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PORTLAND OBSERVER
April 22, 1982
Volume XII, Number 28
250 Per Copy
Two Sections
USPS 959-680-855
Prophet speaks to Portland
by Dr. Matthew Prophet, Superintendent o f Schools
I f I could have chosen a time to arrive in Portland I would not have cho
sen this time, but I am here. Now that I am here, i am just as responsible for
what happens in the Portland School District as you who have been in
volved for many years. It is my intent to exert my utmost effort to bring
about a resolution to the Tubman situation—a problem that is serious for
the entire city. I do not pretend to know what the ultimate resolution will
be, but I believe that any solution must include the meaningful involvement
of the parents o f the children who are affected by the Tubman decision.
While it was my original intention to spend the first few weeks o f my su
perintendency planning important new educational directions for the school
system, I must admit that because o f the Tubman issue these plans have
been placed on the shelf temporarily until the Tubman problem is solved. I
hope wc all realize that the current disagreements between the Board o f
Education and some elements o f the black community are serious indeed; so
I have no choice but to dedicate the major part o f my time working to help
solve the problem.
Being new to the community I know that I cannot initially expect to gain
the level o f confidence from the community that I will eventually need to do
what I must do for our children; for confidence in any individual comes
only alter that individual demonstrates through his or her action that such
confidence or credibility is truly deserved. I will do my utmost to gain the
confidence o f all parents and citizens o f Portland by treating every student
as an important and unique individual.
Certainly there is still much I must learn about the city o f Portland, our
school system, our students and various segments o f the community. This, I
can «wily d o by •‘being on the scene'’ a * much as possible, and by talking
with the students themselves, parents, teachers, counselors, administrators
and other people involved in educating our youth. People in Portland can
therefore look forward to seeing a lot o f me. You can expect to see me in
schools, churches, community centers, barber shops or whereever I feel it is
necessary for me to visit in order to feel the real pulse o f our community.
I have the committment to remain as accessible as possible. Obviously
there will be times when I cannot respond personally to every person want
ing to speak or visit with me; but I promise to do my best in this regard.
In (his article, it is not my intent to give details about all the things that I
will want our school system to address. However several issues are o f such
obvious importance and concern to parents and citizens that not to discuss
these issues, at least lather briefly, would be a serious oversight.
Specifically I am aware that many o f our children are simply not achiev
ing to the extent they are capable. In fact too many students by the time they
reach the 6th grade are already three to four years below grade level. M y
task and mission here is therefore very simple; Do something about it.
Actually I believe that this serious deficit can be improved measurably;
but I also believe that it will require the help o f parents to a degree that, as
yet, has not been evident. One part o f my solution to this problem will be to
mobilize the vast reservoir o f parent energy and call upon many o f the o r
ganizations in our community to help the schools. In addition, o f course, to
the increased role o f parents is the need for our school system to rethink and
change some o f our own methods . . . This will be done.
Another problem o f equal seriousness is that o f too many o f our young
men and women dropping out o f school— or in some cases being “ pushed
out o f school.” I simply refuse to accept the conclusion that more o f our
young people cannot be convinced to continue their schooling, fully recog
nizing that to have this happen will in many cases require the schools to do
some things differently than in the past. Continuing with the subject o f
“ dropouts” and "pushouts” — again we must not lose sight o f the fact that
the economic situation in Portland constitutes a big part o f the problem, be
cause in some cases young people h aw no choice but to find a job to help
their parents and in other cases, some o f our youth quit school because they
can see no good reasons for continuing. Jn both o f the aforementioned situ
ations the depressed economic condition o f the area proves to be a contrib
uting factor. Here 1 sec my / o lc « * > .- o f ^ o r k iii g . x it h employers both ia
the private and public sectors, and doing all I can to improve job opportun
ities for youth for their parents.
O f course, although the current depressed economy adds to the problem,
“ dropouts” and “ pushouts" are not new conditions.
The agenda I will develop for our schools will not be a hollow promise. It
will be real— it will be meaningful— and it will be addressed by the school
district staff in a serious manner.
What wc all want for our children not only can happen— it will happen.
DR. M A TTH EW PROPHET
(Photo. Richard Brownl
Military spending harms economy, life of each individual
The Keagan budget with its enor
mous increases in military expendi
tures has a direct effect on (he lives
o f every citizen.
As the Portlnd C ity Council and
the M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty Board o f
County Commissioners debate their
budgets, attempting to stretch lim
ited funds to fund local programs
and agencies and cover deficits
caused by reduction o f federal
funds, the local effects of the feder
al budget cuts w ill become more
evident.
The U nited States has 2112 nu
clear d elivery weapons including
launching platforms for intercontin
ental missiles, strategic bombers and
submarines. In addition to this im
mense destructive power, the U .S .
has nearly 4 m illio n men in the
armed forces, 200 tactical nuclear
missile delivery vehicles, over 11,000
tanks, 12,000 field artillery, 848 na
val units including 79 nuclear sub
marines and 20 aircraft carriers. The
U .S . has over 300 m a jo r m ilita ry
bases scattered around the world.
The Reagan adm inistration is in
an all-out effort to increase the na
tion’s military might.
This means an increase in the mil
ita ry budget during the next fou r
years so that in 1986 it w ill reach
$373 billion, 36 per cent o f the over
all budget for that year. Between
1982 and 1986 an estimated 1.5 tril
lion dollars will be spent.
This vast military expenditure has
its impact on the economy. Follow
ing W o rld W ar I I the m ilita ry ex
penditure was one o f the main in
struments o f the economy. It tended
tem porarily to step up the rate o f
economic growth when the nation
was not using its full productive po
tential and had surpluses of material
resources.
