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Im pact of plant closures
Male
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in Portland
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Assessing
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Blazers
Ebony
Fashion
Fair
Page 10
Section II, Pages 4 & 5
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
A p ril 29, 1982
Volum e X II, Num ber 29
25C Per Copy
T w o Sections
USPS 959-680-855
RONNIE HERNDON
FREDDYE PETTET
JOHN GARLINGTON
CHARLOTTE BEEMAN
JOE RIEKE
M A T T H E W PR O P H ET
Tubman site negotiations begin
Superintendent Matthew Prophet
announced that "discussions arc
progressing" after concluding the
first meeting o f the mediation teams
representing the black community
and the school district Wednesday
night.
Bob Hughes, m ediator fo r the
U.S. Department o f Justice,
Community Relations Service, said
the meeting marked a beginning. " I t
initia ted a d ia lo g u e ." An agenda
was set fo r a Thursday evening
meeting and the decision was made
to target May 10th for completing
diliberations.
" I t is a good sound beginning."
Hughes said. “ I am very optimistic.
It is very complex; the issues go far
back and there are deep feelings in
the community.”
Representing the community arc
Ronnie Herndon, co-chairman o f
the Black United F ro n t; Freddye
Pettet, executive d ire ctor o f the
Urban League o f P ortland; and
Reverend
John
G arlin gto n ,
President o f the Albina Ministerial
Alliance. Reverend John Jackson is
substituting fo r Reverend John
Garlington until he returns to town
later in the week. Also present was
Bill McC'lertdon. who will serve as a
resource person.
Representing the school board are
Dr. Matthew Prophet and board
members Charlotte Beeman and Joe
Rieke.
At the Monday night meeting Dr.
Prophet recommended that the
Board re-examine the decision to
place Tubman at Boise to allow for
greater participation in the decision
by parents and students; that the re
examination take place under the
auspices o f the U.S. Justice Depart
ment mediation team; and that the
conditions set down by black com
munity leaders be accepted. These
are that: the Board state willingness
to reconsider the site; that the Board
agree not to pursue an in ju nctio n
during the period o f mediation; that
mediation begin by A p ril 26th and
that it result in a Board decision by
May 10th.
He recommended that the follow
ing actions take place p rior to the
decision of May 10th:
1. Communicate to parents facts
relevant to the decision.
2. Develop and implement plans
that will permit parents o f students
who would be impacted by the final
decision to express their opinions on
each optional site considered. (P a r
ents and students o f H um boldt, E l
iot, King, Boise and Tubman others
would be included.)
3. Specific determination o f what
happens to the Eliot program in case
Eliot is finally chosen as the site.
4. Expression o f opinions by
parents o f Boise’ s students as to
whether they want their children to
become a part o f the Tubm an pro
gram, and the extent to which their
choice depends on the site selected.
3. Reassignment plans for Boise’s
K-5 students in case Boise is finally
chosen as the site.
6. Program im provem ent plans
for Boise’s Pre-K-5 a n d /o r 6-8 stu
dents in case Boise is not chosen as
the site.
7. Student reassignments to other
schools pursuant to the decision on
a specific site.
8. The manner in which selection
o f the Tubman site supports or fails
to support desegregation.
The School D istrict’s negotiating
team w ill be app o in ted by D r.
Prophet and report to him; he will
(Please turn to page 2 col. I )
Crisis shakes pillars Reagan pushes chemical weapons
o f U. S. foreign policy
by Jon Steward and Nelson Valdez
Pacific News Service
ALBUQUERQUE. NEW M E X I
C O —The future may show that
what is at stake in (he Falklands Is
lands conflict has more to do with
U.S. security interests than those of
cither Argentina or England.
What is at stake, from Washing
to n ’ s view point, are the hitherto
separate pillars o f the geopolitical
system that the United States had
painstakingly constructed since
1945. That system, the heart o f
Western defenses, centers on Wash
ington and operates through the
N A TO pact and the Rio Treaty.
Now Washington is caught in a deli
cate balance between those two
principle arms of foreign policy.
The N A TO pad obligates the
United States to come to the defense
o f any member nation threatened by
an outside force. It is the primary
past binding the United States to
Western Europe in the powerful alli
ance o f developed, democratic na
lions.
The Rio Treaty is similarly a mu
tual and collective m ilita ry assist
ance instrument, binding the United
Stales Io its I atin American hemi
sphcrica neighbors. An extra con
tinental attack against one is an at
tack against all.
