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PORTLAND OBSERVER
September 1,1982
Volume XII, Number 47
25C Per Copy
Two Sections
U*!PS 959-680-855
Neighbors organize crime battle
MICHAEL STOOPS
Stoops: A handto man
by Nathaniel Scott
Me resides in (he Burnside area,
the Butte Hotel in historic old town;
he has hewn an advrv.su* tor the
"bum s” on Skid Road; he speaks
out against (he draft and registra
tion; he limits his earnings to less
than $3000 a year to avoid paying
federal taxes; and now, with visions
of writing a book about the "culture
of hobo life ,” he contemplates the
possibility o f running for mayor. He
is Michael A. Stoops, co-founder of
Baloney Joe's and Director o f the
Northwest Draft Counseling Center
— 313 East Burnside Street.
Stoops, a 32-year-old graduate of
Ball State University in Indiana, a
rural area college where he earned a
BA in social work, moved to Port
land and the Burnside community in
1977 and took up the mantle o f
neighborhood crusader at Baloney
Joe’s in 1978.
But prior to that. Stoops had
taken his Quaker background and
training to set up a Big Brother, Big
Sister program while a junior in
high school. " M y family taught me
some good values," he says, adding
that his father was a farmer in addi
tion to working in a factory for 40
years. In addition to working on the
family farm, Stoops found time to
help his relatives. " A ll o f my rela
tives had farms so I worked for
them to o ," he says.
"The idea for the Big Brother,
Big Sister program manifested when
I was in high school,” he says. " I
came into contact with a lot o f kids
who were being sent ‘down the
river’ to reform school. A lot o f the
reasons were because they had no
support system,” he adds.
Stoops was a conscientious ob
jector during the Vietnam War —
based on religious beliefs that he
would not take advantage o f — and
he served four years doing alterna-
t i - ; werk with V IS T A in Minnesota
as a paralegal. " I believe in my
country, believe in serving," he
says, "but I am sure as hell not
going to get involved in killing
people." He adds that World War
II may have been a justifiable war,
but he staunchly maintains that
nothing since, including the Korean
W ar, has been.
As a draft counselor, he sees the
possibility o f legal action being
taken against him for the views he
expresses. He maintains that he ad
vises people what their rights are:
some are in the military and want to
get out, others are A W O L (absent
without leave) and many are delayed
entry people. Delayed entry is a pro
gram that allows people to enlist
now and enter the service for active
duty at a later date. But, he says, he
does express his beliefs and philoso
phy and that could possibly lead to
legal action. O f which, he says in ef
fect, if it comes to pass, so be it.
Stoops is a firm believer in living
where your heart is, as exemplified
by the room he has occupied in the
Butte Hotel for the past four-and-
one-half years.
To elude to the idea that Stoops is
concerned only with the draft would
be a mistake. His community in
volvement, seeking betterment for
the residents o f the Burnside Com
munity, encompasses many hours
— 70, 80, and sometimes as many
as 90 hours per week.
He founded the West Hotel
Women’s Shelter, 127 N W 6th
(Please turn to page 5 col I f
Residents o f the northeast neigh
borhoods o f Concordia, Sabin, Ver
non and parts of Alameda are or
ganizing in the wake o f rising inci
dence o f home burglaries — cur
rently the highest rate in the city.
Some o f the increase — which is
taking place city-wide — is the usual
summer upswing due to vacations
and good weather. Many of the bur
glaries are done by juveniles, often
in their own neighborhoods. Most
occur during the day, although early
evening burglaries are increasing,
as are forced entries through back
doors or windows. In the Concordia
neighborhood there have been seven
armed robberies while people were
in their homes.
Frequently persons — especially
the elderly — arc afraid to report
suspicious or criminal behavior be
cause they can too easily become the
targets o f harassment. Some victims
refuse to press charges and witnesses
refuse to testify out o f fear.
"Neighborhood
W atch”
pro
grams are being organized to help
residents o f a block protect one an
other. In addition to providing in
formation on marking belongings,
locks and home security as provided
by the Police Bureau’s crime pre
vention unit, Neighborhood Watch
establishes
communication
net
works.
Usually two neighbors volunteer
to be resource persons, reporting
problems and providing informa
tion. Others volunteer to help the el
derly, single women, and handi
capped to do the work necessary to
secure their homes.
Residents learn to observe and re
port suspicious and criminal behav
ior and provide support for each
other. They become aware o f neigh
bors’ activities so unusual behavior
is noticed.
Some neighbors have had success
in challenging suspects — especially
young people — and persuading
them to cease their activities or to
return stolen goods.
Neighborhood Watch has a side
benefit, according to Sharon Mac-
Cormack, northeast coordinator for
Neighborhoods Against Crime, in
that it helps break down social and
racial barriers. "W hen people in a
block meet about a common prob
lem — crime — things begin to hap
pen. Personal perceptions and pre
judices that keep neighbors from
talking to each other are broken
down. The feelings that divide the
neighborhood change and people
find they can work together. This
■ n il1 ■
could be the greatest accomplish
ment of Neighborhood W atch.”
Rape and sexual assault has in
creased in the Eliot and Irvington
neighborhoods. One o f the greatest
problems is receiving accurate infor
mation on the time, place and facts
o f an occurrence in order to take
preventive measures. Rape preven-
tion classes have not been well at
tended in minority and poor neigh
borhoods so new ways o f providing
information are being explored.
Persons interested in either pro
gram should contact Neighbor
hoods Against Crime or the North
east Neighborhood office, 248-4763.
Sahara conflict endangers African unity
by Philip Ochieng
A ghost which has haunted the
Organization of African Unity
(O A U ) ever since its inception in
1963 may prove the death o f it yet.
