P*0«4 Portland Observer Thumday August 10 1978
Tuition Advance: New plan for school assistance
Behind the wall
r i,
LarryBaiter 938021
O. S. P Correspondent
Donati Danjord «32323
Asst O.S.P Correspondent
JuJtus D. Snowden 938013
P o e m Editor
by Donald Dan ford 932323
There is a hunger strike going on
segregation unit. It's about the
conditram there.
Prisoners are kept awake by a steel
ga:e banging on a steel post — steel
bouncing on steel at 11:30 p m (or
1:30 a m and so on all night) a few
feet from a prisoner's head.
Sometimes prisoners are kept awake
by the tapping of a guard's cowboy
boots on the smooth cement at 12:30
a m Or the guards might decide to
put out the metal breakfast bowls on
the metal table at 4.-00 a.m. and do it
so that the sound of each bowl hit
ting the table can be heard at the op
posite end of the building There are
a couple o f dozen other ways the
guards keep prisoners awake or wake
them if they choose A complete list
would be a study in abnorm al
hehamor.
It may be hard to imagine a group
of guards purposely going out o f
their way to hassle sleeping or almost
sleeping prisoners. But it is not hard
for the hundreds who go to the SAI
unit (Security and Isolation) each
year. Guards may be a lot o f things,
but they are not complete morons:
they know when they are banging a
gate at two in the morning and they
know the results o f banging that
gate.
Noise at night is a common thing,
both m the SAI building and the
main cell blocks. But since SAI has
the accoustics o f an echo chamber, it
is often asNsiei on one fifteen tnan
tier in SAI than on one side o f a 400
man ceil block.
The guard's noise at night is one of
the several techniques that have been
hammered out over the years as to
what constitutes acceptable behavior
toward prisoners. Food handling by
guards in the SAI unit who have
gr.me on their hands, and stacking
the bottom o f one tray squarely on
another tray full of food are two
more techniques. Allowing the food
to get cold and serving it mixed with
din and hair is yet another example
o f acceptable behavior by guards.
Guards get away with actions that
w ould not be accepted in a civilized
atmosphere, and they get away with
it consistently because there are not
any checks to stop them. And this is
what the food strike is all about: the
quality of the staff working the SAI
unit. Upgrade the quality o f that
staff and hopefully the new staff will
not only know that a kN o f noise
keeps prisoners awake (as the present
staff does), but also they will not
make it.
There are hundreds o f goals that
could be accomplished if prisoners
were allowed to sleep at night, and
this one “ righ t” , i.e ., allow ing
a prisoner the chance to sleep, would
be a step toward meaningful prison
reform
id the
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A Chicano inmata chats with an O S P guard
by A rt Chavez 936388
1 think one would be surprised at
the amount o f conflicts that could be
avoided if we would learn to show
som e respect for one another. I
MEAN ALL OF US, Staff as w ell as
inmates. White, Black, Chicano or
whatever our color or origin , . .
may be.
Regardless o f what a man has
done or w hat position he is in within
these walls, he deserv es some respect,
in order to receive respect. We must
learn to give respect.
Many times a guard would get
more cooperation if he would lower
the tone in his voice just a little, and
the same goes for the inmates when
needing cooper alien fiom the prison
staff. Many tunes the way we talk to
a person can make all the difference
in the world.
We have to realize that tension
exists in this penal institution. This
tension is felt by the guards as well as
the inmates. The presence o f tension
can create short fuses, short fuses
ignite and expiode fast
And to the guards: You don't have
to relinquish any authority or
become a push-over' by addressing
an inmate in a decent, but yet a for
mal v oice. The same can apply to we
who wear blue dungarees with prison
numbers on them. The guards and
the adm inistration don’t want to
be 'fronted-off by an inmate who is
subordinate. It doesn’t make you
any less a man to answer someone in
a 'cool' and normal voice.
A man trill be recognized as a
man, whether he is in O .S.P. or out
on the streets. It all depends on the
way one carries himself. We don’t
have to wake up each morning trying
to prove our manhood, unless we are
uncertain o f it. (Ladies, when 1 use
the word Mar, and Manhood’, 1 use
it in a general term, referring to both
sexes.»
Most frequently we have the In
mates vs. Inmates conflictions, we
should be more than willing to be
respectful to one another, because
we share the same fate each day,
regardless who we are. W e may
receive disrespect from the guards
and feel reluctant to respond,
because of the futility of our position,
but on the other hand if disrespect
comes from another inmate we may
do him some great bodily harm. This
is not necessary , if we just learn to
respect one another.
Some o f the most powerful and in
fluential people in history have been
humble and soft spoken. Screaming
and shouting or insulting remarks
only reflects the same.
