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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1982)
•• •■ •■ ■ ta M rs F r a n c » ! S c h o e n -’ .’ e xsp a tp cr U n !c r a f t y o f O regon M f c r a r y :co a NEW Cora Smith on Fashions Prostitution in Portland Page 2 Juvenile crime declines L.A. works its Magic — - Page 15 Page 2 P‘ )RTL4ND OBSERMER ----------------- ------------ > Oregon’s next governor: Who will he be? Jerry R ust, candidate fo r the D em ocratic P arty n o m in a tio n fo r Governor o f Oregon, wants to bring about fundamental changes. “ The main issue is the economy,” he explained. “ Everyone talks about the economy but 1 propose fundam ental changes that w ill help b u ild the economy o f Oregon and make the state more independent— quasi-independent.” The state o f Oregon can never be fu lly independent—but it can move to m inim ize the effects o f national policy errors here. “ I feel the feder al government is headed fo r bigger problems. There is too much m ili tary expenditure and interest rates w ill not come dow n.” I Rust’ s first answer to the stagna ting economy is a State Bank. This bank would be capitalized with state m oney— state in d u s tria l accident funds, employee retirement funds, etc.— c u rre n tly to ta lly about $3.5 b illio n . C u rre n tly the money is invested in the money market where it can gain the best interest income -«-usudily out o f state. C reation o f a State Bank would be accompanied by a new policy o f investment at home. The State Bank w ould invest in and make loans to local small businesses— which pro vide 80 per tent o f the jobs. I A second boost to the economy w ould be m aking Oregon the “ re newable energy c a p ita l o f the w o rld ” O regon's move to nuclear power w ill result in electric rates quadrupling in ten years. Develop ment o f technology for small hydro electric plants, solar, methane and other renewable energy sources would not only free Oregon ratepay ers fro m high electric b ills , but could be exported. Energy— an alternative to o il— is a b illio n d o lla r business. Oregon is in a p o sitio n to provide energy to the countries o f the Pacific R im — k J - ____________ the m arket o f the fu tu re . Oregon has the human resources, the educa tio n , the natural resources to pro vide the leadership. This industry— along w ith public pow er— w ould make Oregon ener gy-self-sufficient. O ther areas in w hich Oregon could become a leader are in tele com m unications and cable televi sion. The natural resources— fish, agriculture, forests— should be de veloped along w ith health care and research. Following are excerpts from the statem ent of Chairman Scott and Superintendent Fen wick regarding the decision to place Tubman Middle School in the Boise Building: “ The decision by the Board o f E ducation to p e rm anen tly locate Tubman M iddle School at the pre sent Boise School site has draw n criticism from some members o f the community. “ This criticism is based upon the tact that Eliot School was originally named as the perm anent Tubm an School site in the district’ s compre hensive desegregation plan adopted in A p ril, 1 9 8 0 .... “ Am ong the key issues affecting •he final decision were: •Boise is the closest o f a ll sites considered to the center o f both the current and projected Tubman stu dent population; •Boise has the lowest ten-year to tal cost projection o f all sites consid ered and the lowest cost per student capacity, as well; •Boise can accommodate a 750- student p o p u la tio n ; this w ill allow Rust is a supporter o f public pow er and would put article 11-D o f the Oregon Constitution into effect. 11- D is a p ro v is io n th a t enables the JERRY RUST state to develop and sell electricity. “ The nuclear debt w ill bankrupt the $250,000 w ill get $23,000 from the N o rth w e s t. . . . It w ill take tw o federal tax re d u c tio n . The states weeks salary from every person for should get some o f that money.” He the next 30 years to pay the WPPS opposes a sales tax, which places a d e b t.” Five to six per cent o f the greater burden on low and middle- bonded indebtedness in the United income people. States is in WPPS and it is the great The state needs a long-term fiscal est financial disaster in the history p la n — a plan that w o u ld measure o f the region. the needs o f the state and revenue “ The Bonneville Power Adm inis