Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1984)
?p R80» ;• -an L ib ra ry I C*^ * a The KKK and Reagan Cambodia holocaust Careers of the 80's Page 2 Below Page "• t 10 PORTLAND OBSERNER - w utMN»«r«c t £jrvPteAAaA««C». Mr /•* * ~ Candidates rally over Jordan's departure by Chuck Goodmacher The crowd at last Saturday'« Community Unity Day chaara on unldantlflad "Baby Braakar” . Tha avant at Panlnaula Park la aponaorad annually by tha Portland Black United Front. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Housing Authority hosts camp by Chuck Goodmacher I f Thursday, August 23rd, had been just like any other summer weekday, Sara Belcher o f N o rth east Portland would have been at home watching "General Hospital” on television. But last Thursday was the fifth day o f a six-day summer camp at Camp Rilea, and Sara was learning “ about friends and new songs, stuff like that ...it's fu n ,” she added. Sara and ninety-nine other ten- to twelve-year old tenants of Housing Authority of Portland buildings were the guests of H A P and the Oregon Air and Army National Guards. The fourteenth year of the annual summer camp was also made possible by contributions of time, effort and goods by various Oregon businesses and individuals The most prominent private con tributor to the camp was Nike, Inc., which has provided sports shoes to every Rilea camper for the past eight years, as well as T-shirts and other clothing. Nike was given the Walli Schneider Award, Thursday, for its contributions. The award was named for the late Oregon Journal reporter who was an early supporter of the camp. The campers spend twenty-four hours a day with their hut-mates— five to seven other children and two adult counselors— and many close bonds o f friendship and respect develop during the week. At the end o f the camp, says counselor and H A P Director W .E. Hunter, “ tears flow freely, even for the coun selors." Hunter added many of the counselors continue to see the children long after the camp is over. The counselors are N ational Guard personnel, H A P employees and volunteers. Cooks fo r the hungry children are provided by the A ir Force and Arm y N ational Guard. Oregon Air Force National Guard General Rosenbaum said his organization sees the camp as fulfilling part of their obligation to “ serve country and com m unity.” He added though. “ I d o n 't want you to have the impression that the Oregon National Guard is only in business to do children's camps.” D uring the course o f the week, the children are treated to such ac tivities as building sandcastles, nding horses, making arts and crafts, and hiking in the nearby forests. For many of the children, the camp is their first visit to a coastal en vironment. They also cook over an open fire and learn how to set-up and take down a campsite. Citizenship is given a strong em phasis too. Each day o f the week has a different theme on the central concept of friendship. Daily themes included: friends work together, friends share, friends are fair, friends are loyal, and friends care. Individuals and groups are both awarded prizes for good deeds. Michael Taylor, for instance, had five ribbons by Thursday. One of them, he said, was for saving somebody from failing into the fire. H A P spokesperson Connie Easter said the 100 campers were selected from among several hundred ap plicants. Each year, said Easter, H A P notifies tenants o f the up coming camp and asks for ap plications from the parents of eligible children. Charles Jordan’ s decision last week to resign from the City Coun cil in order to accept a post in Austin, Texas, has triggered a flurry o f announcements and rumors regarding candidates to Fill his seat. Jordan's resignation-to-be has also raised the possibility that, should Jordan not resign between September 7th and September 27th, and not leave Portland by the 27th, then James M acD o nald, his only opponent in the May 13th primary, will be the only name on the ballot in November. The other candidates would then have to run write-in campaigns which traditionally favor the candidate with the widest name recognition. A rumor flying about C ity H a ll has it that should this situation develop, Frank Ivancie will enter the race as a write-in can didate. As the Observer went to press, the follow ing people had submitted documents pertaining to campaign committees to the City Auditor's of fice: D ic k Bogie: former police o f ficer and K A TU Television anchor; and executive assistant to C om missioner M ildred Schwab. Leon Jordan of 6118 S.W. Nevada Court is Bogle’s campaign treasurer. Herb C aw th o rn e: member of the Portland School Board and a director o f the O ffic e