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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1986)
Page 2. Portland Observer. March 26. 1986 EDITORIAL/OPINION State Could Use Contra Funds Now that the U S Congress has voted down President Reagan's request lor $100 million in humanitarian ami nnlilars aid Io the Contras try mg to overthrow the Nicaraguan Government, gov eminent olticials in ( Jregon should petition tor the $i(N) million The money could he used towards addressing the serious problems facing the State criminal jus tice system Due to the lack ol funding, police agencies are being forced to cut back on special mission operations designed to reduce the occurr ence ol crime Because ol the lack of jail space, dangerous criminals are being given written cita tions without being arrested This procedure also applies to certain types of rape and assault cases I he lack of adequate funding ol the criminal justice system has resulted in another serious prob lern; disrespect for the law Knowing there is not enough jail space and only those who commit seri ous crimes w ill be sen, to jail; drug pushers openly sell their products on city streets; prostitutes openly perform sexual acts in full view of neighborhood residents; criminals are repeatedly committing crimes over and over again Such a situation results in an increase in crime President Reagan has argued that the $I(X) mill ion was needed to stop the threat of communism Irom destroying the United States Despite the President's claims, many do not share this belief I he failure ol congress to pass the President's to ,ilia aid package is an example ( ontinmng to underfund this nation's criminal justice system is eroding the livability ol our com munities When individuals show no respect for the law . and are allowed to remain free to commit acts ol law lessness against decent citizens in soci ety, law abiding people become hostages within the boundaries ol their ow u sell sty led enlightened civilized society I aw lessness within the United States is a much g,eater threat to Americans than the Sandinista government Statement of Thomas Novick Oregon State Public Interest Research Group Executive Director, March 19, 1986 In the Iasi year. ihe insurance industry dram atu ally raised prem ium rales fo r a broad range nt consumers fro m 19X4 io 19X5. rales increased 70 percent for certain types o f doctors l awyers and architect malpractice premiums jum ped M Xlio 'X X I percent w hile day care centers were forced io lake 2<N, to 500 percent rale increases I he list goes on I hese insurance consumers could he considered " lu c k y ' as many oilier pro fessionals and other consumers are unable Io gel coverage al any price Many w in. were able Io gel needed coverage saw vastly increased premiums lo r lar less coverage I I k - insurance mduviry claim s lhai it lost $5 5 b illio n in 19X5 When one looks closer al their claim s we are reminded o f Ihc phrase "v o o d o o econom ies" In its loss columns the insurance industry conveniently ignored capital gams loial ling $6 5 b illio n and federal lax rebates estimated at $ 1 5 b illio n In addition, the industry includes $2 | b illio n in voluntary dividends paid to slock holders in (heir loss col umn through creative bookkeeping the indusirv has man ulaciured a crisis li is using this manufactured crisis loenacl a series o l " io n re fo rm s" in slate after stale I hese so called re-forms make 11 harder, if not impossible, for victim s ol medical malpractice or dangerous products, such as the I >al kon Shield, 10 recover damages arid hold guilly parties re sponsible In ihc next lew days. " I o n re fo rm ", or lor, detom i as il has been called, legislation w ill he proposed in Oregon Ihc legislation calls tor caps on compensation tor pain and sutler ing. resiridions on punitive damages and resirulions on contingency tecs paid ,0 attorneys In addition, the legisla lion calls tor the repeal o l jo in t and several lia b ility . a legal doctrine in c llc c l lot over MX, years, which insures lhal injured people w ill I k com ,Kiisaled Before the I trecon I egislalure is bl.Kkni.uled by the insur ance in ,lu s ii\ into resiiicdng the rights o l v ictin is, 11 is im por lam Io sludy Ihc impact ot io n rc lo rn is " Ihere is abw» lulely no evidence lhal tort le lo rn is " make insurance more alloidahle or available I vidcucc jxunls Io the contrary In | 9 7X, I’euiisyIsama enacted a law im m unizing all Pennsylvania m unu ipalilies horn mosl kinds of lia b ility suits aixl limiting even catastrophic events 10 $500.