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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1981)
Portland Observer, December 10, 1961 Page 5 ^N ew ben^jJoydJ^nter Coupon From the Capitol í At f2 »»•€•• «n ••ch »tor« THE 'CUBE' PUZZLE by Rep. Ron Wyden Q. The W hile House Conference On Aging seemed to end in alm ost as much controversy as it began. In yo u r opinion, was the Conference a success? A. Although the conference could have accomplished more i f politics had not intervened, it did produce many positive suggestions as to how we cun better the life o f A m erica’ s elderly population. For example, the delegates recom mended: •Strong support for home health care— a cost-effective, more hu mane way o f delivering health care; •Strong support for expansion o f employment opportunities and elim ination o f mandatory retirement for older people—a move I have long supported and one which supports the right o f older people who wish to keep working; •In s titu tio n o f prospective reim bursement programs for payment o f health care providers—a cost-effect ive proposal fo r cu ttin g escalating health care costs and the same con cept contained in a bill I recently in troduced, and; • A proposal to eliminate the o u t side earnings lim ita tio n s that c u r rently p ro h ib its Social Security beneficiaries fro m earning more than $6,000 per year in outside in come w ithout having their benefits reduced. The delegates also discussed other Social Security reform s at great length. But because o f a conference rule which forced the delegates to vole on all the reports as part o f a single package, the resulting recom- mendations were sometimes contra dictory. For example, although the main com m ittee considering Social Se c u rity voted against using general funds to bolster the system, tw o other committees voted just the op posite. In general, however, the co n fe r ence did support restoration o f the m inim um Social Security benefit and maintenance o f existing levels o f benefits for current retirees. The fate o f benefits for future re tirees was le ft in the hands o f Congress and the A d m in is tra tio n (albeit with the instruction that they do everything in (heir power to m aintain benefit levels fo r that group). Q. You said you though the con ference co u ld have accom plished even m ore i f p o litic s hadn 7 in te r vened. Do you think there's any way to prevent s im ila r p roblem s fr o m occurring in the future? A. Yes, and to accom plish that goal, I have written a letter to Rep. Claude Pepper, C hairm an o f the House Select Com m ittee on Aging, requesting: ( I) That the Committee begin im m ediately to review the rules and regulations w hich gov erned the 1980 W hite House C on ference on A g in g , and to lay the groundwork for development o f ra tional and responsible rules fo r the 1990 Conference, and; (2) That wc take whatever action necessary Io ensure that in the fu tu re , p o litica l parlies and other organizations that receive copies o f the list o f delegates w ill be prohibited from using those lists for political purposes M illio n * of co m b ina tio n * and only one correct solution A real challenge* SALE 1 LB. TIN ELSINORE DANISH COOKIES Delicious but ter cookies in a reusable tin. I □ □ □ □ SALE J 88 1 77 Hr*. Mon-Fri 9:30 am-9 pm Sat 9:30 am-6 pm Sun rioon-5 pm ALL NEW FUEL EFFICIENT CARS LOW DAILY RATES - FROM ’19« WEEKEND RATES - ‘15°* MAJOR CREDIT CARDS OR CASH Rentals An Open Letter (Call for Cash Qualifications) 223-4531 by Police C hief Ron S till I have used this “ open le tte r" to explain some o f the Police Bureau’ s fu n ctio n s and policie s, w ith the hope that this provides citizens o f Portland with a better understand ing o f how the Bureau works. I w ill also use these letters to alert citizens to problems w ithin the city. Right now, the rising crime rate is a significant concern that needs to be addressed. D u rin g the past few months, major crimes arc being re ported to the police at a rate o f 50 per cent more than the past year. This includes burglary, robbery and rapes. This trend is not much d iffe re n t fo r o ther cities, but it should cause sonic reaction fro m citizens in Portland. From 1974 to 1979, crim es against persons and property showed cither a decrease or a leveling o ff. 1980 ended w ith a slight increase in most crimes. A variety o f factors are involved. Some o f these factors can be in flu enced by the police and some by citizens. One area that I am working toward, is increasing the number o f convicted crim inals that are incar cerated. By keeping people in ja il who have a h is to ry o f repeating crimes, the city w ill greatly benefit by the reduced crime rate. But (his is something that cannot happen im mediately. Portland is still confront ed with the problem that requires in put from everyone. It is everyone’ s responsibility to help reduce crime. Wc all want P ortland to be a safe place to live. In order to m aintain that, citizens need to be w illin g to extend themselves. P ortland did see a reduction