If a person is respectful, he de
serves the same. We are all from dif
ferent backgrounds, educational,
econom ical, political, social and
racial. We have d ifferen t lik es,
dislikes, personalities, and moral
values. Some o f us are free, some
confined and some semi-free. But we
all have one thing m common. We
are all human beings.
If 1 can stand in the chow-line for
ten minutes, why can't everyone do
the same. If 1 didn't want to eat, 1
wouldn’t be there. If I walk from the
back of the line to the front I am
being disrespectful to every man in
that line
W ould it hurt to ask a person for
the salt and pepper, instead o f
reaching over his tray for it? This
type of incident may seem trivial but
to men already denied some o f the
basic pleasures in life this is only
adding insult to injury.
Let's treat the next person the way
we would like to be treated and
maybe we can lose that label of being
an animal. Or do we prefer to be
called ‘.Animals’? A man is a man,
whether he is four or eight feet tall.
WASHINGTON - Senator Ed
ward M. Kennedy has introduced
legislation in the U nited States
Senate to establish Boston University
President John R. Silber’s plan for a
Tuition Advance Fund (TAF).
Kennedy declared that the bill
“ presents an adm irable way o f
providing for college costs in a com
prehensive fash ion , and with a
financing scheme that is equitable to
other taxpayers as well.” Kennedy is
a co-sponsor o f the legislation with
U.S. Senator John Durkin (D-N.H .).
The bill, S. 3044, is identical to the
one introduced in the H ouse o f
Representatives on April 20th by
U .S . R epresentative M ichael J.
Harrington (D -M ass).
The Senate and the House hills call
upon the federal governm ent to
establish an education trust fund to
advance to college sop h om ores,
juniors and seniors the cost o f tuition
plus SI.000 in education-related ex
penses. such as room and board, up
to a maximum o f S5.000 annually.
The advance would be repaid by the
student through small yearly payroll
withholding installments at the rate
o f two percent of adjusted gross in
come during his working lifetime,
plus a fifty percent surcharge.
Default would be precluded.
In an essay in the July issue o f The
A tlantic M onthly, President Silber
wntes o f “ The Tuition Dilemma. A
New Way to Pay the Bills."
"Something fundamental must be
done — and done soon — if America
is not to default on its national
Interested in current books
about African Liberation?
Visit
JO H N REED BOOK STORE
In the Oakum Building
519 S W 3rd Avenue
Sixth Floor
Or call
227 2902
finance the existing system . The
whole system has got to go. And now
that South A frica has a law em
powering it to take over any com
pany it deems "essential to national
security", GM. Firestone and any
other foreign company can be forced
to produce w ar material to crush any
Black uprising. And their personnel
would be "encouraged” to join the
Volunteer Army.
S o, the argum ent frequently
voiced by businessmen about being
in South Africa solely to do business
and not engage in politics becomes as
hollow as a Winchells donut. The
moment you invest in South A fnca.
you are already inextricably in
volved in the politics because you are
supplying the money that keeps the
system afloat
Equally hollow is the argument
that foreign companies can do more
harm than good by withdrawing
because if they stay, they can force a
relaxation o f som e apartheid
policies. The recent crackdown on
dissidents and the banning of almost
all publications critical of apartheid
indicate that the reverse is true.
Foreign companies will merely toe
the government line. The gap be
tween Black and white earnings has
climbed almost sixty percent since
1969
South A frica's Financial M ail,
their equivalent o f The Walt Street
Journal, in its article about the Prin
ciples, titled it a "damp squib” (a
There has been an increase in
bicycle thefts in the St. Johns area
due to bicycles being improperly
secured or left in unlocked garages or
open car ports.
Furtherm ore, ow ners o f these
bicycles have failed to properly
engrave their bikes and have failed to
copy down the serial number This
decreases the likelihood that the
property will ever be returned to the
rightful owner.
For information on how citizens
can safeguard their property contact
the CRIME PREVENTION U N IT/
NORTH PRECINCT 248-5720.
E
AD VER TISIN G
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rtr becomes the property of
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(NOTE: Chavez is an inmate at the
Oregon State Penitentiary serving
five years for burglary. Born
January 4, 1945, Mexican-American
descent. From Los Angeles, Califor
nia, ninth grade education and he
has no one to correspond or visit
with here in the State of Oregon.
A nyone wishing to do so please
write. ‘Chavez’ »36385 , 2605 State
Street, Salem. Oregon 97310.)
firecracker that fizzles,. It faulted
the Principles for leaving out all
mention of trade union rights: "The
American business manifesto needs
to be a lot further . . . and be
followed up with determination. As
a head on confrontation with apar
theid, it is just not o n .”
