Page 2, Portland Observer, May 15,1985
Dreamspan Saturday
your neighbors on the Burnside Bridge
at 11 a.m when a balloon arch w ill be
raised to join both sides o f the W il
lamette River.
..aier, hear the music o f Crazy 8’s
and Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts
at Waterfront Park Help plan P ort
land at U amspan. Saturday, May
18. from II a.m. to 5 p.m. at the
Burnside Bridge.
Want a role in shaping Portland's
future? Then come io Dreamspan.
Saturday. May 18. on the Burnside
Bridge
Bring a friend, bring a grin and
bring us your dreams io build a plan
on. Join Mayor Bud Clark and the
Portland City Council at Dreamspan.
the kick-o ff event for Portland’ s
Central City plan Meet thousands o f
MRS. C’s
WIGS
Many wig«jgric»d »I H HO b »14
land Mayor, and Matthew Prophet. Superintendent of Portland Public
School*, kick off Cans for Kid* drive Fund* from can* collected will
support drug and alcohol abuse program* in the school*
(Photo: Richard J Brown)
Victim's rights sought
West Coett Black)« at his home undsr the bridge.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Under the bridge
by l.anua Duke
GRASSROOT NEWS. N W —
The river is their living rrxim , the stars
their ro o f and the ground serves as
their carpet as those who fall through
the safety net reappear as Portland's
invisible popul? n — the homeless.
They have responded to the finite
summer shelter by living where they
can and some are literally living
underneath the bridge.
Beneath the 1-5 Freeway ramp, be
tween the Morrison and Steel bridges,
a little-known community exists.
Shaded away from view and nestled
between the railroad tracks and the
river bank, a barking dog greets in
truders while a child plays hopscotch
in the dirt. Her mother cooks over an
open llanie while her father reads the
paper
"T he faces o f the homeless have
changed." said Michael Sloops, d i
rector o f the Burnside Community
Council.
"A lth ou g h the image o f W illie the
Wino, Freddy the Freeloader and the
Bag l ady is still with us, the average
homeless person is JO years old, 15
percent are women, 25 percent are
racial minorities, one out o f four are
chronically mentally ill and we are
seeing more and more families every
day "
For eight years. Sloops has advocat
ed and educated the city about a
group o f people and a set o f circum
stances many would like to ignore.
The council provides a variety o f
basic human services such as dental,
medical, food and winter shelter to
Portland's homeless.
"W e are the salety net wnen peo
ple are ineligible for other pro
gram s." Sloops explained. "They
wind up on skid row and we are start
ing to see too many come through.”
Recent city budget limitations elim
inated funding for summer shelter.
“ Everyone seems to be concerned
about the homeless in the winter, but
the summer is just as dangerous and
threatening," Stixips noted. "Y oung
people and those new to Burnside are
starting to live underneath the bndge "
Tony, a 25-year-old Black male,
said he has lived under the bridge for
four years. “ I ’ m homeless because I
don't want to go home. I'm not from
Portland. I came here with a job, lost
it and everything else."
Jim, a JI-year-old white male, said
once employers find out you live on
Burnside they w on't hire you. So,
we're right back where we started —
nowhere.
As the traffic overhead drowns out
their verbal frustration, Tony said
they keep warm in the winter with
lots and lots o f sleeping bags I pro
tect myself with a billy club or hatch
et. I've got to watch out for people
trying to rip me o f f . "
As he showed me his corner under
the bridge, I wondered what there was
to lake. Blankets covered the dirt
while cardboard cutouts serve as
walls. Besides a collection o f broken
chairs and an assortment o f clothes,
there was nothing else except the roar
o f the traffic above and the sounds
o f a train beside him.
The city is the backdrop and a
reminder o f a city and society going
one way while the homeless stand still.
Racism workshop this weekend
Portland Black United Front co-
chair Ron Herndon and P rof. Duane
Campbell (C alifornia Stale. Sacra
memo) w ill open a weekend w ork
shop on " l acing Racism," speaking
at Portland State, Smith Center,
Room 296. Fridav. Mav 17, at 8 p m.
The workshop is co-sponsored by the
Democratic Sixrialisis o f America.
Portland chapter, and the Associated
Students o f PSU (ASPSU).
The workshop will teach partici
pants about m inority organizations,
and identify barriers between d iffe r
ent racial groups working against
racism.
iiciiiuon win incus oil black issues.
