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Football
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LU
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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)
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'7 6
'7 7
'7 8
'7 8
08
'81
Noer. o a p x s
'82
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