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Page 11
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Observer
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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)