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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1982)
Observer Achievement Awards P«0« 7 Economy boosts Prophet discusses military enlistment agenda Page 1 ÙJ UJ NBA draft Page 12 Page 2 PORTWND OBSERVER June 23, 1982 Volume XII, Number 37 25C Per Copy Two Sections USPS 959-680-855 US implicated in Israeli attack on Lebanon by Claudia Wright Pacific News Service W A S H IN G T O N . D .C .— Tw o el ements distinguish the fifth A rab- Israeli war from its predecessors go ing back to 1948. First, the violence has been far more concentrated, in discriminate and devastating— few er Israelis have lost their lives killing more Arabs than was the case in earlier A rab -Israeli wars. Second, the record o f American action from just before the fighting commenced through the first tw o weeks in d i cates that the U .S . anticipated the invasion, and provided Israel with a degree o f m ilita ry and d ip lo m atic support that Washington has never before granted in com parable c ir cumstances. W hat is obvious, even from the prelim inary and censored estimate o f casualties, is that by comparison with earlier A rab-Israeli wars, this one has resulted in the lowest num ber o f Israeli dead and wounded. On the A rab side, however, one must go back to the first war ot 1948 to count a larger number o f casual ties. There are several reasons for this shift in the ratio o f Israeli to Arab casualties. This was a very one-sided battle between the enormous fire power o f the Israeli a ir, naval and artillery forces, and tight arms oper ated by pockets o f Palestinian guer rillas holed up inside the Lebanese cities o f Tyre, Sidon and Beirut. The P L O ’s tanks, truck-mounted rock ets and heavy artillery, which Israel has been claim ing fo r months had given the Palestinians a new degree o f military potency, either failed to enter the action and were captured, or were easily demolished by the Is raeli bombardment and blitzkrieg. Israeli command o f the air and sea was never challenged by the Pales tinians who lack an air or sea force. Israeli victories over the Syrian air force were inevitable given the su periority o f F-lSs and F-16s over the Soviet built M IG -2 1 s used; the greater flexibility o f American-built Sidewinder a ir-to -a ir missiles; the enormous advantage the Israelis have in electronic techniques for suppres sing their adversaries’ target compu ters; and, most crucial o f a ll, the complete Israeli coverage by radar , « f Syrian aircraft movements inside Syria itself. W ith radars overlooking southern Syria from Mount Harm on, and un challenged aerial radar reconnais- (Ptease turn to page 4 column 4) Afterm ath of an Israeli raid In South Lebanon. Federal aid harms poor cities Reversing policies o f past admin istrations, a draft o f the first urban policy statement for the Reagan adm inistration asserts that federal aid has contributed heavily to the decline o f US cities and agues that many grants should be eliminated. The new criteria would eliminate a wide range o f federal assistance including help for water supplies, street repairs, transportation and other areas where federal dollars are now used extensively. The re p o rt, prepared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, states that even the most fiscally troubled cities could recover w ithout federal help. The report says federal aid has helped cause the poor to become the only class o f people without motivation to move elsewhere for a better op portunity. M ean w h ile the U n ited States Conference o f M ayors, which met last weekend in Minneapolis, seeks increased federal assistance. Most large cities are cutting budgets to cope with the recession and federal cuts. M any states are in the same situation. The report states, "T o o often the Federal Government has been called upon to intervene to insulate in d ivid u als, businesses and communities from the consequences o f changes brought about by evolving technology, shifting market conditions and altered social attitudes. Intervention can do more harm than good by slowing the process o f individual and collective adjustment to changes. ” As for the poor, federal programs have provided subsidies that " o fte n underm ined personal am bitions fo r s e lf-b e tte rm e n t,” m aking " p o te n tia lly productive individuals wards o f Governm ent agencies" and slowing " th e advancement o f minority groups as a whole in their assimilation into the economic and social mainstream." Israelia return from raid in Southern Lebanon. Confidential report IMF sees 'holding plan' for El Salvador by Walden Bello and John Kelly Pacific News Service W A S H IN G T O N . D C . — The normally cautious and conservative International Monetary Fund (IM F ) is about to rush in where most f i nancial angels, including the U .S . Congress, fear to tread: El Salva dor. A confidential 53-page IM F staff report reveals that the Fund is plan ning an emergency "standby” pro gram to be financed to the tune o f $83 m illio n . The docum ent de scribes the Fund’s role as supporting "a holding pattern” for El Salvador and supervising a set o f policies which would be "instrumental in re storing and retaining an economic setting conducive to the renewal o f grow th and p rivate investm ent— once noneconomic factors perm it i t . ” The Fund, in short, is to pre vent the econom y fro m de te rio ra tin g any fu rth e r u n til the country is pacified politically. A ccording to a W o rld Bank source who leaked the report, “ The IM F plan is part o f a package that includes the recent elections and high levels o f bilateral U .S . aid un der the Caribbean Basin P lan .” He added that the Fund’s board o f d i rectors is "m ost likely to approve the plan, barring radical changes in government direction