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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1983)
P««* 2 Portland Observer, August 17,1983 I T ^k| KGW"manipulates"meaning Defense protestors misunderstood by Chuck Good mac her NEW QUEEN/OLD KINO - Barbara Althouee, the 1*83-84 Queen of the Hobos, glvee moral support to Marcad "Buttons" Hansan, tha 1882-83 King of tha Hobos, who recently announced his political ambitions by declaring: "I am going to seek tha mayor's off les In 1884." (Photo: Richard J. Brown) King of the Hobos enters mayor's race by Nathaniel Scott As hobos, street people and the down and out prepare for Port land’s Third Annual Hobo Parade, Sunday. August 21. the 1982-83 hobo king gears up for a political Tight. Marcell “ Buttons** Hansen, the 1982-83 King o f the Hobos, accord ing to Michael Stoops, co-founder o f Baloney Joes and “ Buttons’ * campaign manager, “ has decided to run for m ayor.“ In addition, Stoops announced that the 1983-84 king and queen, whose selection “ is not based on race, income, sex or looks," are, Richard Huntley and Barbara A lt- house. “ Buttons" said he decided to run for mayor because "some o f the policies that M r. Ivancie have are against the poor people in the Burn side area.” Moreover, he said, he is against the Greyhound Depot pro posed move to Old Town because it will leave many a street person with out a place to rest their weary heads. According to "B uttons,” a num ber o f street people "sleep in the pit parking lo t.” The lot that he makes reference to is located on N W 6th and Clisan. Furthermore, “ Buttons” said, "Portland needs more low-income housing and jobs In addition to jobs and housing, "Buttons" sees the need to attack crime more strenuously. According to him, since the in ception o f the Ouardian Angels, crime has become "controlled” in some areas and the police are doing a “ pretty good” job, but, " I f I was elected m ayor,” he said, ” 1 would declare war on the jack ro llen . . . and other crime, to o.” "B uttons,” 31, has resided in Portland approximately 13 yean. He is a native o f New York City and has a degree in mathematics from the University o f Tennessee at Nash ville. Retired from the M arine Corps, he is self-employed: nightly he can be seen in North and North east Portland picking up wine bot tles. The bottles are sold to Baloney Joes for a penny each. “ Buttons** said he once earned $30 in one night. O f which, he proudly pro claimed, “ T hat's a fair night’s wages.” Computation-wise, at a penny each, $30 represents 3,000 bottles. Indeed, I would say, that's a fair amount o f bottles to be handled by one whose only vice it the enjoy ment o f a good smoke. “ Buttons* ** preference is Rigoletto Palma Grande cigars. "Buttons' strategy.” according to Stoops, is to “ split the ticket and force a ru n -o ff.” "T his will be the first time in re cent history that we (the Burnside community) have run a Burnside resident," Stoops said. “ In 1986 we are going to run a full slate." “ Buttons" said he is able to de bate different issues and Stoops said it will be a good, clean campaign. He added with the twitch o f a smile, “ We want Ivancie to vote for Buttons in *84.” The Hobo Parade, Sunday, A u gust 21, will begin in the North Park Blocks. N W 8th and Everett, at noon, and wind its way to W ater front Park. Featured at W aterfront Park will be guest speakers, music, food, soft drinks, and “ Buttons," Stoops said. Any “ Buttons" for mayor campaign contributions can be mailed to Baloney Joes. 313 E. Burnside Street. 97214. Nine-thirty a.m . Wednesday. A u gust 10, 1983, Portland, Oregon. Seven people peacefully occupy a branch office o f the Defense Logis tics Agency. By early afternoon the protestors are physically removed by officers o f the Federal Protective Service, cited for a violation, and re leased Later, on K O W 's 3 o ’clock news, the general public is told today’s peace movement is small and resorting to staged media events. W hat really transpired Wednes day morning in the old Federal Building at 311 N .W . Broadway? Were the protestors merely staging an event to win coverage by the major media? Is their action a sign o f the desperation o f today’s peace movement? Or were the protestors motivated by a higher, moral imperative? Did they feel responsible as human beings for interrupting the "busi- ness-as-usual" implementation o f America's "m orally-cnm inal p oli cies” o f preparing for nuclear anni hilation and supporting "d ictato r ships” in El Salvador. Guatemala and elsewhere? A statement of purpose, delivered early Wednesday along with a press release, indicated