Portland observer., May 25, 1972, Image 2

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ACLU maintains rights
of homosexuals
1 he American C iv il L ib e r­
ties Union maintains that the
right of individual privacy,
free from government regula­
tion, extends to private sexual
c o n d u c t,
heterosexual o r
homosexual,
of consenting
adults. The judgment of such
conduct, including its m oral­
ity, is the province of con­
science and religion, but is
not a m atter fo r invoicing
penalties of the secular state.
The Union's polic> stand
supports only the private be­
havior of consenting adults.
The state has a legitimate
interest in controlling, by
crim in a l
sanctions, public
solicitation fo r sexual acts
and p a rticu la rly sexual prac­
tices where a m inor is con­
cerned.
Private homosexual conduct
of consenting adults, like p ri­
vate illic it heterosexual con­
duct, should not be a bar to
g o v e r n m e n t employment.
There is no evxience that
sexual preference has any­
thing to do with character
problems o r <tability. If a
homosexual
employee be­
comes an irrita tin g force by
making sexual advanceswhich
interfere with his o r a fellow
worker’ s performance, then
lorm al standards governing
work performance can oe
appl led.
Constitutional s c h o la r s
lave argued that the state may
properly
regulate the be-
havior of competent adults
only if that behavior demon­
strably threatens the rights,
safety, o r interest of others.
Yet homosexuals have con­
tinually been subjected to
harassment by police and
jth e r government officials.
They have been banned from
the government employment,
because of the possibility of
blackmail, which is really the
result of its own policy in
refusing to employ homo­
sexuals.
1 hose who seek t. regulate
sexual conduct engage in a
dangerous
practice.
In­
quiries into sexual conduct
are accompanied bv indis­
creet form s of suiveillance
and investigation.
In part
this is because of the nature
of the information sought. In
part it is due to the . rui lence
of those who watch and listen.
It degrades the investigators
as well as the investigated.
The federal court in the
D is tric t of Columbia ‘ is ruled
that the government could not
disqualify a man for employ­
ment because of his tumw-
sexuality and that it could
not withhold secut tv clear­
ance from homosexual em­
ployees.
The
California
Supreme C ourt has held that
a teacher could not be fired
on the grounds of immoral
o r unprofessional ci nduct on
the basis of homsexual con­
duct that does not interfere
with his performance as a
teacher.
Dr. Hugh Scott, Superin­
tendent of the Washington.
D.C. public school system,
visited Portland this week to
attend the Spring Conference
of the Great C ity Council of
the Great C ity Schools.
D r. Scott considers the
school situation in Washington
to he unique.
F irs t of a ll,
it is plagued with all the pro­
blems of the urban school
d is tric t, hut its relationship
to the federal government is
unique. Congress controls the
school d is tric t budget and is
influential in its programs.
The Board of Education is
the only elected bodyinW'ash-
mgton, D.C.
It is made up
of eight persons elected from
boards and of three persons
elected at large. Seven mem­
bers of the Board of Education
are Black. The school dis­
tr ic t has a 95% per cent black
enrollment.
D r. Scott sees the greatest
test to the Washington, D.C.
schools to be the emerging of
The Oregon Wage and Hour
Commission was told recently
that most western states seek
to adopt Oregon's new system
fo r issuing work perm its to
minors under 18 years of age.
Norman O. Nilsen, the State
Labor Commissioner, and Ex­
ecutive O fficer of the Com­
mission. reported at a meeting
in Portland that nine states
have indicated they want to use
the Oregon system, whichfea-
tures the issuance of a perma­
nent, plastic, billfold-sized
work p e rm it which is valid
until a person reaches 18 years
of age.
“ When 1 attended the Wes­
By Vernon E. Jotdan. J r .
ing used as strike-breakers.
But the whole country was
inspired by the brave efforts of
Chavez' small band of union­
ists and the boycott of grape?
spread. People refused to buy
grapes picked by non-union
workers and the growers f i­
nally signed a contractw ith the
union. That struggle, and Cha­
vez’ inspiring, almost saintly,
personality, won a warm place
in the hearts of the country fo r
the farm workers.
The grape contractw asfol-
lowed by other successes, in­
cluding a w e ll-publicized un­
ion contract with big growers
of c itru s fru its in F lorida,
where many of its members
are poor Blacks. Although
farm workers are notcovered
by laws protecting union o r­
ganizing, the UFW waswell on
the way to success.
