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P o r tla n d /O b je r v e r
T h u rs d a y ,
O c t.
28.
197 1
P age 4
- 'W -
'Aesop’
India is an Ancient land, like colorful story
Fables
BUI Cosby is not a manwho
digs telling old Jokes - but on
“ Aesop's Fables," half-hour
live and animat«! special with
music to be aired Sunday, Oct.
31 (7:30-8 p u n , PT) on the
CBS Television Network, he'll
be spinning som.» yarns that go
back 2500 yearsl
In the role of Aesop, the
master sto ry -te lle r, Cosby
leads a p a ir of chUdren into
the enchanted land of the Fab
les, wherein a n in u t« !-c a r-
toon animals teach the lessons
of life in simple, humorous
parables.
Appearing with Cosby in the
modernized
v e r s io n
of
Mambers of the Metropolitan Area i-C Council Executive Committee: from left, A . L .
Aesop’ s story of The Hare and
Henderson, Chairman; M s. Colleen Robertson, 3rd Vice Chairman; Lee K eil, Legal Counsel;
The Tortoise (Moral:Slow and
M rs . Susan Dietsche, is t Vice Chairman. Seated to the le ft: Central A dm inistrator. No’ p.c-
tured: M s. Joyce Veterane, 2nd Vice-Chairman; M rs . Pat H ill, Secretary; and M s. C laire
Rives, Treasurer.
To Be
B ill COSBY
steady wins the race) are two
talented
black youngsters,
Keith HamUton and Jerelyn
F ields.
According
to
producer
Norm Prescott, there exists
the d istinct possibUity that
Aesop him self was a black
man. Alm ost everyone has
heard of him, and mast of us
comm it his little m oralities to
memory in childhood, but very
little is actually known about
the man himself. Nothing at
all is recorded about his ethnic
background.
H istory tells us that Aesop
a freedman, came to the court
of King Croesus in A sia M in o r
some time during the sixth
Century B.C. and remained to
build a reputation fo r himself
among scholars as a w it and
as a narrator of m oralistic
tales about animals.
"Aesop was not a court Jes
te r type of fellow,“ saysCos-
by of his current a lter ego,
"even though he got a lot of
laughs in his tim e ." Tbs fable
became a powerful political
weapon in Greece during the
time of the tyrants, when free
speech was not only dangerous
but often fa ta l.
"Everybody
talks about
'relevancy'these daysJ'Cosby
pointed o u t.‘ ‘ Here's a guy who
is as relevant today as he was
2500 years ago."
"Aesop's Fables" was pro
duced by Lous Scheimer and
Norman Prescott; Lee Rich is
executive producer. It was d i
rected by BobChenauit and Hal
Sutherland. Script and special
lyrics were written by E arl
Hammer J r.
Czech Broin
The exciting Czechoslova
kian folk company, Broin, w ill
appear on the stage of theCivic
Auditorium in Portland on
Thursday, October 28, at 8:15
p jn . fo r one performance only
as part of a spectacular firs t
North American tour.
Broin is the permanent folk
comnany of the Czech province
of Moravia and is based in the
historic capital city of Brno.
A t home and on tour, the Broin
company offers a program of
scintillating folk dance and
song, the 35 instrumentalists,
dancers and singers providing
an endless delight fo r the eye,
the ear and the heart. The pro
gram is presented in the b ril
liant regional costumes of
Southern Czechoslovakia and
the magnificent display of v ir
tuosity w hirls through two
hours of endless variety and
v ita lity . It is a dazzling pro
gram as likely to exhaust the
audience as tie perform ers-a
glowing spectacle of flowing
colors, rhythms and the ro
mantic poetry of M kldle-Eu-
rope.
At home In Czechoslovakia,
Broin has enjoyed endless
popularity ever since it was
founded in 1952, and outside
their native land, they have
toured Great B rita in , Poland,
Germany, the Netherlands and
Russia for the past 15 years.
7 Ickets for Broin, priced at
$6.00, $4.50 and $3.50 are on
sale now at C elebrity A ttrac
tions, 1010 S.W. M orrison In
Portland. Special rales are
available for student.
Equal ”
Vernon E , J o rd o n ,J r,n e w
ly nim<xl Executive D irector
of the National LTrban League,
has re-inaugurated the week
ly newspaper column, " T o Be
Equal" , previously w ritten by-
Whitney M. Young, J r . The
column is sent weekly to ov
e r 100 daily and weekly news
papers across the country.
