Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1983)
I. mA* ’* * * V i isO —w— ifca*........ » — »■■'» -» - *• : cea es Se o e n - ’ c ïic : sr o f vir Football playoff picks P.g.„ LU LU High tech in education by Matthew Prophet ; ;» L i . Multnomah County's new commissioner Pages 3, 10 page 5 PORTLAND OBSERVER January 12, 1983 Volume XIII, Number 14 25C Per Copy USPS 959-680 855 Oregon leaders pledge commitment to people W ith pomp and ceremony Victor Atiyeh was sworn into o ffic e fo r a second four-year term as Governor of Oregon. The special joint session o f the 62nd L eg islative Assem bly was attend ed by fo rm e r S en ato r M a rk H a tfie ld and Robert Straub, but the festivities were dampened by the death Saturday o f former gover nor Tom M cC all. R e ferrin g to the challenges and obstacles that were met in the 1981 legislative session, Atiyeh said state government was put to a test in N o vember " in the midst o f a recession so deep th at — to a ll but a fe w — these are the hardest times in mem ory . .. .O regonians, in an historic vote, have given us another chance. " B u t make no m istake, it is our last chance. W e have a final oppor tunity to reforge the bonds o f public trust. " W e must make m eaningful and lasting reforms in our runaway sys tem o f property taxation . W e must preserve our pi iceless achievements in statew ide land use p lann ing by improving the system." The G overno r spoke o f running Représentative James Hill takes the oath of o f fice to becom e the only black m em ber of the the state, with its S3 billion budget, like a business. However: "G o v e rn ment cannot fail to uphold the civil rights and p ro p e rty rights o f c it i zens. G o v e rn m e n t cann o t fa il to provide for education and roads, to find aid for the helpless, and to fight for the common good. Government cannot fail to enforce the law , and arrest the lawbreaker. It has been truly said that the role o f government is not to confer hap piness. but to give people the oppor tu n ity to w o rk out happiness fo r themselves." The G overnor’ s legislative p rio ri ties are: tax re fo rm that w ill lim it the g ro w th o f p ro p e rty taxes; changes in land use planning proce dures; economic developm ent; ex pansion o f jail space, police and dis trict attorney budgets; aid the forest p ro du cts in d u s try ; create a new partnership between higher educa tion and economic development. W h ile considering budgets, the o v e rw h e lm in g concern should be people, he said: "P eop le— Oregoni ans o f all ages— who need jobs, who need security, who need a decent ed ucation. People must and w ill con tinue to be the number one priority o f state government. " , . .it has never been m ore im p o rtan t to rem em ber the c o m m it ment to human rights, human digni ty, and equal opportunity for every O re g o n ia n . This c o m m itm e n t is never more im portant than in hard tim es. It is especially incum bent upon us, the elected representatives o f the people o f O re g o n , to io in together with all citizens and strong ly re affirm that the rights, the dig nity, and the equality o f every O re g on ian are m atters to us o f firs t im portance." Rep. G ra tta n Ecrans o f Eugene, elected Speaker o f the House, said, " O u r citizens arc dem anding com passion, sensitivity and understand ing as many o f them daily confront deprivation." The Senate opened under the gav el o f Senator Fred H e a rd , still u n able to elect a new Senate President. O n T u e s d a i the 12 S en ato rs w ho support Senator Frank Roberts o f P o rtla n d th rew th e ir s u p p o rt to S en a to r John K itz h a b e r, but Kitzhaber also failed to gain the 16 votes needed. House of Raprasantativas and only the aacond black member in Orogon'a history. Apartheid envoy visits Portland Last week the P o rtla n d C ity Council was visited by the South A f rican Consul General, Sean Cleary, from Beverly H ills. M r. Cleary re quested a m eeting w ith C o m m is sioners a fte r reading a N ovem ber O reg o nian artic le stating that the Council had been asked to consider a resolution supporting withdrawal o f state funds from banks and cor p o ratio n s that do business w ith South Africa. T h e visit by the Beverly H ills Consul G eneral is part o f a m u lti m illion dollar public relations cam paign by the South A frican govern ment to im prove its image and win support for its policies. The goverm ent o f South A fric a has also been active recently in M as sachusetts and M ichigan, attem p t ing to counter campaigns for w ith drawal o f South Africa related state funds. H o w e v e