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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 1982)
Ir* Franca* Schoen-Nowapaper Reo» UnivertIty of Oregon Library t u e e n e , O rc 3o n 9 7 0 3 Ethics complaint hits Myers South Africa Connection LU LU World Cup Predictions Page 2 NBA draft Page 9 Page 8 PORTLAND OBSERVER June 30, 1982 V olum e XII, Num ber 38 250 Per Copy Tw o Sections USPS 959-680-855 Young advocates economic coalition C losing the 50th A n niversary Meeting o f the U .S . Conference o f M ayors today in M in n eapo lis-S t. P au l, D e tro it M a y o r C olem an Young reminded the mayors o f A m erica’s principal cities that a lesson was learned when the Conference was o rig in a lly established in the midst o f the Great Depression: “ For America to w o rk ,” he said, “ there must be work for Americans.” Young, who w ill serve as presi dent o f the mayors* organization for the com ing year, said that the na tional government has “ washed its hands" o f its cities and its essential industries. " E v e n A m erica is not rich enough to a ffo rd disposable cities or throw-away industries,” he said. Young’s remarks came at the con clusion o f a five-d ay m eeting in which a N ew York Times descrip tion o f a d raft urban policy state ment prepared by the Departm ent o f H ousing and U rb an D ev elo p ment triggered some sharp criticism o f the A dm inistration by the more than 200 mayors assembled. The ur ban p olicy recom m ended in the H U D d ra ft would elim inate much federal assistance fo r cities and would minimize federal government responsibility for urban affairs. The day after the Times disclosure o f the d ra ft re p o rt, the President dis claimed its content. M ayo r Young said that the high points in the Conference's H istory were marked by its role in the devel opment o f a national urban policy and its establishment o f local coali tions involving government and the private sector, “ to revitalize and re industrialize A m e ric a ." He called for the formation o f a new national coalition for economic recovery to consist o f mayors and leaders o f business, lab or, academic in s titu tions and community organizations, and announced that a special C o n ference o f Mayors meeting would be convened " in the near fu tu re ” to bring the coalition together “ to de velop a set o f recommendations for A dm inistration and Congressional action and to m obilize each o f the groups in the coalition to contribute their share to strengthening A m eri ca’s economy.” Young emphasized that the coali tion must represent all mayors, “ be cause the C onference has alw ays represented and worked for all o f us — Democrat, Republican, or Inde pendent— and for all o f our cities, w hether they are com m unities o f three million or 300,000 or 30,000.” Leek wins in recount Results o f a lim ite d recount in House D istrict 18 failed to change the results o f the Democratic Party primary election. Ed Leek won the election in a field o f eight, with H a r old W illia m s a close second. The count remains 1,555 for Leek and 1,095 for Williams. Williams requested the recount of three precincts— 3004, 3039 and 3042. The cost o f the recount— $15 per precinct— is borne by the candi date who requests it unless the result is reversed. Leek w ill face Republican Party nominee M el H am ilto n in the N o vember general election. Kent Ford plans to run as an Independent and there is the possibility o f another minor party candidate. Draft resisters expect indictment Indictments o f d raft resisters ac ross the nation and here in Oregon are expected to be issued this week. Selective Service (SSS) estimates that in Oregon there are 19,000 to 20,000 (89.92 per cent compliance) young men who have failed to register for the draft. It is expected that SSS w ill send out two warning letters before turn ing names over to the Justice D e partment. SSS will accept late regis tration in most cases. Even though the court system can handle prose cution o f only a h andful o f these non-registrants, N orthw est D ra ft Counseling C enter (N W D C C ) en courages all non-registrants to be in formed about their legal rights and to establish a support group o f fam ily and friends. The center, located at 313 E. Burnside, has established a list o f a n ti-d raft lawyers w illing to provide legal counsel. N W D C C has organized a draft resisters group to provide support and information. A D raft Resisters Legal Defense Fund is also being established to help cov er legal costs. Angel leader discusses crime by C. Eddie Edmondson The leader and fou n d er o f the G u a rd ian A ngels, the c itizen s ’ p atro l o rg an iza tio n that gained national prominence in New Y o rk City for trying to make the subways safer, told over 100 Portlanders at the K ing N eighborhood F a c ility Tuesday night th a t i f a G u a rd ia n Angels chapter is form ed in P o rt land it w ill not be like the federal