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Portland Observer, September 29, 1982 Page 3
METROPOLITAN
Prison inmate seeks better life
Grass ro o t News, N .W .— Ms. P.
Fisher is serving time fo r forgery.
She defines her life before and after
C laire A rg o w , M u ltn o m a h C o u n
ty ’ s women’ s ja il, as a spiritual ex
perience. " M y life was going so fast
out there on the streets; I had lost a
num ber o f m a terial item s lik e a
home and car. I got caught up in the
fast life because I felt despondent
over this loss.” Ms. Fisher received
money from a lawsuit enabling her
to acquire a home and car. Her
spouse began to use drugs and de
pleted her savings and assets. Like
so many other inmates she was in
troduced to drugs by her man and
attained a desire fo r material things
without the discipline o f savings.
” 1 fe lt I had to make up fo r
what I lost and really when you are
out there your are not m aking up
fo r w hat you lo st. There are so
many things going on in your life
you are not m aking up. You are
just adding to the problem. Over a
period o f eight m onths I accum u
lated so many cases. A nd p rio r to
this I had no record. I feel that I was
going so fast that i f I had stayed in
the streets I could have died. God
to o k me o f f the streets so that I
could have time to think and get my
life back together.”
Ms. Fisher was spiritually reborn
behind bars, which she feels gave
her this new attitude. “ I t ’ s only by
the grace o f God th a t I ’ ve m a in
tained. Two women have died right
under me. One hung herself and the
other O .D .’ d. You see so m any
women that are confined and the ex
perience can either make you bitter
or a better person. I ’ m at a very
soul-searching state. I ’ m thinking o f
my children and how I can be a bet
ter mother to them. Now that I am
reborn I can see w hat life is a ll
about. It is not about all those ma
terial things. When you get caught
up in that material bag i t ’ s easy to
get caught up in drugs to escape
what you are doing to attain those
things. Instead o f dealing w ith life
as it is you are debating the whole
purpose o f life .”
W ith this unique outlook on life
how are her fellow inmates respond
ing to her? “ Many knew me when I
was out there and they see me and
they th in k I ’ m really h a n d lin g it.
But it is not th a t. There was a
purpose fo r me in here. It does not
make you slick or bad to be behind
bars. There are a lot o f people suf
fering mentally in here.”
Ms. Fisher says that none o f her
friends in the fast life came to her
aid when she was arrested. “ I just
hope God uses me to get to them.
People are always ta lk in g about
what they can and cannot do. But
you never know what each day
brings. You could be like me. One
day you are free o f a record and the
next you are in the p e n ite n tia ry .
That is a hard thing to accept. Life
is going so fast now where no one
can really capitalize on anything.
A ll you can do is take each day at a
tim e .” She concludes that she’ ll
take each day as it comes w ith the
help o f her new-found strength.
• • •
The first woman to run for President of the U.S.
was not anyone in recent tim es, but V ictoria
Woodhull who ran for President on the Equal Rights
Party in 1872.
Nicotine is named after Jacques Nicot, a French
ambassador who imported tobacco plants.
•
The youngest movie star to w in an Academ y
Award was Shirtey Temple who won an Oscar in 1934
at the age of 6.
Democrats ask precinctperson resignations
by C. Eddie Edmondson
The M ultnom ah C ounty Demo
cratic Central Committee voted last
Thursday night to censure tw o o f
th e ir precinctpersons and to ask
them to resign, because they arc ac
tiv e ly w o rk in g fo r opponents o f
Democratic candidates in their dis
tricts.
In a d d itio n , a vote to reject the
a p p lic a tio n fo r precinctperson o f
Charles Stoudamirc, a State Repre
sentative candidate in the 18th Dis
tr ic t p rim a ry last M ay, was over
turned after Stoudamirc was given a
chance to a ffirm his allegiance to
the Democratic party.
“ A Democrat is a Democrat is a
D em ocrat,” said M indy Leek, fo l
lowing introduction o f a m otion to
censure Rose Ganglc, a precinctpcr
son in District 18. Ganglc, who also
was a candidate in the 18th District
State Representative p rim a ry , is
cam paign chairperson fo r Kent
Ford, running as an Independent in
the district.
Ms. Leek’ s husband, Ed l.cek, is
the Democratic State Representative
candidate. Several blacks in the dis
trict have offered themselves as al
ternatives to Leek, in a district which
is roughly half black.
The Central Committee executive
board said that a fte r review ing
charges against G anglc, it was
recom m ending censure. T hat is
when Mindy Leek rose to speak.
“ ,'m sorry this has to do w ith a
district where my husband is a can
didate, but the number one goal o f a
precinct committecperson is to elect
Democratic candidates. And when
you sign that piece o f paper, you
have promised to do that.”