r, in spite o f the south A fric a n lo b b yin g , this past week b ro ug h t m a jo r success fo r groups working to end U .S ./S o u th African economic ties. In Massachusetts, three years o f working loward withdrawal o f state funds from companies that do busi ness in South A fric a culm inated in the passage o f a b ill req u irin g the withdrawal o f $101 m illion o f state (Please turn to page 10 col. I ) Murder questions unanswered by Harris Lavon M u Rae There is a continuing controversy su rrou n din g the death o f T rin a H u n te r o f P o rtla n d , whose body was found in a marsh near Battle Ground. Washington. The Black U n ite d F ro n t held a press conference last week to discuss m edia coverage o f Ms H u n te r's death. " M e d ia accounts o f T rin a Hunter's life, death and fam ily have contained fabrications, misinforma tions, and outright lies. Her fam ily has been forced to nedlessly suffer even m ore because o f slip -sh o d , sophmoric media irresponsibility", said Ron Herndon, co-chairman o f the Front. "Several people have said thecre were in d iv id u a ls try in g to force T rin a in to p ro s titu tio n . T h e re are accounts o f tw o people beating T rina and forcibly taking her from Cascade Campus on December 6th. On December 12th a friend went to a house where T rina was reportedly being held. He found her in a dark (Please turn to page 10 col. 3) Governor Victor Atiyeh addresses a Joint aeaaion of the Oregon Legialeture following hia oath of o f fice. Seated to the Governor a left la newly elected Speaker of the Houae Grattan Kerens Increasing unemployment Oregon's 1982 legacy The statistics are not all in but it is clear that O regon's economy went from bad to worse in 1982 and there is no recovery in sight. The upturn projected for late 1982— based on the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n 's tax cuts and slowing in fla tio n rates— failed lo materialize. O reg o n 's o ffic ia l unem ployed reached 136,200 by Novem ber 30, 1982. In its third straight year of re cession, Oregon began the year with an 11.0 percent unemployment rate; increased to 11.3 percent in M arch; then dro pp ed to 10.7 percent in Ju ly. Since July there has been a steady increase in unem ploym ent, reaching an a ll-tim e high o f 12.3 percent in N o vem b er. U n e m p lo y ment for this year is estimated at an 11.3 percent average Oregon's unemployment rate has risen fro m 6 .8 percent average in 1979 to a projected 11.5 percent av erage at the end o f 1982. Unemployment is expected to av erage 150,000 for the year: at least one out o f every four workers w ill have experienced unemployment in 1982. This does not include those whose jobs have shrunk to p a rt- time. A new phenomenon has hit O re gon. For the firs t tim e , the lab o r force declined by about 20,000 per sons who left the state to look for w ork elsewhere. Even in the 1974- 1975 recession. Oregon’s labor force co n tin u ed to g ro w , though m ore slowly than usual. The P o rtlan d S M S A had an un em ploym ent rate o f 9.8 percent, a 25 percent increase in u n e m p lo y ment since November. 1981. It is estimated that the unemploy ment rate in inner Northeast P o rt land is d o u b le th at o f w hites and th at u n e m p lo ym en t o f m in o rity youth is at least 40 percent. Wage and salary O reg o n 's seasonally adjusted wage and salary index also shows a grim picture. Since late I9"'9, when the index peaked at 138.7, this index has fallen non-stop except during the last h alf o f 1980 when lower in terest rates tem porarily boosted the construction industry. In January of 1982 the wage index was 128.3 and it has dropped every month except O c tober, reaching 123.3 in November, the lowest level in m ore than five years. O regon’s economic problems are re fle cte d in wages and hours worked. The durable goods sector o f m an u factu rin g lost 1.2 hours o f w ork and 5< per hour in earnings. Trades lost 0.3 hours per week while losing 13« in wages, caused by h irin g o f m ore lo w -p a id personnel fo r the Christmas season. Construction had an increase o f 1.1 hours per week but lost 8< in hourly wages due to fewer people working longer hours, (34.6 hours per week average.) SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT HATES OREGON and th a UNITED STATES< 1874 l o 1 4 -J— — —— — — — — 1802 ------------------- - Industrywide losses Although the plight of the timber industry has been highly publicized, the econom ic sta g n atio n has cut across Oregon's business and indus- i Please turn lo page 10 column 3) '7 4 ' 7« '7 6 '7 7 '7 8 '7 8 08 '81 Noer. o a p x s '82 T