government’s citizen volunteer pro grams. " W e are not ta lk in g about the needy helping the g re e d y ," said Curtis Sliwa. The 28-year-old New Y o rk e r’ s fast-paced com ments appeared to be warm ly received by his audience. Begun in New York City in 1978, Sliw a said the G u a rd ia n Angels started with thirteen young people. They wanted to do som ething to make the neighborhood streets safer, he said. Today there are seven chapters in the U n ited States and one in C an ad a. G u a rd ia n Angels membership is over 8,000 he said... T ra ve lin g unarm ed in bands o f eig ht, Sliw a said that G u a rd ian Angels patrol their own neighbor hoods. They do not carry weapons or observe criminal behavior from a distance, he added. "S o m etim es you have to stand between tw o groups o f people like peanut butter between tw o slices o f b re a d ," he said. Sliwa is in Portland at the request o f the Burnside C om m unity C oun cil. The Council, which sponsors a six-month community patrol in the Burnside area d u rin g the w in te r, brought Sliwa to Portland as an al ternative to M ayo r Frank Ivancie’s "w ar on crime" proposals. In a d d itio n , Sliwas said his organization has received 38 letters fro m Portlanders requesting the G u a rd ian Angels to come to P o rtla n d . H e said he has received letters from blacks and whites, young and old, from across the city. H o sp ital nurses said they needed pro tectio n in th e ir p arkin g lots between shifts; inner Northeast and N o rth Portland streets and neigh borhoods were pointed out; shop ping centers and dow ntow n P o rt land were listed by others, Sliwa said. Wearing the traditional red beret and t-shirt o f the Guardian Angles over a nicely cut shirt and tie, Sliwa was taken on a w a lk in g tou r o f downtown Portland and the Burnside area by Michael Stoops, chairperson o f the Burnside C o u n c il. Stoops said that if the community shows it is w illin g to support a G u a rd ia n Angels chapter the Burnside Council w ould pay to have a G u a rd ia n Angels trainer get them started. Over a year ago a Guardian Angel on patrol was shot and killed by a Newark, New Jersey police officer. Sliwa said the cop was responding to a call by the Guardian Angels who had trapped some burglary suspects on top o f a ro o f. W hen police arrived one officer pointed his gun and fired at a 2 7-y e a r-o ld black Guardian Angel who was the father o f three children. A crim onious relationships be tween police and the Angels is a pattern in the beginning, Sliwa said. " T h e y perceive us as doing th e ir jo b ,” he said. But citizen patrols are a natural response to high crime and lawlessness, he said. “ The Guardian Angels is something we would have done in A m erica 40 or 50 years ago i f crim e were as high as it is "o w ," he said. « Once police understand and accept what the Angels are trying to do, Sliw a said, the police-A ngels relationship im proves. Letters o f understanding have been reached between several police departments and the Angels, he said, but not in most cities where the Angels have chapters. The Guardian Angels are not the approach to reducing com m unity crime, Sliwa said, but an approach. But obviously he believes that they are m ore viable than other a p proaches presently in use. The G u ardian Angels only deal w ith crimes that they see and in situations that could get ugly i f immediate direct intervention is not made as soon as possible. S liw a , who managed a M cD onald’s in New Y o rk C ity before establishing the Angels, said many people are concerned about you th fu l o ffe n d ers. “ The way to adequately deal with crim e by y o u th fu l o ffend ers is to create positive role m odels, alternatives to the pim ps, p ro s ti tutes, flashy dressers, and thieves who seem to be selling everything you ever wanted to buy for less than half its cost at the store. " G u a rd ia n Angels end up showing the very best o f what a c ity ’ s youth has to o ffe r . They replace the reflections o f what we see on television," he said. t J*' < Curtia Sliwa, founder and laadar of the Guardian Angela, visited Portland thia week. (Photo: ©Lena Bertucci. PANS) W hen G uardian Angels observe someone’s rights or property being v io la te d , they intercede, he said. They do not bother the drug user, drunk or the "yahoos” who try to bait the Angels into fighting. He said less than a fourth o f those who volun teer to become Angels pass the in itia l three months training. This consists o f physical conditioning in the first m onth, a study o f the penal code and the nature o f citizen* arrest the next month, and lastly, C PR and first aid training in the third month. “ But the key in g redien t,” Sliwa points o u t, “ is to tu rn the other c h e e k " when in the G u a rd ian Angels uniform (which can only be worn when on tour duty) and others try to start a fight.” " O n ly one in eight (applicants] has learned to keep his tongue in his