the protest "is aimed at interrupting the business- as-usual o f the kind o f bureaucratic mass-homicide that is typified by the Defense Logistics Agency's acti vities." KG W -Channd Eight, filmed a shot o f a protest supporter deliver ing a press release as if that act itself was newsworthy. Once inside, protestors quietly spoke with office staff about their work which insures "quality con trol” and “ on-time ’ delivery of both nuclear and conventional wea ponry. Protestors read aloud their statement o f purpose and excerpts from several sources including: m ar tyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero's letters, the Nuremberg codes, and Hannah A rendt’s classic book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality o f Evil. One staff member cried and sev eral became notably upset. The K G W reporter napped through much o f the occupation. Seeking to avoid a legal confron tation, the acting director o f the o f fice, Alan Hadcly, met with the pro testors. A fter a cordial exchange (in which Hadely admitted to never having had a previous discussion on the possibility o f disarmament) six officers o f the Federal Protective Service arrived on the scene. A t about 12:30 the occupiers were told their continued presence "is not II- U * M- Union members tour Nicaragua w by Robert Lothian Jamie Partridge, a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 192 in Portland, toured Nicaragua with other Am eri can union members recently in honor o f the fourth anniversary o f the revolution which overthrew Som oza'i dictatorship. The tour was aimed at building better relations between the U.S. and Nicaragua, and in particular be tween workers o f both countries Included were visits to factories, schools, hospitals, cooperative farms, and meetings with the coun try’s leaders, members o f the women's organizations and youth groups “ I spent a lot o f time talking to people on the street, in bars and markets, trying to find out how the revolution had changed their lives and what they thought about it ," he said. O f 30 people he talked to, said Partridge, only three were against the revolution — mainly older peo ple and ex-members o f the National Ouard who had "slipped through the cracks" and who were not bene fit ting from the positive achieve ments o f the revolution. Partridge said that his overall impression o f poet-revolutionary Nicaragua was that it is “ a really open society, a society constantly in m o tion ," with people involved in literacy campaigns, health mobiliza tions and military preparedness. “ I met so many people whose lives sanctioned" and they must leave. “ W e're not used to this kind o f con frontation where people arc drug out of rooms and so o n ," said one officer. Following a warning period, the protestors were "placed outside the office” — the words o f Lt. Dudkie- wicz. The protestors thanked the o f ficers “ for being gentle with us” and then sat down in the hallway. The protestors were arrested and given a court date (August 30) to answer charges o f violating “ con form ity to verbal directions o f a Federal Police O ffic e r.” The protest was over by 2 p.m .: the delivery o f some weapons for use in Central America and else where around the globe had been disrupted for several hours; Defense Department employees were directly confronted with the complicity o f their actions; and perhaps the public would become more sensitive to the u protestors’ concerns. K O W -T V , however, reported a different story. The T V. news coverage began with the narrator stating that the protestors tried to “ manipulate” news media. Although the reporter and film crew were present at the protest for 2 H hours, not one pro testor was interviewed. The narrator commented that the statements read were only for the media and then submitted as evidence the fact that one protestor nervously eyed the camera while speaking aloud. Final ly. the narrator stated K G W -T V would not cover the protestors' court appearance. K G W has since refused to grant equal time for the protestors to re fute the charges o f staging the pro test only to "m anipulate the media” on the grounds that their coverage was a news report and not an edi torial statement. SUMMER SALE tt CURL SALE TCB Curl Regular $65.00 NOW $40.00 (includes Cut, Curl, C onditioner and Style) 8 Cellophane Hair Color Regular ’ZO **-^ ** NOW $10.0 0 Hair Cuts Regular $15.OO-$2O.OO NOW $ 1 0.0 0 R O □ 5 < butch more 3 5 s 3- > - « o § •0 H a tr D e s ig n F o r M e n S W o m e n 1 4 1 0 N .E . B r o a d w a y . P o r t la n d , O r e g o n B 8 4 -1 B B 7 Portland Cleaning W orks