" I ' l l be giving the black
viewpoint on current issues,"
Jordon stated, " i t w ill be an
interpretive
column
that
places news events and topics
of concern to all citizens in
a black perspective. Most
people - black and white -
p x k up th e ir papers and read
about news affecting the black
commun.ty, but they ra re ly get
a chance to have that news dis
cussed from the black point of
view. 1 plan to w rite about
politics, the economic situa
tion, and even foreign affairs
from the standpoint of the
black man's stake in the
issues."
J ordon, 36, was active in the
c iv il rights movement in the
south as an attorney, as field
d ire c to r fo r the NAACP, and
as d ire c to r of the voter edu
cation project fo r the South
ern Regional Council.
Lunch money
for needy
children
Concerned that 30,000 Ore
gon needy schoolchildren may
have to go without school
lunches. Senator Bob Pack-
wood (R -O re.) has asked the
President to intervene to p re -
vent what appears to be an
"unlaw ful in te rp re ta tio n " of
the National School Lunch
Act.
Under strong pressure from
both Houses of Congress, the
Department of A griculture
last week
increased re
imbursement rates fo r school
lunches from 35 cents to 45
cents. However, the effective
ness of that m:ve was diluted
by A g ricu ltu re 's follow-up
decision to impose a new upper
lim it on e lig ib ility fo r the
program at $3,940 fo r a fam ily
of four.
The proposed regulation
would draw a mandatory cut
off of aid at the $3,940 income
level. As a result, 30,000
Oregon school children would
have to pay the fu ll price
fo r school lunches o r gow lth-
out.
In a le tte r to the President,
Packwood and 58 other Sena
tors, charged that theDepart-
ment of A griculture had inter
preted the $3,940 national
poverty line fo r participation
in the school lunch program
as a " c e ilin g " rather than a
" flo o r ."
"E ssentially, the National
School Lunch Act established
the poverty line as am nimum
e lig ib ility standard and al
lowed state and local school
d is tric ts to make the final
dstermination of e lig ib ility ,"
Packwood said.
"B u t the
Department of A griculture has
a rb itra rily Interpreted the law
as a ceiling, and this clearly
violates both the le tte r and
the s p irit of the National
School Lunch A c t," he said.
Under
the
A g riculture
interpretation of the law,
Oregon's present e lig ib ility
level of $4,000 for free
lunches
and $4,940 fo r
leduced-price lunches would
be disregarded.
“ The Government can't
afford to lite ra lly take the
food out of the ‘ m.juth of
babes' to cut spending.
It
seems to ID* we would be
enforcing
poverty
among
fam ilies of the working poor,”
he said.
H a ll o w e e n v e iw in g
Congratulations on your fine
publication - Cassie Jenkins
Two m ysteries which have
haunt«! the Hud son R iver Val
ley fo r generations w ill in
trigue KPTV viewers on Hal
loween afternoon at 3:00 p.n
whan Channel 12 presents an
hour-long animated version of
"T h e Legend of Sleepy Hol
lo w " and " R ip Van W in kle ",
Washington Irvin g 's classic
tales.
(Second of a series)
by Carolyn W.
Above all India is an an
cient land, like stepping into
a story hook that has come
alive. Immediately you slip
back 1,000 2,000 years In a
sea of tim e-im m ersed In the
Pest, lost in the centuries.
|
You wander among her
streets rich with humanity -
beggars, prophets, seers, all
are there. Elaboratelycarved
stone temples tower mas
sively above, their long steps
dotted with bearded robes and
alive with colored, barefoot
saris hastening with flowers
sixl coconuts fo r the gods.
The gods too are brightly
colored - red, yellow, blue -
with wreaths of flowers around
their necks and offerings of
fr u it and flowers by an oil
flame in front. They are the
most ancient gods in the w orld.
Sometimes they are huge
stone statues standing mutely.
What do they know with those
closed eyes, m e d it a t in g
through the centuries? In awe
you stand and wonder.
Bullock carts of bound bam
boo with their heavy,creaking
wooden wheels; a tiny figure
c u rl« ! up half-asleep in front
between the two hulking, bony
rears of the placid beasts,
urging them on.
Bullock
carts, bicycles,
sakl with hands pressed to
buses - the centuries are m ix
gether like a prayer, indicat
ed. Seven thousart I years aix!
ing their respect for each oth
more lived sidle by side. To
e r and a ll people. Even beg
day is but a drop in an ocean
gars and the poor have human
of tim e; this century but a rip
dignity and you w ill not sec
ple on so deep a sea.
them treated as in fe rio r. I'hey
are tolerant and accepting of
You change your pace, walk
slow er. What Is the hurry? A
all people. Including we who
day, a year, a century more or
travel in theirland. Ifteynev
e r act refecting or accuse you
less makes nodifference. You
of doing something wrung, so
relax and stretch out Into
tim e - tim e which becomes
you hegin to relax Insxle and
peace atxi seeps Into your very
feel the Inner warmth and
being.
peace tliat they do.