(XX) per oc 1 uirence A el Pennsylvania cHies and towns are having iheir insurance policies cancelled Having been told lhal il Joinl and several lia b ililv were elim inated mumc ipalilies would be able ,0 obtain insurance, Iowa abolished jo in l and several lia b ility in 19X1 Yel in 19x5. 41 Iowa couniiev had iheir lia b ililv insurance cancel led fin a lly , virtually every " i o n reform ' measure the insur ante industry is seeking, including caps on pain and sutler mg. ihc elim ination o l punitive damages and contingency lees, and penalties lor frivolou s suds, is currently the law in O ntano. I an.ida S till, the m siiiancc industry is raising pre miums by 4 ixi percent. cancelling coverage in m id term and refusing lo provide coverage at any p ru e just as it is in the I niled Slates I lx' in s u ra n c e industry can not prove dial " lo r , re fo rm " has an impact on insurance talcs 01 availability Because o l ibis. ( )S P IR (1 strongly urges die I Jregon I egislalure lo re|c-i I proposals lh a l w ill lim n <bi- rrehis o l vu l i n n and to look |.T solutions which w ill make insurance affordable and availably lo all I Iregoniails Jacob Lists Steps to Achieve Full Employment On the 4Olh Anniversary ot Ihe pas sage o l ihe l ull Em ploym ent Act ot 194ft. John f Jacob. President o f ihe National I than league, declared in W ashington. D .C on fhursday. March h. 19X6. lhal ihe promises contained in lhal act "h a ve conic lo n o th in g " and “ the promises o l the Humphrey- Hawkins f u ll I niploym enl A d o l I97X have been b e tra yed ." Speaking at a symposium on lu ll employ incut sponsored by ihc National Com m ittee on l ull Im p lo y m e n t. M i Jacob poinied oul lhal Ihere are one Ih m l more people in poverty today than there were in 1979. ihe income gap between the lop Iitth ot ihe population ami Ihc bottom tilth has grown ,0 ihe jxn n i where this country has ihe most unequal distribution o l income 111 Ihe industrial w orld, and black unemploy tnent is so iik |5 % w hile black youth unem ploym ent is ovei 411% " S o iik people think we have fu ll em ploym ent because over a hundred m illio n Americans are al work Bui a fifth o f them are part liniere, and over tw o m illio n work lu ll lim e for levs than poverty level wages You can't de fine lu ll e m p lo y iiK iii by w hile males alone f u ll employment is what it says 11 is a decent |ob al a decent •1 MN, • wage lor all Aim-ricans who waul 10 w o r k ." I k declared Surveying die overall em ployinenl picture M r Jacob said dial over die past sis years America has lost I 6 m illio n factory |obs. it incurred a Hade defied in manufactured goods o l $ | 12 b illio n in 19X5, ami w hile three oul rtl live while workers found new jobs, only tw o oul o l live displaced bine k workers did likew ise AA e have lo gel our economic liouse in order lo achieve die goal o l lu ll employ i i k i i i M r Jacob said as I k listed live steps dial should he taken 1 "R a tio n a l trade policies dial create H'hs here at home and d o n 't ex port them lo I asi Asia and oilier parts ot Ihe globe that doesn't mean proles iionism Bin 11 does mean helping our im hislnes compete, 11 means forcing our trading partners 10 create jobs here in America it they e sjx-d 10 sell us iheir goods 2 " A n industrial policy lhal pre serves our m anufacturing bass- It means publu policies dial reward firm s tor job creation, that create an en vi ronment in which they sail compele, and lhal helps diem export goods made in die U S A ' ' InvesinKiu in human resources I hey aie our most precious assets and Ihc pl.u c 10 begin is hv ensuring quality educ.iliou lo i all Aim -ncan children 4 "A ltirm a liv e action 10 ensure thai blacks, women and m inorities share* in ihc benefits o l educ alion, train mg ami job creation W ithout a stiong c o m m itiiK n l lo a lfin n a liv e ,u Hon. even a lu ll employ iiK n l policy lhal creates m illions ol new jobs w ill leave bl.K ks iw ice as likely lo be unemployed as w hiles ' \ National l ull Employm ent Policy Not another broken promise, hul .1 real program like ihe National I than I eague’ s plan lo r a Universal I niployuK-ni and fra m in g System lhal guaranlees productive work lo all o l ihe loblesv ami training lo all who need 11 decoiiK productive " Portland Observer ‘• ' ■ » I » , . I M /Xvffenrf rM nrrvrr IU SPS MN. hflhi a potiMZwrt «vary Thurrdry by Law P u 6 M 6 « iq Company. Inc . ,463 N [ r * , D i worth Portland Oraçoo »72,1 Poat OTfca Bo» 31J7 Portland Orayon 