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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1983)
Page 2 Portland Observer, August 31,1983 Oregonians join peace ‘ Fast for Life' by Jim D—to Thirteen people from tin coun- •rie» have been eating nothing and drinking only water (ince August 6th, the 38ih anniversary o f the bombing o f Hiroshima. They call it the “ Fast for L ife ” and they intend to continue not eating until there is a significant step taken to wards ending the nuclear arms race. They will consider any concrete action taken by any o f the nuclear powers, but in particular they arc calling for an immediate halt to all nuclear weapons testing or a can cellation o f U.S. and N A T O plans to deploy Pershing I I and cruise missiles in Europe. These missiles are seen by some m ilitary strategists and many other experts as destabiliz ing to the present nuclear stand-off. They are a new generation o f highly accurate weapons, are considered to be useful primarily in a first-strike situation, and are too small for the Soviet Union to keep track o f and would therefore make a mutual U .S ./U .S .S .R . nuclear freeze non- verifiable. The U .S .S .R . has said that they consider these missiles to be a serious threat to their security and will respond to the deployment, scheduled fo r this December, by putting their own missiles on a hair trigger “ launch on warning system,” that will significantly in- i the likelihood o f an accidental nuclear war. The fasten are from France, Spain, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the United States. Tw o o f them are from Oregon, Dorothy Granada, a 32-year-old public health nurse and mother o f one, and Charles Oray, 3>-year-old father o f two and grandfather o f four. In a recent press release from the Fasting Cen ter in Oakland, C a lif., O ray wrote, “ I love life, I am not a suicidal type. We don’t feel we're special people in any way. W e would do what any body would do if their child fell in the river. W e ’re willing to take this risk.” Granada wrote " W e feel our first obligation is to sec this planet survive. The fast is helping to re leases great spiritual power.” The decision to risk their lives in this open-ended fast comes from their deep personal commitment to peace and to ending world hunger The festers are taking their place alongside the millions o f people starving around the world whom they call "the silent victims o f the arms race.” T o Gray, Granada, and the other festers the connection is clear; every day 40,000 children under the age o f five die from mal nutrition and every day the govern ments around the world spend more than I billion dollars on weapons. The U .N . Center on Disarmament has estimated that wilh an addition al 11.3 billion dollars, adequate food, water, housing, health care, and education could be provided for every person on earth. 18.3 billion dollars is about as much as the world spends on weapons every two weeks. The fasten don't believe that their actions alone will be enough to achieve the results they desire and they know that some people may not understand their willingness to die i f their goal is not met within the relatively short time that a person can live without food (approximate- Atlanta life good for Robinson ly 2 to 3 months). Earlier this summer O ray wrote, "A s I sec it, the purpose o f the fast is to awaken people to deeper levels o f non-violent action with the political aim o f stop ping the nuclear arms race.” Granada suggests, “ Whatever you usually do, do more and do it now.“ A letter-writing campaign has been organized to send 3 million letters to world leaders and decision makers urging them to stop the arms race. People are pledging to write 10 letters between Sept. 6 and 9, one month after the start o f the fast. In Portland, a major rally is being planned for October 22 at W ater front Park to oppose the deploy ment o f cruise and Pershing I I mis siles in Europe. The rally is spon sored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, an inter-denominational coalition representing 198 Oregon churches. A local support group for the “ Fast (or L ife " holds a vigil every M o n .-F ri. from 3-6 p.m . in front o f the Pioneer Court House on the bus mall, and on Sal. and Sun. at Satur day M arket near the literature tables. For more inform ation call 233- 1887 or 239-4183. M odel Search 5'9“ and over for woman. 6*2“ and ovar for man. Bring composite and 8x10 head shot to; Cora 8 m lth . 727 8 .W . 