Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, November 19, 1981, Page 5, Image 5

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    Portland Observer, November 19,1961 Page 5
Protect your child's smile
with regular dental check-u
From the Capitol
C ynthia E. H odga D .M .D .
by Rep. Ron Wyden
Mon. Tue«. & Thur«.
Q. In a recent memo to budget di­
rector David Stockman. Health and
Hum an Services Secretary Richard
Schweiker allegedly called f o r new
and drastic medicare, medicaid and
welfare cuts in 19S3. W hat is you r
reaction to these proposals?
A. I think they are shortsighted at
best. Just as in the budget cuts this
year, these proposed cuts will place
the burden o f balancing the budget
on the backs o f the poor. And as I
have said many times, the net effect
o f such a move is neither humane
nor cost-effective. Not only does it
leave people w ith no way to put
food on their table or a ro o f over
their head, it also forces the elderly
and others into nursing homes or
other institutions where the cost for
the taxpayer is higher.
A better approach w ould be to
trim the fat from the military budget
and from subsidies for the tobacco
and synfuel industries.
Q. Is fu n d in g f o r the Legal Ser­
vices Corporation out o f the woods
yet?
A . N ow that the Senate has
agreed to retain $241 m illio n in
funding for the Corporation, 1 think
it w ould be safe to answer yes to
that question. In retaining that level
o f funding, the Senate defeated a
proposal by Sen. Jeremiah Denton
to eliminate all funding for the Cor­
p o ra tio n , and one by Sen. Thad
C ochran to cut fun d in g to $100
million for 1982.
The House already voted to fund
the Corporation at the $241 million
level.
Although I would have preferred
that the C o rp o ra tio n receive fu ll
funding ($321 m illio n ), I am de­
lighted that it has at least survived
with a reasonable amount o f fund­
ing. Now less fortunate Oregonians
and other A m ericans w ill at least
have some access to affordable legal
services.
Q. W hat has happened with the
possible contem pt o f Congress
charge against In te r io r Secretary
James Watt f o r refusing to release
im p o rta n t docum ents to a H ouse
subcommittee?
A . A contem pt proceeding
against M r. W a tt still seems very
likely. This week the Oversight and
Investigations Subcom m ittee met
w ith two experts on the executive
p rivilege d o ctrine who said they
thought we should go ahead with
contempt proceedings.
And I personally am still o f a
mind to urge that M r. W att be held
in contempt. The Interior Secretary
is withholding inform ation that is
necessary for members o f the Com ­
mittee to do their jobs.
I find this totally unacceptable.
Congressional oversight o f the Ex­
ecutive Branch is a very important
part o f our whole system o f checks
and balances. W ithout this review,
we run the risk o f increased bureau­
cratic snafus. W e also deny the
American people the kind o f open
and responsive governm ent they
need.
I also find it p articu larly ironic
that this A dm inistration would be
guilty o f such an abuse when Presi­
dent Reagan cam paigned on the
need for a more open and effective
government.
1536 N.E 41«t
ago.
Helen Diggs says she’ s “ fin ally
where I want to be for the next four
and the next forty years.
“ Being a veterinarian had always
been in my mind but I chickened out
for a w h ile, avoided science, and
settled for my second choice: teach-
i ng.
After earning bachelor's and mas­
ter’ s degrees in education from the
University o f Portland, Diggs went
to Alaska to teach. Her first assign­
ment was in Point H o p e , one o f
nine Eskimo villages above the Arc­
tic Circle.
“ One day in class, I was telling
the students not to give up and ac­
cept lesser things in life than they
dreamed o f, if they were willing to
work to attain them.
"Th at night I fel, like a hypocrite.
I realized I ’ d been a c o w ard , not
taking the science classes that would
let me gain my lo n g tim e goal o f
working with animals.’ *
The next summer, 1979, back in
P o rtla n d , Diggs started takin g
chemistry at the University o f Port­
land. A nd when she returned to
A laska to teach (at B arro w , the
northernmost city in the U .S .), she
took a genetics course by correspon­
dence.
Returning to Oregon the summer
o f 1980, she enrolled at O S U to
com plete the suggested pre-veter-
inary courses that would allow her
to apply for admission to the four-
year, doctoral degree, professional
program.
Her outstanding academic record
(highest honors at graduation at the
University o f Portland and near-A
grades in her OSU course) brought
her not only admittance this fall to
the school o f veterinary medicine
but a SI ,000 scholarship as well.
Twenty-one o f the 36 students se­
lected this fa ll were w om en, she
noted, an indication that the field
has special attraction for females as
well as males.
Diggs is the only Black. “ H o w ­
ever, the color o f my skin isn’t going
to affect my future as a practicing
veterinarian, hopefully in Eastern
Oregon and working primarily with
food animals," she said.