o f Special Services at Portland State Univer sity. Kay Sohl is Cawthorne's trea surer. Jerry Mercue: no information is available on him yet since the document he filed with the Auditor says he will not raise or spend $500 on the campaign. Joan H . S m ith : form er presi dent o f the P ortland Planning Commission; widely respected among Portland’s economic elite, Smith is expected to raise a great deal o f money fo r the campaign. Her treasurer is Joyce B. White. Other persons rumored to be seriously considering running for the C ouncil seat include Fred M ilto n , Oladys M cC o y, Kick Gustafson, Freddye Petett, and Bill Deiz. M ilton came to city government during the G oldschm idt adm in istration and has worked for years on economic development efforts. Gladys McCoy is currently serving as a Multnom ah County Commis sioner. Gustafson is the director o f the Harb C a w th o rn a , can tar. aaaka an andoraam ant for hla C ity Council campaign from Tuaaday nlght'a maatlng of tha Oragon Rain bow Organizing Commlttaa. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) 100,000 estimated killed in Cambodia by Lanila OuKe G R A S S R O O T N E W S , N . IP .— “ Cambodia Witness” , a photogra phic exhibit that documents the mass murder perform ed by the government o f Khmer Rouge be tween 1975 and 1979, is on display at the Central Branch of the M u lt nomah County L ib ra ry through September 7th. The photographs fo r this gra phic, explicit example o f m an’s inhumanity against man were taken by David Hawk during two trips to C am bodia in M arch 1981, and March 1982 ficials and m ilitary officers of the deposed regime were killed first. L ater, systematic executions oc curred among lower ranking o f ficials, form er army personnel, village leaders, members o f the commercial and educated classes. H aw k discovered the exter m ination center where the bureaucracy of murder kept records H aw k, former executive director o f Amnesty In te rn a tio n a l, was based in Bangkok, Thailand, while he worked for the Cam bodian Famine Relief and Refugee Crisis Project. He heard rumors of govern mental murder o f massive propor tions. “ I went inside Cambodia and saw the physical remains o f genocide.” H aw k recalled. He discovered mass grave sites throughout the countryside. One site had over eight thousand skulls. Mark HoMtng ut laathar for a camp i" ahowa Loc Trine how to maaaura and (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Metropolitan Service District and is said to have ambitions for higher o ffice. Freddye Petett w ill step down in December as head o f the U rban League, and Deiz, who is said to have put the fire in C o m missioner Lindberg's political style while serving on his staff, also might run. The first volley in the campaign was shot Thursday morning by Herb Cawthorne when he officially announced his candidacy and called for a series of debates to be held in several parts of the City. Cawthorne said his campaign theme w ill be “ the clear choice” and has been en dorsed by the Black United Front and the steering committee o f the Oregon Rainbow Organizing C om mittee. “ It was shocking. People think of mass graves as a field with 20 bodies, but here you had a field with 8,000,” he noted. The murders were instigated by the Khmer Rouge who entered the capitol o f Cam bodia in 1975. O f David Hawk, forma» executive director of Amneety International, at entrance to photographic exhibit depicting the modern day holo count that took place In Cambodia between 1B7B and 187» ! Richard J. Brown) of people they had killed. Records found in one extermination center indicated at least 15,000 people were liquidated. Hawk said, “ This was something you would not expect from a least- literate society.” "C a m b o d ia W itness" displays photographs o f prisoners prior to their deaths, sites of mass graves and an interrogation room. A m nesty International estimated that 100,000 people were killed during this 4- year period. " I feel terrible about reminding Cambodians of what they went through but it is necessary that the world realize that genocide has hap pened again in our day and age," he noted. Hawk added that the murders went ignored while they were hap pening. " I t demonstrates the flaws in the mechanisms and systems for the prom otion and protection o f human rights. As long as the C am bodian situation is ignored, un documented and goes unresponded, the risks are very high that we are going to miss and not respond to the next Cambodia ” H a w k , along with Amnesty In ternatio nal, has called upon the U .S . Senate to ratify the Conven tion Against Genocide and other in ternational covenants on human rights.