Campbell will speak to Latino issues,
based on his experience in the United
Farmworkers, and currently in the
Sacramento Immigration Committee
and l a Semilla Cultural Center. He
is co-chair o f the DSA Ann-Racism
C omtnission.
The workshop continues May 18
with a game. Bata Bata, designed to
increase sensitivity in interracial com
munication, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Dr. Campbell
will present a discussion on “ A nti-
Racism and Democratic S*x.ialism "
Both events arc also at Smith Center,
Rixun 296
STEWART CLEANERS
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Saying. "C rim e victims w ill not rest
until they are assured fairness in the
criminal justice system," Bob Kouns,
Presidc.it o f Crime Victims United,
addressed a rally on the Capitol steps
in Salem recently which launched a
drive aimed at placing a new victims'
rights initiative on the November,
1986 ballot.
kouns was joined by Stale Repre
sentative Randy Miller and Marlene
Young, a national victims' rights
leader as chief sponsors o f the initia
tive which must be signed by some
75.000 voters by July 6. 1986 in order
to go before the electorate.
k uns told the rally the initiative
would establish equivalent Miranda
Rights for victims and require the
Parole Board to allow victims to at
tend its hearings.
The Miranda Rights for victims
would require a defense attorney to
tell a victim who the atiorney repre
sent», that the victim does not have to
talk to the attorney and that it the vic
tim wishes to talk may request that a
district attorney be present.
The initiative would also:
— Require that the victim's sched
ule be considered in the setting o f trial
and motion dates.
«
— Prohibit exclusion o f the victim
from ihe courtrixun as often occurs
at the defense attorney’s request
— When "constitutionally permis-
Divestment
by Lamia Duke
GRASSROOT NEWS. N W -
The House Human Resource Com
mittee w ill send to the Oregon House
a measure that will require the State
Treasurer to gradually sell state in
vestments in companies doing busi
ness in South Africa
House Bill 2001 was supported by
a number o f progressives, liberals
and a host o f state legislators during
public testimony A p ril 3rd.
Due to scare tactics employed by
State Treasurer Bill Rutherford, who
told the committee that divestment
meant a m ulti-m illion dollar loss to
the public trust fund — primarily the
Public Employees Retirement system
— the original bill was diluted.
Rep. Rick Kotulski issued a pro
posal calling for a divestment o f funds
from companies that fail to follow
principals espoused by the 1984 Nobel
Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond
Tutu.
Called the Expanded Sullivan Prin
cipals, it states that companies should
allow Black workers to live with their
families, support their union and in
vest in education and training.
Rep. Margaret Carter, who intro
duced the bill, said the current word
ing. if passed, w ill require a withdraw
al o f 45 percent o f Oregon funds
invested in companies doing business
in South Africa.
Register to vote
The Associated Students and staff
o f Portland Community College-
Cascade. 705 N. Killingsworth, will be
operating a voter registration table in
the foyer o f the Student Center Build
ing until May 20. They invite mem
bers o f the community to stop by and
register to vote in the May 21 special
election.
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
284 7722
A Public S a w ic a 0« I M
Portto«w fO <W »rv*r
Take an additio al 10%
off already marked down
wig price*
Betty ClB'fW Proprator
M a M v « « « p »V MAOMI S M S AMOAI DOUGLAS M A T A I« C O U
sible," require joint trials o f multiple
defendants in a single case so that a
victim is not subject to excruciating
multiple trials.
—Give prosecuting attorneys in
criminal felony cases the same num
ber o f opportunities io challenge the
suitability o f jurors as dclcnse at
torneys have.
—Give prosecutors equal rights
with defense attorneys in admitting
evidence o f a witnesses' prior con
A W K H A Il W t l l S
VX.IIOI1S.
— Allow separate sentences lot
each crime and each victim. For ex
ample a drunken driver who kills four
people could be sentenced lor lour
crimes whereas now he can only be
sentenced lor one.
