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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1982)
y.-s F rancos Ssho^n-îJewap'j^or Rooa U n -v -ra ity o f Cr«“?on L ib rary Recyclable costumes LU LU « by Butch Coors W Page 11 k l r * - 1 Observer endorsements Arguello seeks 3rd Page 16 PORTLAND OBSERVER O ctober 20, 1982 Volum e k ill. N um ber 2 25$ Per Copy USPS 959-680-855 Measure 3 threatens Portland schools superintendent o f the P ortland P u b lic School D is tric t M atthew Prophet has warned that the passage o f Measure 3— the property tax lim ita tio n — would bring the loss o f be tween one-third and one-half o f its p ro p e rty taxes in a single year, which “ w ould sim ply spell educa tio n a l disaster fo r nearly 52,000 Portland Public School students.” The vague language o f the mea sure w ill, i f passed, ignite a series o f let al actions and legislative struggles that could jeopardize Oregon’ s eco- n om ic g ro w th fo r years to come. “ The impacts o f that disastrous sit uation defy adequate description.” H ie measure would immediately in- ciease unem ploym ent. “ It w ould create social, po litica l, educational and economical repercussions that coaid last for a generation.” The projected loss to the Portland School D is tric t w ould be between $63 m illion and $92.7 m illion, or be tween 38.75 per cent and 56.78 per cent o f the 1983-84 tax levy. Added reductions in state funds could bring the loss to between $74 m illion and 5 'M m illion. *Vyperatm i! at cu rre n t level, the D oo a It bite? Qlnny Roaanbarg. Living Lab Spa clalist at W h itaker School, explains the habita of tha lab's boa c o n s tric to r d u rin g th e sch o o l's opan house. (P hoto: R ichard B ro w n ) U.S. buys war in El Salvador by Julie l.evak and Jody A nderson In the past three years over 120 m illio n U n ite d Slates tax d o lla rs have been spent on m ilita ry assist ance to the brutal Salvadoran gov ernment. This money has been used to fund the m urder o f m ore than 32,(XX) Salvadoran citizens by gov ernm ent security forces and their param ilitary death squads, accord ing to documentation by the Catho lic C hurch and Am nesty In te rn a tional. On July 25, President Reagan cer tifie d that human rights conditions had significantly improved over the past year. Reagan’ s c e rtific a tio n was needed to clear the way fo r another $ 130,(XX),(XX) in proposed m ilitary aid to El Salvador. In Septem ber, U .S .-b u ilt A-37 bombers, incendiary bombs, hand grenades and a u to m a tic weapons were used by Salvadoran troops to slaughter more than 400 unarmed women, men and children in El Sal vador's San Vicente province. This is the second such massacre reported since late this spring. A t a tim e when 11 per cent o f Oregon residents are out o f w ork and social services are facing drastic reductions, Reagan is planning to send another $130 m illion to a gov ernment whose security forces have been "carrying out a systematic and widespread program o f to rtu re , ‘disappearance* and individual and mass k illin g s o f men, women and c h ild re n .” (Amnesty International report.) It is not merely in the form o f m il ita ry hardw are that the U nited States exports repression to El Sal vador. In a d d itio n to the U n ite d States m ilitary advisors already in El Salvador, Salvadoran troops and o ffic e rs have been brought to the states fo r m ilita ry tra in in g at Port Bragg in N o rth C arolina and Fort Benning in G eorgia. A nd there is speculation in Congress that United States m ilita ry in te rv e n tio n in El S alvador may soon m ushroom to even more frightening proportions. Last m onth, C hristopher Dodd o f C o n n e cticu t to ld W ashington re porters that he forsees the use o f combat troops in El Salvador w ithin the next six to twelve months. Said Dodd, “ I think the war is going to expand. I think it is going to include Guatemala, H onduras, Nicaragua. It has already expanded, but I think it could really fla re o ut. In w hich case, I can easily see the President com ing on w ith in a m atter o f m onths and suggesting that the whole region o f Central America is in desperate shape and the necessity for U.S. aid beyond trainers and ad visors requested.** But the Reagan administration w ill face opposition to involvement in El Salvador. Public outcry from a Vietnam-wise citizen ry is ra p id ly reaching p ro p o rtio n s com parable to the anti-w ar move ment o f more than a decade ago. Congressional m ail has been run- (Please turn to page 4 column 5) schools could remain open approxi mately 79 days. D r. Prophet recommended fo u r areas fo r p o te n tia l red u ctio n s i f Measure 3 is passed. 