in the crime rate and much o f this was the result o f increased participation among citizens. The willingness to report suspicious a c tiv ity and be coming involved in your neighbor hood arc two ways you can impact the crim e rate. One o f the reasons that burglaries are so high, is that the burglar goes in a neighborhood, unnoticed. We have a Crime Prevention Unit that can pro vid e in fo rm a tio n on how you can secure your home and learn about Neighborhood Watch. They also o ffe r self-defense classes and com m ercial crim e prevention techniques. I recommend that you call Crim e Prevention at 248-4126. it’ s there to assist vou. 600 S W P in e B e tw e e n 6 th Et B r o a d w a y I f you have com m ents or ques tions regarding the Portland Police Bureau, send them to me through the Public In fo rm a tio n O ffice, 222 SW Pine. Portland, Oregon, 97204. I w ill not be able to respond in my open le tte r to each and every concern, but w ill select those which w ill assist in improving communica tion and relations with the commun ity. Cities in a new tim e o f crisis by C arl Holman, President N ational Urban Coalition In many ways this is the most c rit ical time for cities, for the poor, for m inorities, since the U rban C o a li tion was founded in (he midst o f the urban riots in 1967. M ost o f what was largely taken fo r granted by many Am ericans in the earliest days o f the Coalition has now been called in question. That includes guiding principles, p rio ri ties, programs. The role o f govern ment, particularly, has undergone a radical sea change. Minorities and the poor are pretty much out o f favor and basic guaran tees which offered them some p ro tection are in danger o f disappear ing along w ith the deadwood o f bureaucratic waste and red-tape. M any o f those who were about to get a leg up on the jo b and educa tional ladder fin d the rungs giving way underfoot. Further up that now shaky ladder, a good many m iddle class Am ericans, who once felt se cure and generous, now tu rn in ward, holding on for dear life against the threats o f economic uncertainty and the fear and the ugly reality o f violence. The p rivate sector is o ffe re d in ducements which somehow fa il to induce (witness W all Street). In some quarters the private sector is expected to span an unprecedented gap in services and resources. The response has p redictably been un e v e n -g iv in g both o p tim ists and pessimists som ething to be self- righteous about. Cities that were on the rocky road to coping w ith some o f their fiscal and re vita liza tio n needs, now find themselves saddled with new obliga tions and drastically diminished re sources. W hile physical in fra stru c tures collapse and economists argue, M ayors and city councils pare ser vices to the bone and struggle to pla cate increasingly irate citizens look ing fo r answers to those problem s uncerem oniously dum ped on the steps o f City Hall by W ashington A more positive development is that luckier urban com m unities arc fin d in g a new cadre o f volunteers fro m business and civic groups, along with some admittedly atypical individuals, who bring to large cities some badly needed skills —and a touch o f that communal spirit which rom anticists would have us believe anim ated most small towns in the past. The past is indeed with us in many ways. The near-past is censored daily and a very harsh price is being exacted fo r earlier errors. Social program s which wc arc to ld over- promised and underproduced, cost precious tax dollars in the process. I he Kian and less blatant peddlers ol racism have once more emerged tro m the dark fringes o f nationa l life The media and politics arc loud with the voices o f the harshly pious apostles o f the new Salem in their three-piece suits. A nd fo r every thing from the economy, to crim e, to foreign a ffairs, many seem con vinced that com plex realities can best be dealt w ith by simple reme dies that worked well enough when America and the world were a good deal younger. Pacific Citizen Power o f the Week W ith so much gloom being dis pensed these days from Washington and elsewhere, the battered cham pions o f urban A m erica must choose between despair or the bra zen illo g ica lity o f that French Gen eral in W orld W at I who is supposed to have said som ething like: “ My rear is threatened, my flanks are col lapsing—therefore, I shall attack!” W ar in the Middle East? (Continued fro m page ! column 5) United States, he must be good for his people. Conversely, those political figures who arc favored by the U nited Stales more often than not tend to be unpopular among their own peo ple. Anwar Sadat is the latest case in p o in t, as the m uted F g yp tia n re sponse to his assasination clearly in dicated. The obvious conclusion to be draw n fro m this paradox is that U S. policymakers either arc hope lessly out o f touch w ith re a lity or th e ir policies are in fundam en tal contradiction with the aspirations o f Third W orld people. In recent m onths p a rtic u la rly , Muammar Khadafy has been char