Now the union is locked in
battle with the iceberg lettuce
growers in C alifornia's Sali­
nas Valley, and once more it
is pinning its hopes on a na­
tionwide boycott fo r v ic to ry .
But this tune there is a te r­
rible possibility that not only
w ill the union lose, hut that it
may even be driven out of ex-
M o s t r e a s o n a b le
tern, th e re are fast becom­
ing two school systems, one
fo r the middle class ami one
fo r the others.
D r. Scott stated that there
has been no proof that race
and social class make a d if­
ference in learning, but many
blacks p refer to send their
children to schools with a
higher economic group.
D r. Scon states that he
does firm ly helieve in busing
when it is to further quality
education fo r black children.
In a democracy, busing should
te two-way, with white ch il­
dren bused into black schools
as w ell. I he burden has al­
ways been on blacks, with
black people having to go to
where ihe whites are.
D r. Scott emphasised that
it is not necessary fo r black
children to sit by white c h il­
dren to learn, but that in the
United States the resources
seem to go where the while
children are. Busing is need­
ed to get the black children
where the resources are.
D r. Scott believes in inte­
gration of the schools. Since
we are living in a techno­
logical, p lu ra listic society the
child needs exposure to all
types of people. Individuals
tern States Governmental La­
tim e, procedures were al­
should have a choice of how
bor O fficials meeting in San
tered to r employers in the
they want to live and the
Francisco recently, everyone
canning, freezing and fo o d
institutions
should
force
was impressed with our new
processing industries (except
neither segregation o r inte­
system ," Nilsen said. "Now
gration.
fo r farm ers processing the
1 have been informed that
products of th e ir own farms)
He objects to the practice
Washington, C alifornia. Ha­
and employers of minors op­
of some schou< d is tric ts of
w aii, Wyoming, Idaho, A r i­
erating power driven farm
busing out the better black
zona. North Dakota, Utah and
machinery.
students.
This leaves the
New Mexico hope to follow in
Now, such employers must
poorer stuiients without peer
our steps.
retain possession of the m i­
examples. Children learn best
" I t looks like we have
nors' work perm it cards for
from other children and black
scored another firs t. They
the term of employment but do children need to see other
were impressed by the way it
not need to report on each in­
black children achieve. Black
cuts down on red tape and ex­
dividual act of employment as
children cannot look to whites
penses.*'
is in the case of other indus­
fo r inspiration because whites
A change in the work perm it
trie s . However, a fu ll report
have more avenues open to
system occupied theComm is-
on the employment of minors
them.
sion fo r part of the meeting
must be made to the Oregon
There are tew black school
Bureau of Labor byNovemher
superintendents in the nation,
1st of each year.
only 30.
Black superinten­
dents are traditionally placed
in schools with high failure
rates, failing financial bases,
and usually do not get good
positions unless there are a
lot of problems. This has not
istence. And the reason is that
tion of collective bargaining.
been a Held that has had op­
it is not only tackling th e
So the possibiity exists that
portunities
fo r blacks, but the
wealtny growers, but this tune
the courts w ill stop the boy­
demand is growing in the large
the weight of the federal gov­
cott, the NLRB w ill hold hear­
urban centers.
ernment's power is coming
ings charging the union wUp il­
down against the farm w ork­
legal boycott activities, and
ers.
that the union may eventually
The National Labor Rela­
be liable fo r c iv il damage
tions Board has asked fo r an
suits from the n o n -u n io n
injunction against the union,
growers that could bankrupt it
preventing it from carrying
and permanently put it out of
out a boycott of iceberg le t­
business.
tuce on the grounds that such
It's not too hard to see what
boycotts are against the na­
is really happening here: the
tion's labor laws.
power of the growers and the
This is an unusual move, be­
government are being har­
cause the labor laws specifi­
nessed in an all-out fight to
cally exclude farm w orkers.
break the union and deprive
Since they don't benefit from
Black and m in o rity workers
any of the provisions of the la­
of th e ir right to organize and
bor laws, they have also been
strike. The law is being used
excluded from the laws' penal­
to s trip the poor of their rights
ties.
and to protect the rich.