12th Ava. For “ Cobi Collection Traveling Fashion S h o w .” GRASSROOTS NEWS, N. W. — August is the time o f the year when many Oregonians leave the Rose City in search o f other temporary horizons. As Oregonians leave the city for vacations, we find many others who come back and visit the city they left behind. Jimmy Robinson is one such Portlander. He left with the exodus created by the move o f Oeorgia Pa cific Corporation. "F o r the last year my fam ily and 1 have been living in J tlanta. Oeorgia. I ’m working as a photographer for Oeorgia Pacific in the video and still photographic group. It has been a very enjoyable and profitable move for us.” Robinson is a native Oregonian who worked as a teacher for ten years and later became a self-taught photographer. ” 1 got involved with as many projects as I could to devel op my photographic skills. When it came time to make the move, I was qualified for the jo b .” The former teacher was asked what type o f education the students in Portland receive. " Y o u receive a well-rounded liberal arts education. In an integrated society you are like ly to see both sides o f the coin more than you would in other parts o f the country. I say to those students who are striving to get an education that they have an advantage in this area of the country because they have the opportunity. " T h e educational process calls for a lot o f different ingredients from the student, parent and the community. It is the combination of all those ingredients which makes for a healthy educational atmos phere.” Robinson's interest in photo graphy developed while he was the business manager for the RAB group. Pleasure. “ I wanted to cap ture the events and the sparkle o f our tours. One thing lead to another and it became leu o f a hobby and more o f a busineu.” Jimmy Robinson says he loves living in the heartbeat o f the South, Atlanta, G A . " O u r airport is the link-up o f the South. The weather is warm, the food is good and the peo ple are nice. It is a vibrant city full of youth, profeuion and politics. One comparison you could make to Portland is that it is very green. PNB requests metered rates Public U tility Com m iuioner John Lobdell has scheduled a prehearing conference for September 7th on a proposal by Pacific Northwest Bell to convert its business customers from flat rate to measured service. In July. PNB filed a proposal to convert busineu service 'o a measured system under which each customer would pay for the actual amount o f local phone service used each month. The conference w ill begin at 10 a.m . in Hearing Room D o f the Labor and Industries Building in Salem. The purpose o f the confer ence is to identify parties to the case, clarify issues, and discuu legal procedures. Persons or organiza tions wishing to participate in the case as formal intervenors may file petitions to intervene at the conference or submit petitions in writing to the PU C on or before the meeting date. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO PEOPLE WITH TECHNICAL SKILLS. You hear it everywhere. The Electronic Age. The Age of the Computer. The Era of High Tech. And that the future belongs to the people with the technical skills. But where do you go to learn technical skills? Consider the Army. We have over 300 skills to offer, many of them technical, and most of them have their civilian counterparts. You could learn a skill in the Army that you could carry right into the future. It’s a good chance for you to be what you want to be. So see your Army Recruiter J IM M Y R O B IN S O N (Photo: Richard J. Brown) When I first landed there I felt right at home. " I'm just getting to know the city and make the types o f contacts I need to branch out. I f I do not con tinue working for Georgia Pacific I would hope to operate an indepen dent photography studio.“ His advice to the ambitious Ore gonian — “ You need to try and make contacts outside the city of Portland. And try to foster those types o f contacts. There is a lot of stimuli out there and you can't get it all within the city limits. Portland is a wonderful place to grow up in but you really need to see points o f view from other parts o f the nation.” 321 S W Salm on St. 221-2267 3637 NE Sandy Blvd. 232 9559 ARMY. BCALLYOUCANBE. Money to go. The economy is up. Our interest rates are down. And now is the best time in years to go ahead and borrow the money for the major purchase you may have postponed. i\jt pleasure back in your driving with a new car. Sail away aboard the boat of your dreams. Or set off on family adventures in your own recreational vehicle. Then again, maybe you’ve got some thing else in mind. That’s fine. too. Because we’re lending money for a lot of gtxxi reasons. All you have to do is decide what kind of loan you want. With the right credit infor mation. we’ll give you an answer in only one day. If you qualify, you’ll have cash in hand to shop for your best possible deal. Come into any branch of First Interstate Bank soon. We have the financ ing to give your dreams some « « u p and go. w W First C X Interstate Bank I - •< • V* < ' - -’ t *