1) Salary re d u c tio n s : E ig h ty per cent o f the school budget goes fo r salaries. Re- d u c tio n o f expenditures could be made by cutting school days, elim in ating extended d u ty, reducing sal aries. The result w ould be loss o f staff, less student instruction, dete r io ra tio n o f b u ild in g s and e q u ip ment because o f lack o f m ainten ance. E lim ination o f 50 per cent o f the part time personnel and 30 per cent o f the fu ll time personnel would be necessary. A p p ro x im a te ly 67 per cent o f the fu ll time employees are directly involved in instruction. 2) Operational reductions: reduc tions in general maintenance, trans p o rtation, adm inistration and sup port (librarians, counselors, social w orkers, etc.) m aterials. A lso, re duction o f school hours, such as a four-day week. 3) P rogram cuts: R eduction or elim ination o f early childhood cen ters, kindergarten, athletics, home econom ics, in d u s tria l arts, career education, special education, alter native and magnet programs. 4) School closures/class size in creases: closure o f 20 elem entary schools and 3 high schools; increase average class size to 40. Course o f ferings w o u ld be lim ite d . In s tru c tio n even in basic education would be threatened and e ffo rts to meet new demands in new technology and im p ro ve d v o c a tio n a l education would collapse. Even i f all these reductions were carried out the district could still be forced to make added cuts. “ As an educational ad m in istra tion, my sta ff and I stand ready to do everything we can to best meet the educational news o f all students w ith in the resources available, re gardless o f election o u tc o m e ,” Prophet said. “ But we cannot guar antee, i f Ballot Measure 3 passes: “ Excellence in education; equal educational opp o rtu n itie s; special services fo r exceptional children; a fu ll school year; a competent com plement o f skilled teachers and ad m in istra to rs; the level o f support services essential to modern educa tio n ; c o m p e titiv e avadcuuc p ro grams; and a host o f other com m it ments which Portland citizens have expected o f th e ir schools through the years.” Zimbabwe elected Zimbabwe, Nicaragua and Pakis tan were elected to the U nited N a tions Security Council by the Gener al Assem bly Tuesday. N icaragua, which is the target o f U.S. attempts at d e s ta b iliz a tio n , castigated the U.S. in the General Assembly last week fo r its support o f the H ondur an invasion o f Nicaragua. N icara gua won the L a tin A m erican seat over U .S .-favored D om inican Re public. Zimbabwe replaces the pro- U.S. Uganda. Oregon unemployment rises Unemployment in Oregon moved to 11.2 per cent in September, up fro m 10.9 per cent in August. The n a tio n a l unem ploym ent rate rose from 9.8 per cent to 10.1 per cent. W h ile the n a tio n a l o ffic ia l un employment rate rose from 9.8 per cent to 10.1 per cent, an increase o f 0.3 per cent, the black unem ploy ment rate rose by 2.0 per cent. The unemployment rate for black w orkers reached a record high in September o f 20.2 per cent. The jobless fo r black men was 19.8 per cent; fo r women, 15.7 per cent; for youths, 5 1.6 per cent. Oregon does not keep unemploy ment statistics by race, but black un employment is estimated to be more than double that o f white. In Oregon, the trade industry lost 3,100 jobs in September (after sea sonable adjustm ent). Key lum ber and co n stru ctio n industries held their own while approximately 1,000 w orkers were hired in the ea tin g / drinking portion o f the retail trade. The reopening o f elem entary and secondary schools added an esti- mateed 11,200 workers. The wage and salary index fell by 0.6, in dicating shorter w ork hours fo r employed workers and a loss in incom e to Oregon w orkers. This loss took place in all sectors o f the non-agricultural economy. N a tio n a lly , the unem ploym ent rate rose to 10.1 in September and the number o f non-agricultural jobs declined by 230,000. In September, 11.3 m illio n Americans were unem ployed according to o ffic ia l statis tics— w hich count only those who are registered fo r w ork w ith the state unemployment services. A d u lt men accounted fo r nearly all thejSeptember increase in unem p lo ym e n t. T heir unem ploym ent usually declines this tim e o f