The catch here is that a
The dangers of such a short­
small handful of the union's
sighted policy are too awe­
members work as "packers'*
some to contemplate. If the
and are technically not farm
w orkers' nonviolent tools are
w orkers. The NLRB is argu­
brutally taken from them, fu­
ing that because of this the
ture farm strikes could well
whole union is subject to the
he as bloody as the industrial
penalties of the no-boycott
strikes of the past. And so long
Jaw, even though the over­
as one sm all, struggling union
whelming m ajority of the uni­
of the poor is allowed to be
on’ s members are s till not crushed, no w orker, even one
covered by the law's protec-
in the big and seemingly pow­
erful trade unions, is safe.
Work permit rules change
. i a, a , . . U , . . , , ,
B ody a n d Fender R e p a ir
sho p
in to w n
C arlos
new black leaders, both pro­
fessional and lay. The test
w ill he whether they can work
together to solve problems.
He can see Washington as the
pacesetter to r the large urban
school d is tric ts .
E ighty per cent of the tea­
chers in the d is tric t are black
and the ratio is increasing.
They are making an attempt
to obtain more male teachers
and adm inistrators.
There is very little black-
white confrontation in the
schools. Ihe few white stu­
dents have found that they can
and must get along with the
blacks. They do little busing,
and what is done is busing
black children towhlte schools
to relieve overcrowding. The
m ajor problem is m ix in g c h tl-
dren of different socio-eco­
nomic levels. C hildren do not
like to go to school with ch il­
dren of other socio-economic
groups, whetherthey are black
o r white, and that is the
tragedy of the American sys-
2 8 7 -8 5 2 9
2 6 0 9 N. V an co u ver Ave.
P o rtla n d . O re .
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See our light show.
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Farm workers union struggles for life
If there is any single union
ui America that best exempli­
fies the crusading ideals that
txiilt the labor movement in the
bitter 1930's, it's the United
Farm Workers Union, led by
Cesar Chavez. Now, less than
two years after winning union
contracts fo r C alifornia grape
workers, the union is in a ltfe -
or-death struggle fo r its verv
existence.
The United Farm Workers
is made up of the poorest and
most oppressed of Am erica's
w orkers. It started among the
M exican-A m erican and F ili­
pino tarm workers of C a lifo r­
nia. many of them illite ra te ,
most of them migrant work­
ers who never had the protec­
tion of a union contract before,
and all of them desperately
poor.
The union came into nation­
al prominence through its long
struggle with the grape grow­
ers. The main weapon in that
struggle was the boycott. A
strike of farm workers could
not succeed by itse lf. Growers
could chase strike rs off their
land and hire other migrant
workers, many of whom were
never aware that they were be­
r-*- ........................... . . ^
Black superintendent endorses
two way
I
PORTLAND
MEADOWS
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F rid a y Post Time 7 :3 0
S a tu r d a y a n d S u n d a y Post Time 1:30
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Electricity
is important
to today's
schools...
■■■■■■■■■■■A
...and more electricity w ill
he needed to provide superior
learning environments
for the children of the 1980’s.
Educational Realities and Myths of Busing
by Bayard Rustin
What are the myths and what
tion, the President has in fact
are the facts about busing?
reinforced with the consider­
Have the courts ordered
able weight of his office those
fusing fo r integration on a
frequently u t t e r e d myths
"m a s s iv e " scale, as P resi­
which have all but prevented
dent Nixon implied at least
rational discussion of this
three times during his recent
suddenly c ritic a l social issue.
nationwide a d d re s s ? W ill
It is important, therefore, to
•hundreds of thousands' of
separate the myths, generali­
school children be told by the
zations, and undocumented as­
courts that they cannot attend
sumptions from the realities
th e ir neighborhood schools
of the busing issue, if busing
during the next school yea run­
is Doth m orally wrong and ed­
less the President's proposed
ucationally unsound then we
moratorium on busing is en­
must also reevaluate our po­
acted? Does the whole concept sition.
of busing represent no m o r e
But the c ritic s of busing
than "som e social planner’ s
have offered little in the way of
concept of what Is consider­
substantive evidence to sup­
ed to be the correct racial ba­
port their assertions. T h e i r
lance o r what is called p ro­
arguments have been rhetor­
gresslve social policy, as.
ical, not factual. They have
once again, the President has
neither studied integrauon and
declared?
its effects on American educa­
P olitical figures, intellec­
tion nor experienced tre suc­
tuals and educators a r t right
cesses, as well as the fru s tra ­
now discussing and debating
tions of changing from s seg­
important and valid questions
regated to an integrated school
which have been forced to the
system.