Supporters ol the initialise antici
pate that legal issues in setting the
propet ballot title will take several
months to resolve, kouns said he
hopes petitions will be on the street
gathering signatures bv lulv or A u
gust .
l o t lurthet inform ation contact
Bob Kouns or Norman Frink at
245 4920
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Closed Sun. « Mon. O PIN Tuoa. thru la t. 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM
V IIV I K l i s t M l S I
Scientologists Invite
Whistleblowers to Speak Out
The Church ot Scientology long know n tor
its effective social reform activities and e x p o
sure ot governm ent agency abuses that v io
late the precious freedom s o l Am erican
citizens has also provided a lo rum to i w h is
tleblow ers
those governm ent em ployees
w ith the courage to speak out about agency
abuses and in justice s w hich they have
observed
In 1975 lor exam ple the C h urch s FREE
DOM News Journal reported on tbe story ot A
Ernest Fitzgerald an Air Force em ployee
whose career was destroyed by tatse and m a li
cious reports about him by bis Superiors after
be exposed tbe $2 b illio n cost overrun ot a
controversial m ilitary transport plane
Alter reading about Fitzgerald in FREE
DOM lorm er G rum m an A ircra ft em ployee
Duane Yorke con tacted the C hurch to tell bis
own story Yorke had reported to G rum m an
tbe m anufacturer ot tbe Navy s F ,11 hqhter
plane serious de le cts in the design ot the new
plane and copies ot bis report bad been fo r
warded to tbe Pentagon
Shortly after he sent his report Yorke tound
his career ab ru p tly ended He was h o s p ita l
ized and held in c c m m iim c a d o and treated
w ith electro convulsive shock therapy and
in sulin shock treatm ent
As tbe C h urch reported Yorke was later
vindicated when G rum m an A ircra ft and the
Navy scrapped this test m odel ot the F - ,,1
alter c o n firm in g the detects that Yorke had
o rig in a lly p o in te d ou '
The C h urch ot S cientology has also
released the stories o l m any Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) w histleblow ers
Recently the C hurch s FREEDOM News
Journal advertised in several national news
papers a skin g to r c u rre n t and fo rm e r
em ployees ot the IRS to com e forw ard w ith
in fo rm atio n about abuses or ille g a litie s w ith in
the service
One o l the first responses was from a form er
IRS em ployee who cam e forw a rd w ith the
story o l her attem pts to corre ct a du plicate
assessment o f a taxpayer 3 return For her
efforts, she was inform ed by one o l her IRS
superiors that
it the taxpayer is stupid
enough to sign tor it you assess it FREE
DOM covered her story and as a result m any
other IRS em ployees were encouraged to
speak out
The resp on seto FREEDOM sadvertisem ent
was so trem endous that a national c o a litio n o l
IRS w histleblow ers has been form ed consist
mg o, not only current and form er em ployees
o , the IRS but also open to all Am erican c iti
zens and groups who are concerned about
vio latio ns ot their c o n stitu tio n a l rights by the
IRS
The C h urch of S cientology has also been
contacted by w histleblow ers from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
In 1979 the C hurch reported in fo rm atio n
received from a form er FBI agent who
exposed the fact that it was com m on practice
w ith in the agency tor agents to pocket the
m oney intended tor their inform ants He also
revealed that in order to make their quota ot
info rm an ts many agents w o uld sim ply make
up names and report them as fact
and then
pocket the m oney allocated tor these fic titio u s
inform ants
Many w histleblow ers who have told their
stories to the C hurch and to the stat, o, FREE
DOM have been greatly relieved to tm d that
the C hurch is an organ izatio n that is c o n
cerned enough about honesty and in te grity in
governm ent to listen to them and accurately
report then stones to the Am erican people
The C h urch has fo u n d that there is an
increasing number ot current and form er
governm ent em ployees who see a need tor
reform and who are w illin g to step forw ard and
talk about their experiences
It is vital that the Am erican people b e a h le to
make their voices heard and do som ething
effective to im prove those parts o l their own
governm ent w hich they observe are in need o,
reform
The C h urch o, Scientology s cam paign to
expose and reform governm ent agency
abuses has received trem endous support
from in dividu als and groups throughout the
cou ntry who like ourselves know that we
must take resp on sibility lor protecting those
treedom s guaranteed by the U S C o nstitutio n
and Bill ot Rights
Despite the predictable attem pts by these
governm ent agencies to silence us tust as
they have tried to silence their own em ployees
w ho have trie d to blow the whistle on them the
C hurch w ill con tinu e to encourage Am erican
citizens to speak up about governm ent
agency abuses and crim es The C hurch ot
S cientology w ill con tinu e to set an exam p'e
persistence and courage to those who teel it is
w o rth w h ile to work tow ard an ideal civiliza tion
where honest men are tree to prosper and live
their lives w ith ou t tear
3'
For fu rth e r in fo rm atio n, ca ll Toll-Free 1 -800-367 8788
C hurch ot S c ie n to lo g y * O ttice of Special Atfairs
1413 N Berendo St Los Angeles CA 90027
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