mouth, his hands at his side and his feet on the ground when this hap pens,” he said. A fifte e n -y e a r-o ld graduate o f Boise, asked whether he would con sider becoming a G uardian A ngel, said, “ Yeah, but my father would kill me if he found out about it.” Confidential memo discloses nationwide insecticide contamination by Ken Cook Pacific News Service W A S H IN G T O N . D C . — Sources inside the U.S. Environmental Pro tection Agency ( E P A ) have dis closed I hat the agency is considering the o u trig h t ban o f the chemical “ toxaphenc,” once the most heavi ly-used insecticide in the U n ited Slates. The ban w ill be imposed unless the substance's m a jo r A m erican m a n u fa c tu re r, B FC C hem ical o f W ilm in g to n , D e là ., v o lu n ta rily adopts severe restrictions. The deci sion is based on findings that signifi cant amounts o f the insecticide have been carried through atmospheric contam ination to the Great Lakes, more than I ,(XX) miles from its chief point o f ap p lica tio n in the Deep South. The disclosures come five years after the agency began an intensive review o f t b . ch e m ic al— and one and o n e-h alf years a fter the E P A positively determ ined that toxa- phene poses a risk o f cancer to hu mans and causes serious environ mental problems. One former mem ber o f the E P A ’s scientific advisory panel has concluded that the pesti cide is dangerous enough to warrant even more stringent con tro l than DDT. In 1976, just before E P A began its review, toxaphenc accounted for one fourth o f all agricultural insecti cide in use by volume in the United States, making it the nation's num ber one pest killer. A pproxim ately 26 million pounds, or 85 per cent o f all toxaphenc use then was for insect control in cotton, and over 82 per cent o f (hat application occurred in the Southeast and the Mississippi Delta. Since 1978, however, toxaphene use on cotton has fallen sharply be cause o f insect resistance to the chem ical and the a v a ila b ility o f new, m ore e ffe c tiv e insecticides. Only 3 million pounds o f toxaphenc were sprayed on cotton in 1978, and 7.5 million pounds in 1979. But the drop came after contamination was already widespread. According to confidential internal EPA memoranda dated this Febru a ry, " s ig n ific a n t new develop ments” in the scientific understand ing o f toxaphenc’s impact on the en vironment left E P A "lim ite d flexi bility in devising a position" on the chemical short o f m a jo r cancella tion. The most s trik in g o f the new developments is a recently observed b u ild -up o f toxaphene residues in fish in the G reat Lakes, "e v e n though little or no toxaphene is used in the region,” according to E P A . The agency contends that toxaphene is v o latilize d in to the a ir in the warm, humid conditions common in the South during the spraying sea son. The residue travels north via prevailing spring winds, and is de posited by ra in fa ll in the G reat Lakes. David Severn, chief o f the agen cy’s Environmental Fate Branch for pesticides, said that until analytical methods were refined in the m id - ’70s, it was very d iffic u lt to trace toxaphene in the environm ent, be cause it is composed o f at least 177 distinct compounds. A fte r submit ting the Great Lakes fish samples to two laboratories “ considered to have the highest expertise in toxaphene analysis,” Severn and his colleagues concluded that the residues o f toxa phene had been " u n e q u iv o c a lly " identified. The cool temperatures and slight ly alkalin e conditions in the Great Lakes "fa v o r the retention o f toxa phene and its m ovem ent in to the food w e b ," according to the E P A m em oranda. L ike D D T and other organo-chlorine compounds, toxa phene accumulates in ever-greater amounts as it is taken up by aquatic plants, snails and fish. Lab and field studies have shown that fish can ac cumulate toxaphene in amounts tens o f thousands o f times greater than are found in the surrounding water. One E P A memo warned that "the persistent nature o f toxaphene and its movement into the food web may present a serious problem to future commercial and sport fishing in the Great Lakes." In the most dramatic exam ple o f c o n tam in atio n , E P A learned that levels o f toxaphenc suf ficient to cause such problems were found in adult trout taken from an "iso la ted landlocked lake on Isle Royale, an island in Lake Superior near the C an ad ian border whose only known input o f water is from the atmosphere.” In the same F e b ru a ry , 1982, memo from Sevren to Edwin John son, director o f the E P A O ffice o f Pesticide Programs, the “ frequency o f occurrence and levels" o f to x a phene residues found in the Great Lakes were said to be “ among the highest o f a ll U . S . D . I . IU .S . D e partment o f the Interior] m o n ito r ing stations.” Moreover, the agency character ized the toxaphene contamination as (Please turn to page 5 column I)