projections over a long term. Money tra tio n and the p riv a te u tilitie s to finance the state programs should b la ckm ailed the p u b lic w ith th e ir be based on ability to pay. false projections” o f needs for elec The c u rre n t p ractice is “ crisis tric power, he said. The public u til management” — going fro m fiscal ity districts need to withdraw and let crisis to fiscal crisis, trying to make the investors take the loss. He con state governm ent sm aller but not siders assessing the public u tility dis more efficient. tricts and ratepayers fo r the WPPS Rust opposes the current m ilita ri 4 and 5 nulcear plants, and possibly za tio n on m oral and econom ic a li fiv e , to be ille g a l because grounds. Reagan has requested a Measure 9, passed by the citizens o f tr illio n d o lla r war budget, interest Oregon in 1978, states that ratepay rates have risen in response, and the ers cannot be charged fo r w ork on cu rre n t G o ve rn o r o f O regon has utility plants until they are in use. tried to bail out o f the recession by T o meet the im m ediate budget inviting the war industry to Oregon. Rust’ s main problem in the next needs Rust favors a graduated cor 60 days is to get his message to the porate income tax and a graduated people. “ I need $50,000 to $70,000 individual income tax that would re lieve the tax burden o f lower income fo r the p rim a ry,” he said. A popu persons and small businesses while list, and an opponent o f the private increasing the taxes o f those who u tilitie s , his message has not been earn m ore. “ Persons earning carried by the m ajor media. _______________________________ Avenue at 7:00 p.m. Another public event is the C om m unity Luncheon at Geneva’ s, W illia m s and S kid more, set for 12:30 Friday. H ig h lig h t o f the conference w ill be the A n n u a l Freedom Fund Banquet, w ith Executive D ire cto r B enjam in H ooks as speaker. The event w ill be held at the H ilto n B a llro o m , F rid a y , 7:00 p.m . The conference theme is “ L in k in g the Generations on an Upward C lim b.” March 18, 1982 Volume XII, Number 23 25v Per Copy Two Sections School Board explains decision m ore students to choose the T ub- man M iddle School program; •Boise increases them easure o f desegregation based upon c rite ria accepted by the U.S. Department o f E ducation and the federal courts. A ll other sites under consideration m aintain the status quo or actually decrease the desegregation measure; •Boise is in the geographic heart o f the Black com m unity and satis fied the B oard’ s prom ise to locate Tubman in this part o f the city; Boise w ill mean a vastly strength ened 6-8 academic program fo r stu dents cu rre n tly enrolled there who w ill be reassigned to Tubm an M id dle School; •Boise p rim a ry students w ill at tend early childhood education cen ters in nearby schools: these p ro grams w ill provide ¡riched cur riculum fo r the Boise prim ary c h il dren; •B oise as a perm anent site fo r Tubm an M id d le School w ill allow continuation o f the nationa lly rec ognized early childhood education center at E lio t; this is a program highly prized by many m inority and non-m inority parents; Hooks addresses banquet The public is invited to participate in portions o f the N AAC P Regional Conference to be held in P ortland on March 18th through 21st. A rally w ill be held T hursday evening at Bethel A M E Church, 5828 N.E. 8th 3»' ' ^3 Dancers Brenda Bufalino and Honi Coles auto- graph mural at Jefferson High School during recent teaching session with the school's dance •Boise, as a site fo r Tubman w ill mean that a K-8 school option is not available in that com m unity; how ever, this is not unusual. The pres ence o f m iddle schools throughout the city in community after commu n ity has meant the discontinuance o f neighborhood K-8 schools; •Boise is a ce ntrally located site that w ill continue to attract non-m i nority students from throughout the city to Tubm an’ s exciting program. •P arent a d visory com m ittees at both Boise and E lio t recommended against the E liot site. “ We know that the change in our decision has disappointed the expec tations o f many. We want to w ork w ith the c o m m u n ity to heal any breach in o rd e r that the c h ild re n won’ t suffer from further uncertain ty. “ The Board o f Education urgent ly needs the help o f parents and other citizens to stand w ith the dis trict in helping immediately to plan the d e tails o f the new T ubm an building—to w ork w ith adm inistra tors, teachers and architects to in sure that Tubm an continues as the most exciting school in the c ity .” 