Back to School Special Aug. 22 thru Sept. 3 Hurry — Hurry 5 tO 20% ° f f pom.i><icie.nin9 wori<, 3 Q R 4 N. N W m« 3954 W illia illiam s 282-8361 Must pick up in 30 days were taken up by the revolution,” he said. Partridge now hopes to speak be fore community groups and union forums about his experience. One of the messages he'd like to bring to Portlanders is what Reagan admin istration and C IA support o f rem nants of Somoza's right-wing National Ouard represents "Contras'* invading from neigh boring Honduras are continuing the terror, mutilations and murder which characterized the Somoza re gime, and are trying to destroy the positive achievements o f the revolu tion, he said. He spoke o f rural residents who scrimped and saved and worked co operatively to build the first com munity center for their village. When it was completed, they threw a large party, and the center became a place for classes and community meetings. Just weeks after comple tion, however, he said, contras burned the building to the ground. The population endures in spite o f such attacks, lie said, because hundreds o f thousands have become involved in running their com m u ni ties for the first time An emphasis on "inform ed participation” and "participatory democracy” is evi dent in a massive 6-month-long nationwide discussion o f the “ law o f the relationship o f women, men and c h ild re n ." for instance, he said Also, he said, over 800,000 Nica raguans participate in the CD S or ganization — Sandinista Defense Committees — community groups which carry out revolutionary re forms at the local level. “ The main emphasis is on elimi nating hunger,” he said. “ I t ’s still an extremely poor country.” Land which had been owned by the Somoza family is being turned over to agricultural cooperatives, he said, and the stranglehold o f an export- related economy which drained the country’s resources is being broken. Coffee and sugar production is de- emphasized and production o f es sential food crops — corn, rice and beans — has increased 40% . Partridge said that a massive liter acy campaign is aimed at bringing those who can't read out of the dark ages, and at training people to fill gaps in the technical and man agerial work force. " H a lf the popu lation in Nicaragua are involved in some kind o f education program right now ,” he said. “ There's a saying, 'all Nicaragua is a school.* ** Neighborhood committees are also conducting a nationwide cam paign to eliminate diseases that have plagued poor Nicaraguans — polio, malaria and typhoid. Experts tram neighborhood volunteers on how to give shots, and they in turn teach others, said Partridge. The revolution is responsible for a 78% increase in union membership, according to Partridge, from 8% to 83% o f the population. “ People are very excited about their unions," he said. “ Most o f these people have not had the experience o f being in a union under a government that was anti-union. Now, in most conflicts between workers and private prop erty owners, when the government intervenes, they usually come down on the side o f workers, whereas it used to be just the opposite.” He spoke o f the experience o f workers at the Eskimo Pie ice cream factory in Managua. Management continued to abuse the workers after the revolution to the point where workers demanded of the govern ment that it step in, nationalize the factory and negotiate the transfer to worker's management. Managers are now hired and fired by a produc tion council which also makes day to day decisions about running the plant. A general workers assembly meets three times a year to discuss issues o f general concern. One o f the first things they decided was to pay workers for time spent in the revolution, he said. A problem connected with the union drive, said Partridge, is that through collective bargaining, union workers are able to get things, some " a ll new,” that non-organized workers aren't able to get — better wages, I hour days, health insur ance and pension plans. Other prob- • w s s ws w w ai » Graham crackers, graham bread, and graham flour owe their name to Sylvester Graham, a nineteenth century American pure-food enthusiast, who first an nounced that this flour had excellent nutritive value. • Benjamin Franklin was the first head of the U.S. postal system. • The Library of Congress contains about 300 miles of shelf space and about 40 acres of floor space. We d o o s td o business w ith South Africe. American State Bank AN INOtPENDCNT BANK Head Office 2 7 3 7 N . E. Union Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 1 2 (Coutinued on P. J, Col. I. bottom) I