I anticipate that people will show
surprise and have some questions
when a young Black woman veterin­
arian walks on their place to treat
their sick animal. But I also believe
that I'll be competent, capable and
that when I've finished, they’ ll want
to have me back," Diggs added con­
fidently.
She bristles at the suggestion that
women may not be up to the physi­
cal demands o f handling veterinary
medicine assignments with large ani­
mals. " T h a t ’ s an absurd thought.
Women will have no more such pro-
lems than men.”
" I don’t expect to be a cowboy,
lassoing or bulldogging steers.
W e 're being trained to use our
heads, to perceive needs in advance
so help w ill be a va ila b le as re­
quired."
Diggs has had experience with an­
imals o f an unusually wide variety.
Once she had decided to leave
teaching in A laska fo r veterinary
medicine at O S U , she would walk
each Saturday (across two miles o f
tu n d ra ) to the A rc tic N av al Re­
search Laboratory outside Barrow.
As a service to visiting scientists, the
L a b o ra to ry kept a p o lar bear, 27
wolves, some foxes, marmots and
other small A laskan anim als lo r
physiological studies. Diggs helped
care for them.
A t the University o f Portland in
the summer o f 1979, she worked in a
lab o rato ry at the H ealth Sciences
University, where students did sur­
gery on dogs.
And this summer, 1981, she went
to Africa for six weeks, visiting ani­
mal preserves, wilderness areas and
research-veterinary centers. " I t was
like being inside a N a tio n a l G eo­
graphic M agazine. The treatm ent
procedures and the disease problems
were so unique; it was a great educa­
tional experience.”
Diggs was born in Spokane. Her
father was a teacher; her mother, a
nurse. “ O b vio u sly, the b ack­
grounds o f my parents rubbed o ff
on me.”
She went to high school at the all­
girls, H o ly Names C a th o lic A ca ­
demy. She then entered the Univer­
sity o f P ortland on a scholarship,
finishing the four-year bachelor’ s
degree program in only three years.
She stayed for another year, how­
ever, to be co-editor o f the univer­
sity’s yearbook and to earn her mas­
cussw
will study academic subjects while
learning construction and farm ing
skills. D r. W a lto n Johnson, on
leave from his post as Chairman o f
A frican studies at Rutgers U n iver­
sity, will direct the new program in
Zimbabwe.
India: "Jaago” is an Indian word
meaning aw akening. It is also the
name o f a new program for some o f
India's poorest rural women organ-
ized by the Self-Employed Women’s
Association (S E W A ) and sponsored
in part by a grant o f $45,000 from
O x fa m A m erica . S E W A was
formed in 1972 by a group o f self-
em ployed women struggling to
make a living in the urban market
place. T o d ay S E W A provides its
10,000 members with credit services,
supplies, health and day care, mar­
keting and legal aid. M ore recently
S E W A has extended its program to
"Put A Little Soul In Your Rolli”
Boss's Bar-B-Q & Deli
1438 N.E. Alberta 281-9696
Owners of Milwaukie Pastry Kitchen. You may now shop in the
neighborhood for all your special occasion cakes and pastries.
Give us a call for your Holiday needs at
Boss's Bar-B-Q & Deli
Open W ed.-Sun. 5 pm-11 pm
r
Holidays Only
W e will be open Nov. 25th, 3 pm-11 pm, and Dec. 23rd, 3 pm 11 pm.
or visit our shop in Milwaukie
10607 S.E. M a in -664 6238
for all your pastry needs -
A nniversary, S h o w e rs , B irthdays. W ed d in g s
Open Tues.-Sat. 7 am-5 pm
Bread B asketa f t S w e e t P o ta to Pies M a d e To O rder
reach the rural poor.
Funds from O xfam Am erica are
assisting SE W A in three major pro­
jects. A revolving credit fund will
a llo w 25 landless fam ilies to jo in
one o f the S E W A -organized dairy
cooperatives in 15 villages. The in­
terest-free loans will be used to pur­
chase buffalo. Ownership o f a dairy
b u ffa lo can assure these fam ilies,
for the first time, a dependable and
constant source o f income. Another
aspect o f the project w ill establish
day care centers in the same 15 vil­
lages. A third part o f the program
will provide training for personnel
to carry out S E W A ’s rural projects;
group leaders and field w orkers,
draw n p rim a rily fro m the local
population, are essential for devel­
oping ongoing leadership in the vil­
lages.
Kampuchea: One o f the leading
agencies during re lie f e ffo rts in
Kam puchea (C a m b o d ia ), O xfam
America is now focusing on recon­
struction o f the country’s key eco­
nom ic sector: ag ricu ltu re . In
January o f 1981, for the first time in
six years, many Khmer farmers had
a store o f rice that they could call
•OS.
p Qty as »a»
2 0 H A rry U
-o ”
ELECTRIC
McHenry hits foreign policy
out the other.”
Q . W hy is there this concentra­
tion on the Soviet Union?