13 i t ■ $ 1’’^ ] program. See story on page 3. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Grenada celebrates third anniversary of revolution On M arch 13th the small island nation o f Grenada celebrated the th ird anniversary o f its revolution. On March 13, 1979, the New Jewel Movement ended the 21-year rule o f E ric G a iry w ith a bloodless coup. The new People’ s R e v o lu tio n a ry Government has made great strides in b ringing not o n ly econom ic re form s but self-governm ent to the 110,000 citizens. A cc o rd in g to P rim e M in is te r M aurice Bishop, “ O ur revolution was for justice, for food, for health, fo r housing, fo r clothing, for pipe- borne water, for education, for peo ple’ s c o n tro l o f our resource, fo r people’ s participation.” One o f the m ajor obstacles facing the PRG was the 45 per cent illite r acy rate among adults. In a popula tion where more than half the popu lation is under 21, the lack o f state- supported schools was a crip p lin g negligence. The new governm ent has in s titu te d free secondary schools; has lowered tuition to elem entary schools; provides scholar ships, clothing and books to low-in come students, and provides schol arships for university study abroad. Centers fo r Popular Education have been established fo r the teaching o f adults. 1981 saw the introduction o f free medical care and the o fficia l launch ing o f a primary health scheme. In three years the real gross do mestic product has grown nearly 10 per cent, far more than that o f the industrialized nations. In 1981 ex ports jumped from $44.6 m illion to $51.1 m illion in spite o f poor prices fo r the c o u n try ’ s m a jo r exports: nutmeg, cocoa and bananas. Pro duction o f all three o f these crops expanded last year. Imports went up from $151.8 m il lion to $159.9 m illion in spite o f ef fo rts to reduce dependence on im ports. A substantial portion o f this went for construction o f the new in ternational a irp o rt, but the cost o f imported food also increased. The standard o f liv in g has risen considerably w ith a rise in salaries and an increase in social wages— free medical care, secondary educa tion, dental care and m ilk. 1982 has been named “ The Year o f Econom ic C o n s tru c tio n .” The p rio rity w ill be the develonment o f a g ric u ltu re and a g ri-in d u s try . Among the plans are soil and water conservation p ro je cts to expand p ro d u c tio n to h illsides and other areas previously considered not us able; a sheep and a pig farm; manu facture o f nutmeg oil and processing o f spices; large scale production o f ice cream and re co n stitu te d m ilk pro d u cts; processing o f orange juice, development o f the fishery. During the year 1981 the govern ment continued its e ffo rt to place more political power in the hands o f the people, establishing Parish C o uncils th ro u g h o u t the n a tio n . This structure allows the people to come together with government o f fic ia ls , m o n th ly , to discuss issues ranging fro m the placing o f water pipes to the progress being made on the new international airport. A t least tw o im portant new laws had their origin in the Parish Coun c ils — the m a te rn ity leave law and the rent control law. Also expanding in importance are the mass organizations: the N ation al Youth Organization, the National Women's Organization, the Nation al Students O rg a n iz a tio n and the trade unions. It was the trade unions that brought about the new p ro fit sharing scheme for workers who are em ployed on p riv a te ly owned es tates. In January, nearly 1,000 Grenadi ans, representing 30,000 members o f mass organizations, actively par ticipated in the fo rm u la tio n o f the n a tio n ’ s 1982 budget. Brought to gether in a N ational Conference o f Delegates o f Mass Organizations in the Econom y, the delegates repre sented over 60 per cent o f the adult population. The prelim inary budget was then taken back to the organiza tions and to the Parish Councils and the private sector, so that when the fin a l budget was presented or March 9th, 80 per cent o f the peopl« had participated in its development. (Please turn to page 2 column 3) P.M. MAURICE BISHOP