acterized by the U.S. governm ent and the American press as the most dangerous man on earth, the p r i mary cause o f all its evils: hijacking, kidnaping, revolution. Thus, any ty rant in Africa or the Middle East to day who wants to remain in power despite the popular w ill need only in vo ke the threat o f K h a d a fy to q u a lify fo r U.S. m ilita ry supplies. Much too often, these arms are used fo r suppressing their own people. Sudan has recently locked away m ore than 10,000 o f its citizens. And the new leadership in Egypt is credited w ith ro u n d in g up over 30,000 government critics. The fact is that K h a d a fy ’ s real threat docs not spring from his m ili ta ry m ight but fro m his genuine popularity among the inhabitants o f neighboring countries. His progres sive social and economic policies— and his general support for the op pressed— have enorm ous appeal w ith o rd in a ry people, especially when they compare the l.ibyan col onel w ith their own leaders who so frequently are exploitative at home and subservient to the West. To a large extent, the Muslim up rising in the Middle East and Africa is a repudiatio n o f Western econ om ic and c u ltu ra l d o m in a tio n , a re p u d ia tio n w hich also underlies K hadafy’ s p o litic a l stance. He has not engineered it, but he docs sym bolize it, and this is the essence o f his popularity. .lust before the O rganization o f A fric a n U n ity (O A U ) sum m it in N airobi this past June, the United Stales m obilized all o f its support among African heads o f stale to op pose Khadafy’s election to the presi dency o f that o rg a n iz a tio n next year. But to no avail: Khadafy w ill be the O A U president fo r 1982-3, after all, and host its summit in T ri poli. At N airobi, both France and the United States attempted to make a major issue o f the invasion o f Chad by L ib y a 's a rm y — again w ith o u t success. In fact, the O A U acknow ledged that Libya’ s army has helped reestablish peace in Chad after 20 years o f a French-manipulated civil war which was terribly costly in lives and property. French president Francois M illcr- and’ s assertion Oct. 23 at Cancún to the effect that Khadafy is about to o v e rth ro w President G o u ko u n i Oucddei o f Chad suggests a contin uing Western strategy to embarrass and isolate Khadafy in preparation ■ for his forcible ouster. It is an open secret that the United States is readying its Rapid Deploy ment Force for potential use in such a move in con ju n ctio n w ith Egypt and Sudan. As early as July o f this year the U.S. press was discussing a C IA project to set up a “ large-scale o p e ra tio n " fo r to p p lin g Khadafy. The Sadat assassination and the shaky condition o f Sudanese presi dent Gaafar N im eiri have provided an ideal pretext for action. But u n lik e the assassination o f Sadat, any attempt on Khadfy’ s life w ould be bound to set o f f c iv il s trife , not o n ly in L ib ya but in E gypt, Sudan and p ro b a b ly throughout most o f the region. It is well to remember the consequences o f Western aggression on Egypt in 1956, when the conservative A n thony Eden o f England and socialist Guy M ollet o f France attempted to oust Nasser over the Suez issue. Instead, both Eden and M o lle t were throw n out o f power in their own countries, and Nasser emerged as the leading figure in the M iddle East and A fric a fo r m ore than a decade t> • I Qlt I Pacific New. Service (A .M . Babu, form er M inister for Econom ic Developm ent o f T a n zania. leaches at Amherst College.) Dental Clinic (Continued fro m page I column 3) o fth e O H S U . Two denturists are al so employed at the clinic. “ M eeting the needs o f h a n d i capped persons in our community is one o f the m ajor goals o f the clinic and som ething we are fu lly equipped to d o ," said Dr. Rosen stein. “ Several o f our dentists have extensive experience w orking w ith the handicapped and the c lin ic is easily accessible.” As part o f the OH SU School o f D entistry’ s curriculum , dental stu dents arc required to spend at least one week o f their school program at the clinic. “ We want the students to realize the excellent care that can be p ro vided to low-income persons and to see that it tru ly is appreciated by these p a tie n ts .” said D r. Rosen- stcin. ¡ President of one of the c o m m u n ity 's most successful businesses is Henry S c o tt, w ho presides over Coast Ja n ito ria l Service. The com pany was established in 1957. Five S cott brothers -- Henry, M anuel, A lb e rt, Sam and Terry — are involved in the family business. Primarily a janitorial service, Coast operates in Oregon, W ashin gton and Idaho. A recent acquisition is the contract for McChord Air Force Base in Tacom a. The com pany is a major em ployer fo r com m un ity residents and contributes to the economic development of the area. S co tt belongs to the NAACP, the Urban League, and is a member of Bethel AME Church. He and his w ife Bernice have raised four children. For relaxation, he enjoys boating. BRO UG HTTO YOU BY Pacific Power