in El Salva d o r." Though the plan certainly would be opposed by many o f the 146 IM F member nations, the United States, which contributes the largest share o f IM F funds, can yield its greater voting strength to help win appro val. The economy that the IM F w ill try to hold together is, by its own ac count, in a shambles: •T h e governm ent is lite ra lly b an k ru p t, says the F u n d , w ith its liq u id reserves (re a d ily a va ila b le cash) reduced to S2.5 m illio n in 1981. •M assive c ap ital flig h t has v ir tually wrecked the private sector, with net capital outflow amounting to over $800 m illio n between 1979 and 1982. •Arrears on payments o f debts to in te rn a tio n a l p riv ate banks in creased from $41 m illion in 1980 to $63.5 million in 1981. •T h e state enterprises sector is a mess, with its overall deficit coming to $600 million in 1982. The report attributes this development to the in creasing effectiveness o f the leftist guerrillas. The IM F strategy to restore some semblance o f order to this chaotic situation has three key components. Most important, from the Fund's point o f view, is relieving the b al ance o f payments deficit. To achieve this, the IM F wants to make imports more expensive, through reducing the demand for them, by devaluing the colon. Devaluation will take place, however, under a curious arange- ment: the encouragement o f a black m arket exchange rate (cu rre n tly 4 colones to the dollar) alongside the o ffic ia l rate o f 2.5 colones to the dollar. The Fund wants all "non-es sential im ports” transacted at the black market rate. The rationale for the arrangement is that the regime must continue to purchase essential commodities like guns, warplanes and am m unitions cheaply even as the prices o f consumer imports rise. The second com ponent o f the Fund program is an a n ti-in fla tio n plan consisting o f the restriction o f domestic purchasing power and re- (Please turn to page 4 column 4) Dr. Matt Prophet discusses school district agenda I have id e n tifie d a number o f agenda items for action in the future for the Portland Public Schools. I see all o f these as critical issues vital to our futu re. O u r agenda w ill be both busy and complex. I have iden tified, at least on a preliminary ba sis, five m ajor items on the agenda for m aking a good school system even better. Let me speak briefly to each o f them: I . Community Credibility: There is a need to improve the Public's con fidence in our schools. In the final weeks prior to the election on May 18th, the Board and D istrict were under fire from community groups regarding decisions made earlier that were either unpopular or con troversial. I will seek to develop pro cesses for internal decision making that provide for increased commu nity participation in decision m ak ing to avoid such disruptive commu nity encounters. It is non-produc tive to fight such battles after (he fa c t. . . fu ll airing o f the pros and cons on all issues can help to avoid such confrontations which are so costly to the maintenance o f good community relations. 2. Educational Programs and Ser vices: I see an immediate need to or ganize our delivery system for edu catio n al services to m axim ize the flow o f resources and energy into classrooms where (hey belong. My approach to the education o f Port land children will be to seek to meet individual needs in (he most effect ive way. A ll students whether they be high achieving students or stu dents who need remediation will re ceive the individual attention they deserve. 3. Private Sector Partnership: A major thrust for the future will be to strengthen the partnership between the schools and the private sector. There is a glaring need for greater cooperation between the district and the business community. I would see this evolving in a number o f ways. The most logical arena for begin ning this renewed relationship may well be in the area o f vocational and technical edu catio n . The public schools must recognize the need to more adequately prepare students to live and work in a w orld that will stress communication, high techno logy and com puter science. T he schools for the 1980s and 90s, in my judgem ent, must respond to the changing n. ds o f our society. W e must prepare students to live in the real w orld o f tom orro w . Students must learn to cherish the dignity o f w o rk . . . irrespective o f whether that work comes at the end o f college or vocational or technical training. For the schools for the future must pro vide opportunities for all students to pursue their interest with equal dig nity and respect. 4. Com m unications: There is an urgent need to further open the lines o f c om m u nication between the schools and the community. And, it will be my intention to maintain an by M atthew W. Prophet Superintendent. Portland Public Schools open door policy in order to deal di rectly w ith com m u nity problem s and concerns. The schools must be responsive to the community. 5. Com prehensive P lan : One o f the things that became immediately obvious to me after arriving to as sume leadership o f your schools was the need for a comprehensive plan for the schools, and now that the election is behind us, that lack will be corrected. It is my intention to be gin at once to develop a plan that will chart the course o f the schools at least for the next five or six years. The changing agenda fo r the schools in the ’80s must reflect the changing nature o f our world it the schools are to remain strong and it w ill be my charge to see that they do. The new era, forged by techno logical advances, underscores the urgency and need to shift to a fu n dam ental emphasis fo r the futu re on: (a ) c o m m u n icatio n skills; (b ) com putational skills, and (c) com- iPlease turn to page 5 column /)
