Portland Obaarvar
Phil 1-ane #39521)
Asat. Corree.iondent
decent job placement. The men in this
V .T. program someday are going to be
able to say that they have something to
offer in the way of a skill, a trade, and the
When you care enough to travel 3,000
miles to tell a group of inmate students
enrolled in a vocational training program
at O.S.P. in Salem. Oregon, “1 care what
ha.i,teas la all a« yen «.ton your release
irom this institutian," that's putting your
money where your mouth is and really
caring.
On the morning of February 13, 1978.
three individuals, accompanied by Char
les Keaton. O.S.P. Rehabilitation Pro
gram Manager, came through the doors
and into a large shop with a sign reading
"Welding Departm ent." “These men are
going back into the community some
day." staled Keaton, “the community not
too long ago was shouting at us to keep
you convicts when it came to training and
willingness to work, that same commu
nity. and we who live in that community,
are going to find it very hard to deny
them decent employment in order that
they may regain th eir self respect."
Although the three individuals accom
panying Keaton were only visitors to
O.S.P., th eir appearance meant a great
deal to a great many people who work
and live w ithin the walls of this institu
tion.
H .A . Sosnin, president of the National
American W elding Society, headquarters
in M iam i. Florida, walked beside D r. Bill
Poetry Editor
You load 16 tons and what do you get?
have to be replaced within the next
fifteen years.
The housing shortage has been made
worse by repeated flooding aggravated
by erosion from strip mining. Thousands
of people were left homeless by floods
last A pril, August, and October 1977 in
the Appalachian mountains. State offi
cials in both W est Virginia and Kentucky
have admitted strip mining was a major
contributing factor.
Another problem area for miners is
health care, which is especially important
because of the work-related injuries and
diseases they suffer.
(Continued from Page 1 Column 6)
but it has also meant there is little land
gvatiaMe for bousing Tw o-thirdsof West
Virginia's privately held land is owned or
controlled by o u to f state corporations,
including Continental Oil, which owns
more than one half million acres through
its subsidiary. Consolidation Coal. In the
state's major southern coalfield counties,
ten corporations own ninety percent of
the land.
Moat of these absentee landlords pre
fer to hold their property for coal
development rather than release it for
housing. As a result, a coalfield housing
shortage is worsening as the coal indus
.try expands.
The workforce doubled
from 1964 to 1974, and a similar increase
would be necessary to meet President
Carter's goal of a 65 percent production
increase by 1986. In addition to popula
tion pressures, experts say one-half of
Appalachia's existing homes - many of
them old company-built houses - «rill
Between 1970 and 1976, 225,000 coal
miners -- four times the number of U.S.
soldiers killed in the Vietnam W ar - were
judged by the federal government to
have "black lung,” an incurable, fatal
disease. Some 335,000 other miners and
widows applied for black lung compensa
tion. A recent government study showed
that coal miners also suffer stomach
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UN 'IO «4-
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is a valuable asset. . .
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COMPLETE C O O PERA TIO N
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diseases at rates above the national
average
Because of increased noise levels re
sulting from mechanization, retired min
ers are five times as likely as th eir wives
to need hearing aids, although among the
general population men do not need
hearing aids more often than women.
Each year, the coal companies report
about 15,000 accidents to the govern
ment. A n In te rio r Departm ent study in
1975 indicated th at up to sixty percent of
mine injuries are not reported, so the real
injury figures may be close to 35,000 per
year. T h a t means th at, on the average, a
miner who starts his career at age tw enty
«rill suffer at least eight injuries before he
retires.
Since 1969, when Congress passed a
law designed to control coal mine acci
dents, nearly 1,500 miners have been
killed on the job.
U n til last year, more than 800,000
miners, spouses and children w ere pro
vided free medical care through the
company-financed U M W A Health and
R etirem ent Funds.
The Funds paid
retainer fees to support clinics and
hospitals in remote regions of Appalachia
where no other medical care is available.
Those benefits have been cut off during
the coal strike, and the companies and
union have agreed th at from now on
mining families w ill have to pay hundreds
of dollars per year in medical costs. The
retainer fees for the clinics and hospitals
w ill be cut off perm anently.
The new deductibles «rill h it pensioners
especially hard. Pensions for 80,000 re
tirees are only $225-250 per month, and
the small increases under the new pro
posed contract would provide only $1 per
month added buying power after infla
tion.
“E ve ry three years, when our contract
expires, the companies and the politicians
start telling us how im portant it is to our
country th at we stay on the job," says one
high ranking union official, who asked not
to be identified.
“I guess we don't
respond very well because it sounds like a
one way street to us. I mean, when have
they ever shown any concern for us
before?”
Sosnin encourages a student-inmate,
first years accomplishment in 1977. The
V.T. Welding Program holds the excel
lent record of graduating its first nine
teen students, with sixteen having al
ready been paroled or discharged from
O.S.P. The remaining three will be doing
the same in the future. Eight of those
sixteen former inmates have actually
been placed on jobs throughout Oregon
with a starting union wage of over $8.00
per hour, with the help of the O.S.P.
Vocational Training Welding Advisory
Committee. To this day not cue of the
graduated ex-felons has returned or
become involved with the criminal justice
system in the State of Oregon.