M cH en ry : “ Part o f it is in our
history and part o f it is that they are
the ones who can put our interests in
jeopardy."
Q. Do you think the nations o f
the world can ever co-exist peace­
fully?
M cHenry: “ O f course, you have
to think that way. They arc now, be­
cause it’ s far more peaceful than it
has been in a long time. We are used
to having 30 years wars. I however
foresee police actions at one time or
another.”
OOkk
tsW
Hra. M on -F ri 9:30 am -9 pm S at 9:30 am -6 pm Sun noon-5 pm
The name "Uncle Sam" for the U.S. came from an
actual man —a man known as Uncle Sam Wilson of
Troy, N .Y., w ho supplied food for the army in the
War of 1812.
a
Hay fever is NOT caused by hay; ft's caused by pol­
len from various flowers and plants.
a
The firs t woman ever to head any nation in the
Western Hemisphere was Isabel Peron of Argentina,
in 1974.
American State
Bank
¿S3
AN INDEPENDENT BANK
Head Office
2737 N. E. Union
Portland, Oregon 97212
TURKEY
YOUNG
Acme Brand Frozen
U .S .D A . Grade A
18 to 22 lbs.
r
lb.
TURKEY
(Continued fro m page I column 4)
to live with one another."
Q . In developing countries are
the richer nations getting richer and
the poor nations getting poorer?
M cH enry: " Y e s , th a t’ s true but
the band o f those countries that are
well o ff is growing wider. But many
o f the developing countries find that
the resources that they depended on
arc no longer their staple crop."
Grassroot News asked M cH enry
how the m ineral concentration in
the less developed nations would im­
pact the more developed nations.
M cHenry: “ It ’ s clear that the fu­
ture o f both are intertwined. Soon
you won’t be able to have one with­
fUO-
B lankets
ter’s degree in education.
" I liked teaching and enjoyed the
children. But I did not have peace o f
mind. There was always a feeling o f
unrest; a sense that I let fear keep
me from something m ore f u l f i ll­
ing.”
Fellow teachers in Alaska were as­
tounded, she said, when she left a
high paying teaching job there to go
back to school and then into a ca­
reer where riches are not assured.
But Diggs has absolutely "n o re­
g rets.” She breaks up her 16-18
hour days o f study-classes with rac-
quetball, noon-time runs, and fiddle
classes fo r fu n . A nd she lives 10
miles out o f town where the deer
come visiting on Saturdays.
"There is a lot to be learned from
our animals," Diggs observed, "not
just medically but in the sense that
we have put them at our mercy and
must, therefore, accept responsi­
bility for their well-being. They are
our very curious, extra special silent
majority.”
their own. But despite that success,
the food situation rem ains pre­
carious. K am puchea’ s present
dependence on traditional rice-fed
varieties, uncertain weather, poor
soils and lack o f irrig a tio n all
threaten food production.
Grants will fund a farm-level pilot
program using higher-yielding vari­
eties o f rice seed, app ro p riate for
the wet-season and local growing
conditions, and facilitate the return
o f 40 traditional rice seed varieties
lost during the rule o f the Khmer
Rouge.
One o f two agricultural colleges
in Phnom Penh survived the de­
struction o f the Pol Pot years.
Chamcar Duang College, which was
converted to a munitions factory in
1975, is being refurbished and re­
turned to its original use in part with
a $10,000 grant from O x fa m A m ­
erica. The college is offering a trac­
tor maintenance and repair course
for 100 students and there are plans
to begin training in agronomy, vet­
erinary science and hydrology.
Contributions can be sent to: O x­
fam America, 802 Columbis Circle
Avenue, Boston, Mass. 02116.
A r I , 40-P IE C e "" s ET
Includes 8 each: 7 oz.
sherbets. 7 oz. juice, 9
oz on-the-rocks, 12 oz.
and 16 oz. tall drink tum-
blers. Crystal clear
Thousands starve while America eats turkey
(Continued fro m page ! column 6)
288-6892
Portland OR 97232
Alaska experience inspires vet career
A 25-ycar-old Black woman from
Spokane and Portland is in the Ore­
gon State University school o f veter­
inary medicine this fall because o f a
lesson she taught to Eskimo children
in northern-most Alaska three years
e
FRESH
Acme Brand Young
U .S .D A . Grade A
10 to 13 lbs ond 17 to 2? lbs
78'
J
SE 20th & D IV IS IO N
Forest Grove - 2329 PACIFIC 14410 SE D IV IS IO N
SE 72nd 6 FLAVEL
Oregon City 878 MOLALLA 3966 SE POWELL
NE 18th b FREM ONT
Canby 1061 SW 1st
NE 74th E» GLISAN
W BURNSIDE at 21st
LLOYD CENTER
HILLSBORO 900 SE OAK
SAN R A F A E L -1910NE 122nd
c
T R QQBEK3I L
L