surface by the busing contro­
Those educators and school
versy. They are seeking an­
officials who are personally
swers to the philosophical and
fa m ilia r with the Integration
practical
ram ifications of
process
generally support
fusing and a re (17mg todeter-
txislng as ooe means of achiev­
mine Its political, social and
ing desegregation, a fact which
educational Implications.
was brought out In a recent
The
President's recent
speech by Senator W a l t e r
words have added n o th in of
Mondale. AS chairman of ths
substance to this debate. As­
Select Committee on E q u a l
suming the mantle of mode ra -
Educational O p p o r t u n it y ,
Mondale heard several hun­
dred educators during the past
two years. His speech, it is
believed, is at once a forceful
and logical defense of inte­
grated education and an effec­
tive refutation of the c ritic s of
busing.
It is instructive to examine
some of the points brought out
by Mondale.
Term s such as "m assive
busing" and "busing fo r bus­
ing's sake" have nogrounding
In fact. Of the 40 per cent of
A m erica's schoolchildren who
ride buses to class, only three
per cent, a m ajority of whom
are black, are bused fo r de­
segregation purposes.
• Ihe Supreme Court has
never required that schools be
ra cia lly balanced. In the one
relevant decision, the court
specifically stated that If a
echool d is tric t had taken all
reasonable steps to desegre­
gate there atUI might be all
black schools and all white
schools. A t the same tim e, the
court made it clear that busing
was one acceptable means of
overcoming the results of of­
fic ia lly approved school seg­
regation.
• The most serious problem
accompanying busing is not, as
some would have It, the dis­
ruption of children's Itvesand
an Increase of racial hostili­
ties, but the increased cost of
maintaining
ar
expand«!
iransportation system.
• Integrated education has
succeeded In many school dis­
tric ts when the community was
committed to seeing that It
worked. It is working in Berk­
eley, C alifornia, where tie
achievement rate of all young­
sters of every racial and eth­
nic grouping has improved
since tie schools were fujly
integrated three years ago. It
Is working in Baldwin. M ich­
igan, one of the poorest school
systems in the state. And It Is
working in Hoke County, North
Carolina, where an integrated
system replaced a trip le sys­
tem with separate schools for
whites, blacks and Indians.
Why did Hoke County, in the
rural south, succeed?
Special p r o g r a m s were
launched fo r low - achieving
children.
No principals o r teachers
were dismissed o r demoted
because of integration.
Parents and students were
counselor] and all e x tra -c u rri­
cular activities were inte­
grated.
And while extensive busing
was necessary to achieve In­
tegration. the focus of parents,
students and schoolchildren
wee not on the bus ride, hut on
what happens at the end of the
ride.
Ohms Amperes Cathodes Electrons
Familiar terms to most of today s students
The Electronic Age has given birth to new
words
and new ideas New teaching tools
New techniques New learning environments
In PGE s service area more and more
total-electric schools are being built because of
environmental and economic advantages
Proper classroom lighting, all-weather climate
control, electronic teaching aids, more
equipment for workshop and trade courses and
needed outdoor lighting are but a few of the
energy uses in the modern school
PGE serves 39 total-electric schools, including
Reynolds High School (pictured)
A school the size of Reynolds uses approxi­
mately 1.200,000 kilowatt hours of energy
annually Together, the 39 schools use enough
power to supply a small city But it’s power well
used Children learn faster in a good indoor
environment
Electricity will continue to play a vital role in
preparing our children for a brighter future
To keep ahead of your ever-growing electrical
demands. PGE is building to make sure that
the electrical energy Oregon needs will always
be there
in abundance
and at low cost
New nuclear generating plants now being
built or in planning, will produce power that
is clean to make and clean to use while helping
preserve and enhance Oregon s matchless
environment
P O R T L A N D G E N E R A L E L E C T R IC C O M P A N Y
P ro vid in g cle.m e n e rg y lo r a h e lle r h ie
• For the good life
Why Oregon needs more
electric power...not less...
to meet future needs
electricity helps provide good medical care, good schools,
safe well-lighted neighborhoods, home comfort and labor-saving conveniences
• For a healthy economy
an ample supply of electricity Is the basis of a
prosperous Oregon with lobs for us today
and for our children tomorrow
• For preserving and enhancing Ihe environment
clean electricity
the vital energy absolutely needed to rid our air, wator and land of pollution
P h o n , or visit ■ POE o lfic . for your f r a . b ro c h u r. on Why Oregon n e e d , m oia power?
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