Finally, a top secret memo from
Mr. Bowdler, the U.S. ambassador
to South A frica and printed in
Southern Africa (published in North
Carolina) Bowdler had conducted a
poll to determine the acceptability of
the Sullivan Principles. His con
clusion was that the vast majority of
the Africans rejected them out of
hand, citing many o f the reasons
outlined above.
Donald W oods, speaking at the
NAACP Convention two weeks ago
when asked about the Principles
merely asked.
"What would the Jews have said
to A m erican com panies doing
business in Nazi Germany under a
cod e o f principles for the em
ployment of Jews?”
So, the message from Black South
Africa is loud and clear American
com panies out o f South A frica
NOW
provide more m oney for federal
grants, loans and work-study aid
They would be an improvement over
the present situation; but they do not
promise the comprehensive volution
to the problem that the TAF does.”
President Silber estim ates the
probable cost of the TAF to be 43.5-
$4.5 b illion annually in current
dollars and calls for it to be assessed
” in light o f the billions we spend
each year on nonessentials: $5 billion
for candy and ice cream; $17.4
billion on tobacco; $37 8 billion for
alcohol.”
Responding to a question July
10th on a Boston television show
about how TAF “ jibes with the
m ood o f the country in terms o f
Proposition 13,“ President Silber
said: ” , think it jibes very well. One
o f the reasons why Americans are so
burdened by taxes is that they arc
terribly burdened by the cost o f
educating their children If one can
take from the back of the parent the
total cost o f educating two or three
children, and placed that burden gent
ly on the shoulders o f each student,
and let him carry it and pay it o ff
over a working lifetime, taxpayers in
this country will feel instant relief.
And they won’t feel instant relief of
$250 or $500 as under the tuition tax
credit plan. Rather it would he relief
of up to $5,000 each year for three
years o f college education. Now
when you take a burden o f financing
a college education o f $15,000 off
the back of the middle class parent, he
is going to feel great relief.”
Thefts increases
retire
1518 N E KILLtNGSWORTH
PORTLAND OREGON 97211
284 7997
Africa Blacks reject Sullivan Principles
(Continued from Page 1 Column 3)
employ ing a total o f 30,000 people
which is a ridiculously small percen-
age of the total Black population —
0 .1 6 * to be exact. And. is that all
that we w ant — integrated
bathrooms, a few more pennies and
a title? For the umpteenth time, NO!
W e want our fair share o f the pie
W e want to be masters of our own
destiny and not just a huge labor
reservoir for the benefit o f the
Afrikaner We are entitled to the
nght to live where we choose and not
be subject to banishment to some
back
of
beyond
called
a
“ homeland” .
Thus the Principles, dreamed up
by Sulliv an who also happens to be a
member of General Motors' Board
of Directors (GM is very much in
volved in South Africa) are totally
unacceptable since they pledge to
work w ithin, and to continue to
com m itm ent to equal educational
opportunity,” he writes. “ Unless
comprehensive steps are taken in the
financing o f higher education —
steps com parable in scope to the
Mornll Act o f 1862 establishing land
grant colleges, or the Servicemen’s
R eadjustm ent
Act
of
1944
establishing the Gl Bill — increasing
numbers o f academically qualified
students will be denied access and
choice in higher education simply
because the costs will prove un
manageable.*'
In his essay. P resident Silber
argues that the Moynihan-Packwood
proposal for tu ition tax credits
“ properly calls attention to these
problems, but does not provide an
adequate solution, for it leaves a
major burden o f financing higher
education on the backs o f the parents
who. as a general rule, cannot find
the resources to feed and clothe their
children and to carry, in addition,
the cost of their college education. In
order
to
achieve
authentic
educational opportunity, we must in
troduce the old-fashioned American
principle that the person w ho
receives the benefit is the one who
ought to pay for it.
“ The other major proposal now
before C ongress com es from
President Carter. The TAF is con-
sistent with the President's statements
on financing higher education, and
is in no way at odds with his
programs The proposals made by
President Carter and Representative
William D. Ford (D-M ich.) would
Facts of Importance
VOLUME III
AUGUST 1978
SERIES I
Exodus completed its first certificate training course
for its counselors on July 21, 1978. This training
provides additional counseling skills to its staff, in
order to serve its clientele more consistently.
A similar course will be scheduled for the com
munity at large during the month of October. The
course will center around communication linkages
between substance abusers, spouse of substance
abusers, children who are substance abusers, and
parents of children who are substance abusers. This
course will be taught at the grass-roots level.
Registration for this course will be published in our
September column of the Portland Observer.
Our clients thank you for your continued support.