreams of that Hell fire we hear so much about these days, with the Chicago fire department out on strike and all. I often wonder ju st how long it will take for the bureaucrats in Washington to come to the conclusion that Russia cannot be trusted . . . in anything? One reason that SA L T II has not been ratified by the , U.S. is because we know they, the R ussian, w ill not live up to their commitment. What ever dealings that we might have in the future, with the So viet Union, w ill be to no one’s advantage but theirs. It seems strange to me, that when we have foreign dignitaries visitin g the United States they are never taken into the ghettos of our b ig cities but, rather to the plush sections, where they are wined and dined at the tax-payers expense. These visiting foreign dignitaries, in my opinion, should also visit our ghettos and see th a t we have thousands and thousands of poor, under fed, starving, diseased men, women and children the same as they have. The foreigners come over here for a hand-out for their starving people while, we have no where else to go but down. Instead of our government helping their own people, they finance foreign countries to support theirs. However, during an election year, a few dollars are doled out for the needy, unemployed, and food stamps and, of course, we do not want to forget higher interest rates. I beleive honestly, that the only way this country will every be’able to survive in this crazy world, is that the voter must come out of their shells and start taking a good hard'look at the facts and tell our President and the members of Congress, that we want better representation for our tax dollars, instead of pork barrelling agencies that have no effect on our economy, especially the space program. I am against any type of conscription and registration, for a military draft, of either men or women, in peace time. In the case of an emergency, such as WW II, we were of a diffemt knowledge of what we. were fighting for. During the Korean and Vietnam police actions, our military forces in the fieldcame to the conclusion that they were fighting for the interest of big business and, they were right. If we engage the Russians in the Persian Gulf, the same thing happens all over again. So, those who are coming of draft age will just have to use their own judgement to decide whether or not to register for a draft or not. Three neighborhood reporters fo r you to call!!! Please call in birth s, marriages, significant travels or visitors, the kids away from home etc. or any significant event in your neighborhood. Julie Smith w ill report for Timber Rt. including Timber Rt., 47. Let Treharne, and highway her know happenings of in the your neighborhood, call 4 2 9 -1 8 6 1 anytime. DOT YADON w ill be reporting fo r Pebble Creek and Riverview. Call her a t 429- 5312 WEBBER w ill report fo r Capitol and Cory Hills. You can get a message to Dixie to call you back by calling AOL Radio C o n tro l 4 2 9 -4 6 7 1 Dixie will have her own phone soon. Left top; B etty Roberts, Appeals Court Justice, talks with David Crawford; top right, Hal Everson, Director of State Elderly Affairs, speaks with Dwayne Samples; bottom left, Robert Thuemmel, Portland attorney listens to discussion and bottom right, Kip Lombard, State Representative eats lunch with prisoners in mess hall. From Behind the Wells V e r n o n ia F r e e d o m Published weekly in Vernonia Oregon, 97064, on Thursdays at 715 Bridge St. Serving The Upper Nehalem Valley. Phone 429-8111. Subscriptions, $5 per year. Deadlines for copy and classified advertising: Monday at 5 pm for the following Thursday's paper. Deadline for display advertising: Friday for normal material and Monday for after-weekend copy. Second-Class Postage Paid at Vernonia, OR 97064, Publication No. 474-690. POSTM ASTER: send address changes io Vernonia Freedom, 715 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064. Ned Mawhirter................ . . . . . ............................................................ . .. publisher-editor Emily Mawhirter........ ................................ ............................................ ........ advertising Mary Cota.................................................................... ......................... .. . . . . . staff Special writers.. . . G.G. Connely, RosalindMaycock, PaulSeamons. Jenelle Wiggins by Larry Baker, OSP Coorespondent The question, m ost asked of this coorespondent this week was “ Why isn’t the mood inside the Oregon S tate Penitentiary the same tension as New Mexico?” My response was because bur-doors are always open for the people in our state to walk in and inspect merely by a phone call to H.C. Cupp, superintendent at this prison. But more than that, we must give credit to his staff, administration and for the training they are receiving. Greg Morton, O.S.P. Training Officer on how to respect a prisoner’s rights and treat them as human beings. When an institution has nothing to hide then that institution has nothing to fear. The Oregon State Penitentiary hopefully will never have to be a New Mexico, and at the pace it is going it will never be. Cupp has established a volunteer program behind his prison walls that would match any prison in the nation. Volunteers flood his vocational training and education department under the guidance of Charles Keaton, Education Program Manager. Volunteers education inmates in the academic and vocational trades. D.A. Verstrceh, Activities Manager skillfully encourages volunteers to become acquainted with the inmate governed dubs and sport activities. Cupp relies on the wisdom of Harold Whitley, his chief of security officer to keep his correctional officers sharp and open minded to the prison’s population and its problems. Thomas Burt might only operate a type writer through the day as a correctional officer, but he is just as capable of making the right decisions in case of a prison up rising. Who knows? Maybe these are just some of the reasons the Oregon State Penitentiary is not a New Mexico hell-hole. Volunteers from all over the state come to the Oregon State Penitentiary, even from Vernonia, St. Helens, Scappoose and Astoria, people from all levels in life. Behind the walls will be exposing many of the defeated individuals in following issues. People make a prison, prison doesn’t make people. Please renew my subscription to Vernonia Freedom □ Please enroll me as a new subscriber to Vernonia Freedom □ $5 Name. MEMBER Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Address. Send to: Vernonia Freedom or Call 429-8111