This was a record so phenomenal that
it attracted the attention of H .A . Sosnin,
causing him to journey to Oregon from
his national office to view such a welding
program and see if the program could be
implemented into other penal institutions
throughout the United States.
As Sosnin stood before the class he
explained the advantages the welding
profession has to offer today. “Just like
with a welding torch, keep working in the
same direction because it's the only
direction to go.
A good welder will
always be in demand for years to come."
Sosnin brought with him reading ma
terial, diagrams, manuals and books
about the modern welding trade to give
to each inmate trainee.
“I am very
concerned about each and every student
in this room, because we need you and
(rightl
you need a job upon your release, so we
are going to do our best to meet those
needs,” said Sosnin.
A t this Sosnin
received a rousing applause from the
inmates and guests.
D r. Rice interjected w ith how impor
tant it is for all students to learn the
safety measures of the welding profes
sion as well as how to take different steps
to protect ones health in such a trade as
welding.
Ray Veilleux and John Belgarde should
be praised for th eir efforts to upgrade the
successful O.S.P. V .T . W elding D ep a rt
ment. Both instructors have gone to the
many Oregon communities in search of
help for the men they trained, and help is
what they are getting, but not only in the
State of Oregon, but nationwide.
The impact of the President of the
W e ld in g
S o c ie ty ’s v is it
to
th e
O.S.P. Vocational W elding Program is
demonstrated by the statements of the
inmate welding trainees themselves, be
cause that is where the “rubber-hits-the-
road."
Robert Anderson #38565..."When M r.
Sosnin came here to the welding shop he
told us the advantages of welding. By his
doing this it showed me th at he was very
interested in our program. This to me
shows th at there are people who really
care.”
Brace Huss #36974...“W hen M r. Sosnin
came into this penitentiary to talk to us
on welding and metalurgy, he not only
offered some good practical instructions,
but I received the impression he was
offering something more than instruction
on welding.
H e gave me a lot of
incentive.”
Alan VaaarsdeO #37884.. ." It gave me a
great pleasure to know that the president
of the A .N .W .S . is concerned with inmate
trainee welders at O.S.P., and took the
time to spend «rith us and to let us know
that he and others on the ‘streets' want
to help with our trade."
Sam Brown #36033..." It made me feel
good to know that a man in his position is
interested enough in our welding pro
gram to come and share what we are
learning here in prison."
Ernest Watson #38917. ..“I find it g rati
fying that a man of his standing found the
time to try and help us find a b etter way
for ourselves."
“Finding a b etter way to help our
selves,” is why these inmates are training
to become welders upon th eir release
from behind these prison walls.
Isn't that w hat the Oregon State
Penitentiary Vocational Programs are all
about?
Isn’t th at w hat the O.S.P. Vocational
W elding Program is all about?
A t least eighteen prisoners w ith their
instructors believe it is.
And so does a president of the Am eri
can W elding Society.
Just Say “Charge ItT
Do you have this
credit card in your
purse or wallet?
B
IE N O W S
•
Interested student-inmates listen as national president af welder’s union speaks to
them, (center)
Julius D. Snowden «38013,
Rice, the director-at-large, chief welding
engineer of ESCO Corporation and Bob
Weisend, an instructor at Portland Com
munity College. This was not Rice and
Weisend's first visit to O.S.P., because
these tw o men are board members of the
O.S.P. Vocational W elding Training Pro
gram and Weisend is the chairman of the
seventeen man community sponsored
board. Sosnin was promptly introduced
to Ray (Franchie) Veilleux, O.S.P. Voca
tional Training W elding instructor and
his eighteen inmate students.
Sosnin was made aware of the many
months of hard w ork and dedication by
these individuals, in a community and
institutional effort, to make this program
as successful as it had been through its
Pagre 8
H.A. Soeain national ;«reaident of the American Welding Society, gives ¡teintera to
O.S.P. welding dans, (loft)
Behind the wall
by Larry Baker,
O.8.P. t ’orres.tendent
Thursday, March 9, 1979
w " 4 ^ *y a 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 8.39a.m. telp ^ s.
Dr. Jeffrey BRADY, Dentist
8.W . 3RD A Y A M H IL L ST., PORTLAND. OREGON
T A K E ELE V A TO R TO 2ND FLOOR 3RD ST. ENTRANCE
If not, fill in the application
below and w e ll do our best
to get one for you.
| Matt W itt, former editor of the
“United Mine Workers Journal," now
writes on job safety issues from Wash
ington, D.C.|
Jobs available
Oregon youth, ages fifteen to eighteen
have until March 16th to apply for
conservation-related summer employ
ment in the Youth Conservation Corps
(YCC).
Enrollees in YCC w ill clear
straambanks, build trails, construct fish
hatcheries, plant trees, and engage in
hundreds of other similar conservation
projects on state and federal lands in
Oregon.
Jobs are open for both men and
women.
Enrollees are selected from
applicant pool by means of a random
lottery.
Application forms may be
obtained from school counselors and
principals, from any office of the State
Employment Division, from local offices
of the U.S. Departm ent of the Interior or
the U.S. Forest Service, or from other
youth oriented agencies.
To be considered in the lottery, appli
cations must be postmarked no later than
March 16, 1978.
"We m ake our f o r t u n e s ,
and we cell them fa te ."
Benjamin Disraeli
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