The 1974-1975 econom ic crisis
demonstrated, however, that m ili
tary expenditures were no longer
able to cushion the im pact o f the
crisis, let alone provoke an econom
ic recovery. Also, the in flatio n ary
nature o f military spending became
evident since it increases money sup
ply and commodity demands w ith
out a compensating production o f
consumer goods. M ilitary expendi
tures also take material and human
resources from the civilian industry,
thus retarding its development and
restraining the growth o f labor pro
ductivity.
M ilita ry expenditures also cause
unemployment. In the U .S . the ex
penditure o f $1 billion on the m ili
tary supports 76,000 jobs while a
like expenditure in the civilian sector
creates 112,000 jobs.
The ever-growing military budget
is accom panied by a decreasing
amount o f funds for other uses. The
effects reach every American citizen
as unemployment, poverty, and the
social problems they cause increase
at an alarming rate. The effects are
disproportionately borne by minori
ties and poor whites.
• In the U.S. unemployment is ap
proaching ten per cent.
•W h ile 8.7 per cent o f the white
population was reported at poverty
level in 1981, the Hispanic popula
tion in poverty reached 21.6 per cent
and Blacks 30.6 per cent.
•T h e rate o f high school gradu
ates has been decreasing. W hile 37
per cent o f whites com plete high
school, only 30 per cent o f Blacks
and 25.6 per cent o f Hispanics grad
uate.
•Th e health programs launched in
the '60s to help alleviate the vast d if
ferences in access to quality health
care have undergone major cuts. In
1981 cuts in these program s
amounted to $16 billion, with $17.2
billion cut in 1982. These cuts affect
24 m illion people, including 7 m il
lion children. The infant m ortality
rate for whites in the U .S . in 1977
was 12.3 per 1,000 live births; for
Blacks and minorities it was 21.7.
•Th ere are 27 m illion people un
der 20 years o f age. One-third suffer
from instability, dissatisfaction, re-
1Please turn to page 4 col. 5)
Sharecropping in Las Marvinas
A R E YOU SURE IT D O E S N 'T HURT? M ass vaccin atio n clinics
ware held to prevent removal from school of youngsters who had no
proof of vaccination April 21 was the deadline set by the Otegon
Legislature.
(Photo: Richard Brownl
by Jack Epstein and J. H. Evans
Pacific News Service
" I ’ m not B ritish ," said Graham
Bound, 24-year-old editor o f one of
the Falkland Islands’ two monthly
newspapers. ‘ ‘ I'm a F alkla n d is
lander."
Although Bound’s comment was
made before the A rgentine armed
force invaded the English colony in
the south Atlantic, it characterized a
quiet but growing schism between a
tra d itio n a l lo y alty to the British
Commonwealth and a nascent inde
pendence movement among an em
erging generation o f islanders.
" E v e ry b o d y here shouts, ‘ God
bless the Queen’ and even refers to
the U n ited K ingdom as h o m e ,”
Bound noted. " B u t th a t’s rid ic u
lous. I t ’s just a charade."
Although Bound docs not repre
sent the sentiment o f the majority of
the Falkland islanders, he does re
flect the increasing uncertainty they
have felt over being caught in the
middle o f a 150-year-old territorial
dispute between England and A r
gentina.
The 1800 islanders o f British
stock, known as “ Kelpers" (because
o f the vast kelp beds surrounding
the islands), arc considered simple
and unsophisticated by both na
tions. H isto rically, they have been
forgotten in the diplom atic w ra n
gling and, more recently, ignored by
the world press which refers to them
as Britons.
Since the islands had no indigen
ous people, the Argentines regard
them as “ transplanted persons” and
have consistently denied them legal
status. In fact, it wasn't until 1980
that the Kelpers were allow ed to
participate in UN-sponsored nego
tiations over the status of the island,
and only then as part of the English
team.
W hile the A rgentinians negated
their legal residency position, Eng
land confused their status further
under (he controversial 1981 N a
tional Immigration Laws by denying
them English citizenship unless their
parents or p atern al g rand fath ers
were born in the United Kingdom.
This law , which applies to most
Kelpers, heightened a common sus
picion that W hitehall secretly want
ed to relinquish sovereignty to A r
gentina. The Kelpers believed Eng
la n d ’s alleged lack o f interest in
keeping the islands was bound up in
world sentiment against colonialism
and the financial strain o f support
ing the islands logistically and m ili
tarily.
Recent diplom atic initiatives by
Britain lent credence to the accusa
tions about W hitehall’s "schemes,”
which included a leaseback arrange
ment whereby Argentina would get
sovereignty but England would lease
back the islands in a H o n g ko n g -
style arrangement. This idea was the
least p opular o f many that have
been suggested to the Kelpers over
the years.
In fact, based .in two weeks o f in
terviews late last year, in Port Stan-
ley, the c a p ita l, a> d on outlying
sheep ranches, these correspondents
encountered an enormous diversity
o f opinion, ranging from accepting
a lease-back agreement to demand
ing a permament freeze on negotia
tions with their South American ad
versaries.
H ow ever, in speaking w ith iso
lated shepherds, C h ile an day la
borers, owners, managers, young
radicals and British civil servants,
the consensus was that the islands
should remain a colony. The more
p o litic a lly active, especially the
young nationalists, expressed the
need for the Kelpers to shed their
colonial status and unilaterally de
clare their independence. This was
generally regarded by older resi
dents to be an extreme and unten
able position.
Adding to Kelper fears have been
rumors that the Falkland Island Co.
(F IC ), the largest landholder with 46
per cent o f the land and the princi-
r