year, but did not do so this September. A fte r seasonal adjustment, the jo b less rate fo r a d u lt men rose to 9.6 per cent. Unem ploym ent fo r adult women was 8.3 per cent and fo r teenagers 23.7 per cent. Joblessness for blue-collar workers was 15.6 per cent, fo r w hite c o lla r w orkers 4.8 per cent and fo r service w orkers 10.7 per cent. In a d d itio n to the unem ployed, there was a large increase in workers on part-tim e jobs because they can not find full-tim e w ork—6.6 m illion workers. There is mixed opinion about the course o f the recession. The Reagan A dm inistration has announced that the recession is over and a “ tu r n around” in the economy has begun. H ow ever, R obert O rtn e r, c h ie f economist in the Commerce Depart ment said the recession may have persisted through September, “ and we don’t have evidence” that the de clines in in d u stria l output and em ployment are over. The Federal Re serve Board announced that indus tria l production fell by 0 6 per cent in September, the 12th decline in 14 m onths. The cum ulative decline (Pteuse turn to page 4 column 3) “ We were made to live together ” Palestinian priest calls for Middle East peace “ Security in the M id d le East should be based on friendship w ith the people o f the M id d le East. 1 fully understand the need for a Jew ish homeland a lte r the tragedy of the holocaust. I fully understand the connection o f the Jews to the land o f Palestine. You |Jcw s| are w el come to Palestine— with me, but not w ith o u t me I understand your persecution— this should mean we can embrace in solidarity.” So said f ather Elias C h a k o u r M onday n ig h t, in a talk at the St. Andrew s C o m m u n ity C enter. Father C h a ko u r is a P alestinian Catholic priest from the Galilee (in Israel), and an Israeli citizen. Father C hakour was brought to P ortland by the Portland chapter o f the New Jewish Agendu, a progressive Jew ish group whose stand on the M id dle East includes support for Israel's right to exist, as well as the recogni tio n that peace in the M iddle East depends on the mutual recognition o f Palestinian and Israeli national rights. In his ta lk . Father C ha ko u r re peatedly stressed his belief that the Jews deserve a homeland in Pales tin e . B ut, said the 41-year-old priest, “ I want my Jewish brothers and sisters to understand that the Jews coming to Palestine created a tragedy for me.” He described how, on a certain day in 1947, his fa m ily welcomed Jewish soldiers to his native village in the Galilee, o ffe rin g them food and lodging, because they were flee ing “ that Devil, H itle r ." Ten days later (he soldiers asked the villagers to leave, fo r a tw o-w eek p e rio d . “ The tw o weeks arc not yet f in ished. We are s till w a itin g to re t u r n . " Despite Isra e li Supreme Court rulings in the villagers' favor, in 1951 then Israeli Prime M inister D avid Ben G u rio n had the village destroyed. In 1956, said Father Cha kour, Jewish settlers came and set tled on the site, and the original v il lagers have s till not been com pen sated for (heir losses. S till, Father C hakour insists, he and many, many o f his fellow Pales- tinians who live in Israel “ are not at a ll interested in destroying Israel. We welcome a ll Jews to Palestine- but only a Palestine with us in it . " Father C hakour acknowledged, w ith o u t condon ing, the terrorism com m itted by the Palestinians from (he refugee camps, organized by the P L O . Hut he insisted (hat it was one-sided to o n ly be concerned about Palestinian terrorism . “ I t ’ s too simple to ‘ condemn terrorism .’ A Palestinian who is able to buy a bomb to throw on the head o f Jews — th a t is one face o f te rro r. But those who buy cluster bombs—this is another face o f terrorism, the ter rorism o f the mightier. And there is a th ird face o f te rro rism — the te r rorism o f those w ho m anufacture the bombs.” “ In the eyes o f most Jews, Pales tin ia n equals te rro ris t. But in the eyes o f the Palestinians, a Jew looks like a terrorist as well. We must do something to get behind the terrorist stereotypes. “ 1 am frightened by people who refuse to listen to dialogue.” In a d d itio n to the need fo r d i alogue, Father Chakour stressed the need for a Palestinian homeland as one c o n d itio n fo r peace in the M iddle East: “ The P alestinians must have somewhere an address, a home, a refuge. (This is ju st what the Jews [Please turn to page 4 column 1} V FATHER ELIAS CHAKOUR (Photo: Richard Brown)