You try to catch her song.
In fact theiriccapcance is so
The song of India is an endless
deep that they accept every
melody weaving on and on,
thing In life - pain, d irt, d is
even as her tabla, sita r,e s ra j
ease, suffering etc. Even
f ill the a ir with th e ir music.
these they do not reject.
Morning songs, evening songs,
This Informal Icy and accep
life is the intricate and subtle
tance of everything goes to the
variations of a day, the rhythm
point we would call total lack
of heaven and earth, the pulse
of organization, and perme
of life which links us through
ates all government. F or a
the centuries in an endless
Westerner, only to Inquire at
chain of being. Now faint, now
the post office about the a ir
cle a r, even sadness and tie
mall rate to another country
m inor keys , all is beauty in
may be an agonizing experi
tie spell of life .
ence.
Her people too have the
But the spiritual vales of
qualities acquired with age.
India
exist nut only with sim
They are natural, simple. In
p licity of livuig, but with the
fo rm a l. About (he only social
utter lack of things. Every
rule is to say "N am astey"
where they w ill tell you; "W e
when you meet someone.other
are poor people," and you can
than that you go by the feeling
not iielp but sec her pain.
of the situation and not by outer
Eighty per cent of the peo
rules.
ple live In villages, in grey
Tha greeting, namastey, is
Low-cost electricity
a plug for
a safer
environment
Dark streets aren t the safest places for
walking. Or driving Or waiting for your bus
The fewer the lights the greater the chances
of crime occurmg. Or of someone being
injured in an accident
Maybe it's never happened to you We hope
it never will.
But it’s still a bum risk
The way we see it, one robbery, or one auto
fatality caused by poor visibility is one
too many.
And Portland General Electric Company is
doing something about it
PGE is providing the reliable energy needed
to keep city streets, parking areas, and alleys
safe for pedestrians and drivers alike.
It s a simple fact that s been proven again and
again; bright electric street lights can make the
difference
And because electricity is inexpensive, electric
street lights cost just pennies to operate
That s a small price to pay for something that
could save a loved one s life
or yours
To keep ahead of your ever-growing electrical
demands, PGE is building new generating plants
which are essential for reliable electric service
Energy from the atom, which is clean to make and
clean to use, will provide adequate supplies of
electricity while preserving Oregon s matchless
environment. If you d like a free booklet on
Why Oregon needs more power/
write or phone PGE.
P o rtlan d G en eral E le c tric C om pany
P roviding clean energy fo r a b e tte r life.
mud houses with thatch«l
roofs. Inside they are almost
empty. In one corner Isa mud
ring several Inches high with a
hole in the front and (Ids la
the stove. Usually there lano
fuel so they use cow dung which
Is pressed into laige flat pad
dies and d r in l in die sun.
Everywhere you see it plast-
eied on die walls - even on die
skies of temples. I hen It la
burn«! fo r fuel.
There are no lights e ltlw i
save fo r a tiny, ancient oil
lamp. A t night die village la
dark and the mxwi picks out
the palms and grey walla and
shines over die paddy fields In
silence.
Even water la not to betak
en fo r granted. Digging wells
is a m xlern project. Most v il
lages have a large, square
earthen pond which they c a lls
tank. During die m insoon it
(tils w lthw steraixl then stead
ily diminishes month after
month until the next rain. It
la us«l fo r eve ly th in g -d rin k
ing, bathing, even washing die
cows and water buffalo.
Food too is scarce in a land
plaguttt by drought. A fte r the
monsoons and one growth of
rice die earth on the great
plains becomes hard and dry
as the ratn holds hack montli
after month. The earth splits
and crack, ait! grey powdery
dust |iuffs up IgliU tl die txi11 ock
carts on die road.
Most of the people live on
i Ice ami dahl (b u ll« ! (wises);
or in the N ordiw tieat press«l
Into large flat (Mitcakescalled
chainialtles. Hut rice with hot
apices Is die staple diet, aixl
even dds Is not always to be
had as die dry earth refuses to
yield. Many know only lunger.
To my question they answered;
"L iv e on what? , . .A ir, su n ...
wd cannot Imagine. It la a liv
ing death."
I he symbol of tlie |«o,ile of
India la (his: a figure i educed
to the strength and endurance
of liune, hut one where the eyes
flame
in unextlngulshable
a p irlt.