She amended the m otion to cen
sure by asking that Ron M cC arty,
19th D istrict State Representative
candidate in last M ay’ s prim ary, be
included. He is actively campaign
ing for the Republican candidate in
the 19,h D is tric t. N either G anglc
nor M cCarty appeared to be at the
meeting.
By voice vote, Thelm a C arlson,
C e n tra l C o m m itte e ch airperson ,
said the vote to censure and request
G angle's and M c C a rty ’ s resigna
tions carried.
Ross D anielson, D is tric t 18’ s
D em ocratic leader, spoke fo r
Gangle. She had not thought sup
p o rtin g a candidate who was sup
p o rtin g the D em ocratic p la tfo rm
and principles was a c o n flic t w ith
her o ffic e , he said. **I th in k that
that’s kind o f loose th in kin g ," Dan
ielson said. “ However she has been
a hard worker and has carried more
cam paign lite ra tu re than alm ost
anybody. I f she resigns, I ’ ll cer
tainly promote her for reinstatement
after this campaign is over.”
Charles S toudam ire’ s request to
be a precinctperson in the 18th Dis
trict had been held up by the execu
tive committee pending clarification
o f his name being listed as Kent
F o rd 's cam paign treasurer. Ms.
Leek read fro m a story in last
week’ s Observer q u o tin g Stouda
mire as saying he had not thought o f
running as a Republican because he
had always been a D em ocrat.
“ There is a big difference between
whether you run as a Republican or
as a Democrat,” she said.
D anielson appealed an earlier
vote by the body to reject Stouda
m ire’s o ffe r on grounds he had no,
had a chance to defend himself. Be
sides, he said, Stoudamire told him
he had called the Secretary o f
State’ s o ffice to have his name re
moved as Ford’ s treasurer.
Danielson said the 18th is a new
district with a number o f candidates
running fo r the state representative
office.
“ People don’ t even know who the
Democratic Party candidate is,” he
said. In addition, he as actively been
tryin g to get black precinctpeople.
And they were rejecting the first one
he had gotten, he said. “ And you
tell me the first black person I sign
up to become active there is reject
ed? I f this m otion remains, I ’ m go
ing to subm it my re sig n a tio n .” A
m otion to allow Stoudamire to de
fend himself was passed.
“ I ’m no, helping an independent
candidate,” Stoudamire said. “ I ’ m
a Democrat and I never considered
being a n yth in g else bu, a D em o
crat.”
The group voted to accept Stou
damire’ s application to be a precinct-
person in District 18.
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Art Media • 820 S W .Oth Avenue Portland Oregon - '. 06 • A. - jss noir. the main Library
■
JOHN R. CHECKETT
ESTER HUEY
DON CLARK
s jj’ • - ru t
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■
KAY TORAN
PSU workshop stresses affirmative action
To help raise public and o ffic ia l
awareness o f the m inority em ploy
ment situation, Portland State Uni
versity A ffirm a tiv e A ction O fficer
M ajor M o rris, with the help o f the
PSU President’ s A ffirm ative Action
Com m ittees, has organized A f f i r
m ative A c tio n Awareness Week,
Oct. 11-14, on the University cam
pus. The week w ill he highlighted by
a four day workshop examining re
cent activities affecting affirm ative
action laws and regulations and as
sessing the current a ffirm a tiv e ac
tion environment.
Morris says specific issues such as
sexual harassment and sex discrim
ination, services to handicapped in
dividuals and alternative remedies
for discrim ination w ill be addressed
d u rin g the w o rksh o p . The w o rk
shops, which arc free and open to
the public, w ill feature discussions
with federal, state and local officials
as well as representatives o f private
business.
The workshop sessions run gener
a lly from 11:30 a.m . to 2 p.m . on
Get. I I , 12, 13 and 14, in 338 Smith
M em orial Center on the PSU cam
pus.
The opening session, Oct. 11, will
feature a keynote address by Ester
Huey, Assistant Vice President for
S taff Relations at Washington M u
tual Savings Bank in Seattle, Wash.,
who w ill give an overview o f the his
torical background and the laws and
regulations surrounding affirm ative
action. Her presentation w ill be fo l
lowed by a panel discussion.
Other m ajor topics to be covered
during the four days are: sexual har-
assment and sexual discrim ination;
handicapped services; a ffirm a tiv e
action and PSU administrators, fac
ulty. staff, students; and current a f
firm a tive action environm ent and
strategies.
The fin a l session, 11:30 a.m . on
O ct. 14, w ill feature M u ltn o m a h
County Executive Don Clark.
For in fo rm a tio n regarding the
PSU Affirm ative Action Awareness
Week workshops, contact the Uni
versity’s A ffirm a tive Action O ffice
at 229 4417.
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