Now these two obligations arc
contending against one another, f he
danger is not merely that one nation
will lose and its pro-American gov
ernment w ill fall; it is rather that a
victory by either side might critically
damage the alliance o f the other
side. The salvaging o f inter-Amer
ican relations could mean the near-
severing o f U.S. European rela-
lions, and vice versa.
Either way, the United States
stands to lose m oic than a single
friend; it could lose a whole
alliance.
So far, neither side has chosen to
invoke the treaty obligations, leav
ing the United States room to play
the role of mediator. But cither side
could make a strong case to its fel
low treaty members that its territory
has been invaded. Western Europe
has already sprung io the support of
Great Britain with economic sanc
tions against Argentina that are the
most severe imposed by Europe on
any country in decades. The Euro
pean Economic Community is act
ing as a unified and powerful bloc in
support o f B ritain, if only tempo
rarily.
Similarly, Latin America has co
alesced behind Argentina. Panama
and Venezuela have appealed at the
U .N . Security C ouncil fo r Latin
unity in demanding that the British
fleet should not enter Latin Ameri
can waters. They would like to test
whether the spirit of the Rio Treaty
and the Monroe Doctrine applies
(Please turn to page S column I >
The Reagan A dm inistration has
embarked on a course o f
development and manufacture o f
chemical weapons. In the next five
years between four and ten billion
dollars will be invested to update the
armed forces’ chemical warfare
capability.
Art Kanegis, spokesperson for the
Ccntc for Defense In fo rm a tio n ,
reports that the US currently has 3
million nerve gas artillery shells and
many more chemical weapons.
There are at least 150,000 tons o f
various
chemical
substances
available for military use.
The chemical potential now in the
hands o f the United States could
wipe out life on earth. S till the
Reagan Administration budget for
1983 calls fo r $703 m illio n to
produce new binary nerve gas shells,
a Bigeyc bomb, and a 155 mm
artillery shell. Reportedly there arc
plans to build a chcmcial warhead
lor cruise missies.
Binary weapons arc those in
which tow slightly toxic agents
placed separately in a bomb or shell
arc brought together by an
explosion
lo
give
o ff
an
extraordinarily toxic emission. They
arc reported to he more deadly than
the chemical warfare agent sarin,
one quart of which can kill a million
people.
The gas attacks the central
nervous system. First there is
sweating, then impaired vision,
vom iting and defecation, convul
stons and paralysis. Death comes in
fifteen minutes.
I he binaries are reported lo be
capable o f killing all life within 12
miles, sicken all humans in the next
12 miles and contaminate areas for
weeks. The Pentagon wants an
arsenal o f 5,000 unites o f chemical
ammunition.
Chemical weapons have been
banned by the Geneva Protocal
since 1925, but the US refused to
sign any ban on chemical weapons
until 1975. In addition, the US was
the only country among the 157
nations belonging to the United
Nations that voted againt the
General Assembly resolution calling
on all nations to abstain from
manufacturing and deploying new
types o f chemical weapons in
countries where there are none at
present. The vote was 156 to 1.
The United States interupted
production in 1962 and in 1976
began talkes with the Soviet Union
lo pave the way fo r a collective
proposal on chemical weapons but
the talks were called o f by the US
delegation in 1980 on the grounds
that the Soviets were not in favor o f
"effectivecontrol measures."
The US was the only nation to
abstain when the UN General
Assembly attempted to restore the
talks.
Reagan announced on I ebruary
8lli that production would resume
because the weapons are ‘ ‘essential
to the national interest."
While manufacture o f chemical
weapons resumes, there is growing
opposition to their deployment in
I urope. Because West Germany is
reluctant lo store any additional
chemical weapons the Pentagon is
interested in basing them in Great
Britian. In a Reuters News Service
interview , US Assistant Deputy
Secretary o f the A rm y A m uretta
Hocker said the reason fo r
deployment in west Europe was for
possible use in an air attack to reach
deep into Soviet territory.
Already opposition is growing in
Britian, with a petition demanding
that the British government oppose
US plans to produce more nerve
gas. Stephen Rose, professor at the
Open University in Britian. said the
gases could produce irreversible
biochemical
and
biological
processes that could jeopardize life
on earth.
T h e s e a re MS s o ld ie rs in g as m a s k * . In s p ita o f h a v in g a la rg e
arsen al o f b io lo g ic a l w e a p o n s , th e U S has d ec id e d to in v es t h u g e
sum s in m a n u fa ctu rin g n ew types of these deadly w eap o n s