It is the colonial national border sys
tem which every original member
state pledged itself to honor. Today,
that system may be held directly re
sponsible for the threatened break
up of the O A U .
While violations o f the so-called
Berlin Treaty by which various
European powers partitioned the
European powers partitioned the
continent among themselves — have
been the chief test o f the O A U ’s
elasticity, the elastic limit appears to
have been met with the failure this
year o f the annual O A U summit to
get o ff the ground.
Morocco’s unflinching insistence
on the possession o f the former
Spanish Sahara, or Western Sahara,
has split the organization so badly
that for the firs, time in its history
the summit has lacked a quorum.
Some members have taken the stand
that the Sahara is a sovereign state,
ruled by the Polasario Front guerril
la army, with a right to sit in all
O A U councils. Others have taken
Morocco's side, arguing that the
Polasario’s claims are not legiti
mate.
Although the argument has beset
the O A U since Spain’s departure
from the territory in 1975, this year
Morocco threatened to boycott the
summit, scheduled for Tripoli, the
Libyan capital, if Polasario repre
sentatives were admitted. A dozen
states sided with Morocco.
This would not have resulted in
lack o f a quorum, however, but for
the happenstance that the summit
was going to be chaired by Libyan
leader Muammar Gaddafi. Gad
d afi’s recent intervention in Chad
has fueled fears among the pro-
Western states that his willingness to
violate the border system would
eventually lead to violations o f their
own borders. Thus many o f the
pro-Western states, which form a
majority in the O A U , refused to at
tend the Tripoli meeting.
The fears over Gaddafi’s alleged
expansionist aims, however, are
highly selective. No such grumblings
have followed numerous other re
cent border violations, including
Tanzania’s intervention in
Idi
Amin's Uganda or Morocco’s air
lifting o f troops to Zaire to help re
store the callous and corrupt pro-
Western regime o f Mobutu Sese
Seko. Amin — a man a hundred
times more odious than Gaddafi —
chaired the O A U summit in 1975
and there was barely a murmur.
But apart from the issue o f Gad-
daft, himself, the larger issue o f the
sanctity o f national borders has al
ways been both the keystone and the
central weak point o f the O A U .
Morocco’s Saharan claim is a good
example o f the problem, for it is
based on the concept o f "irrident-
ism" — a nation’s legitimate claim
to territory with which it has close
pre-colonial cultural ties.
The fact is, however, that all
modern African states are artificial
creations o f colonialism,
with
borders cutting everywhere across
nations, nationalities and ethnic
groups. Thus, if Morocco’s claim
can be accepted through some pre-
MUAMMAR QADDAFI
colonial relationship with the Saha
ra, there is no reason why Egypt
should not claim the whole of the
Sudan, to which it could also lay
irridentist claims.
(Please turn to page 2 col I f
Cuban troops will remain in Angola
Cuba advised the United Nations
Committee on Decolonization A u
gust 20th that if South America
launches a large-scale attack on A n
gola, Angolan and Cuban troops
will respond with all the means at
their command.
The statement, made during the
debate on the Namibia question,
echoed the recent words o f Fidel
Castro; " I f they launch a large-scale
attack on Angola and reach out
lines, we will engage in a very seri
ous fight with all our means and all
our energies against the South A fri
can facists, racists and merce-
Castro explained that, "in order
to solve the problem o f Namibia’s
independence, the closely united
South Africans and U .S. imperial
ists want to set the prerequisite that
the withdrawal o f South African
troops from Namibia take place
simultaneously with (hat o f Cuban
troops in Angola, a position con
trary to the stand taken by other
European countries in the Contact
Group. The government o f Angola
is completely opposed to the idea
with full reason. The role of the
South African troops in Namibia is
that o f illegal occupants and aggres
sors. The role o f the Cuban troops
in Angola is that o f allies o f Angola,
o f fighters defending Angola's inde
pendence and security.
ceed to gradually withdraw our
troops within the period o f time
agreed on by both governments.. . ”
"Angolans and Cubans have de
cided on the gradual withdrawal of
Cuban troops from Angola within a
period of time agreed on by both
governments. When all o f the
South African troops have left
Namibia and have moved to the
other side o f the Orange River,
when all the danger o f attack on An
gola from abroad is over, when
all imperialist aid to U N IT A .
C O M 1K A , and FLEC puppet or
ganizations ceases, then we will pro
"W e have fought against these
racists once and they are well aware
o f the tenacity, bravery and firm
ness o f our fighters,” Castro said.
" It 'd be more worthwhile for the
imperialists to stop the threats be
cause they'll never intimidate u s .. .
Our attitude is not that o f promot
ing conflict. However, no imperial
ist threat or aggression will even
make us step back as much as half
an inch. Not even half an inch.”
Speaking
for
Cuba,
Miguel
Alvarez reminded South Africa of
the losses it suffered at the hands of
Angola and Cuba in 1976 when it in
volved itself in Angola's fight for
liberation. Cuban troops first went
to Angola to assist in the fight
against South Africa and U .S .-
supported mercenaries and troops
and remained at the request o f the
Angolan government.
Alvarez reminded the body that it
is the South Africans, along with
their western allies, especially the
United Stales, that arc interfering
with the right to self-determination
and independence o f the people of
Namibia as guaranteed by resolu
tion o f the United Nations.
He also denounced the false im
pression given by the U.S. and the
western press that a peaceful nego
tiated settlement that will give
Namibia independence is near.
While important elements of the U N
plan remain without solution. South
Africa attempts to install a puppet
government in Namibia and in
creases aggression against Namibia
and Angola.
The Cuban position is that
SW A PO is the only legitimate repre
sentative of the Namibian people
________ _________ J