97706 Sacond (.laa» p o t,aya pari a, Portland O a q o n fh a 7XirUaa>iri6»rr>yy «an M iatawhad <1 ,970 kMFl MEMBER Sohar npoonv IIS O O par y«a> « lha Tn County n » maata» Sand n t m chanyaa to tha P onlaad ( * • , , . « Po»I P 0 . _ _ .r i ZoB 0033 Bo» J ,37. Portland. Orayon 977GB Atroeiarion - FovmMtf IM S Alfred I.. Henderson, Editor/Publisher AI Williams, General Manager ■w A » National Advertising R apraaanialiva A m algam ated Publlahera. Inc N aw York I a-a Sunday I attended , me o l the most stim ulating lev lures on health dial I'v e ever experienced The lecturer wav Dr Alexander Schaiiss. author, in leriia lio n.il expert on nutrition and tx-havioi is w ell as I »li,or in ( duel o f Ihe In lr r n a lio n a l J o u rn a l o f Bmsocial Research. He covered many areas ol c liu ii al uulr tlio n. espectally the* role o l diet and hy peravlivils in children I 'l l write stain on reported studies o f die rclaiion ships ol epilepsy and allergies, depre-ssion. and anmtrexia as w ell as many other in lcrn.iiio n.il work on nutrition Today I ’ ll diss uss o ik o l ihe mosl exciting studies done in recent years Just completed, reported al professional symposiums and soon lo teas h major Am cncan journals is a New York School System siudv ihai proves conclusively that nu trition is highly related lo academic ability Ihe New York simlv involved over XIXl.ixxi siutleiils over a 5 year (veriod The C a liforn ia Aputuile lest (( XI i. was uved av a measurement ol academic ability , amt ihc increased performance in ihe C A T scores ol New York students was w> significant lhal ihe statistic il probabililv was less ihan .0 0 0 . Never before have I seen a study dial had a zero chance o l error The size ot the group and II k dramatic uiileave o l levl stoics accounletl lo r ihe zeio chance jwnhuhdity W’hal did New York do lhal so improved iheir siudenl'v scores’ In the I97X 79 year ihe New York C ity hoaid ol education ilx-m g Ihe second largest purchaser o l food in the I X . the Army being number oriel inform ed iheir suppliers lhal Ihc-V would no longer Iced their I.IX X I.IX X I students breaklasi ami lunches that contained any synthetic color», synthetic additives, BH A. B H I or added sugar Ihe com panics all respomled lhal this was impossible, b ill when they realized that N J was serious they i banged ih e ir production I ach year Ihe iit y insiuuied one change (in 1979 all lunches and breaklasts elim inated synthetic color, sugar in X I. eted and each year the i ity C AT average increased by .1-5% S o iik d is itK ls rvrmrved all addilivcs in one year and then scores rellecled an even greater increase By |9X I ihe aver age C A I seine had increased Irom 19% m ' 7X to 54% in 'X.l, whereas it hail mu i hanged bv more Ihan l% m a n v v c a rlro n i I ‘* 9 through I97X Il is clear lhal the ch cm ii als and sugars added lo our fooils interfere w iih our childre n's a b ilii, io become capably edu- s aied members o l our s < k k I v I I k evidem c o, late strongly points lo h v p c i.u liv iiv ami much vu>lenl activity j|s o re sponds lo an additive tree diet I be New York school d isinct reports no .killed cosis lo ihc c heum al tree products ih ji ihev use. ami ihev w ill provide a list o l the foods lo any sehtxil district I’resenlly over I ix i schtMil districts in America use this program, but ihc Portland Publu School d ivine ! is mu om- o f them I have recenily spoken w ith ih e ir n u in iio n department loem ourage ihem loconiaet Ihe New York hoard ot education I >ur children arc much loo valuable a resource lo waste w iih unnecessary clK im c.il interference from the loods we provide Letters to the Editor W v M usi In in n a lio n .ili/t- O u r S truggle I believe, the whole commumtv should he conccrm-d about the recent Oregon National Guard mission lo Honduras Ih e I d ilo ria l O pinion le b 19. 19X6 was right on ntm- le lu s m a k e no inisiake aboui ihe receni t Jregon Na lional (m a id mission lo Honduras II we allow the buds ot lascism lhal arc- visible on i I k I S l.im lsiape lo ionic* into lu ll bloom in ibis nation, ihc har vesi w ill not I k simply m illio ns dead on b.iiiletields in Ceniral Xim-nka. ihc M iddle I ,is| oi souilh'rn M uka Ihe harvest w ill Is- the final Holocaust, a mis tear hohicausl lhal w ill collsuilK us all and deslioy all hie on the plancl I arlh K i’ .ig .in is iu is . hi implacable fix- ol Ireedon, AXi musi iaive the issue ol si'll ilcicrm in .itiou iu slin - and human lights lo i ihc |K ople o l Central X iiK iik., I It , - I s, has i loakcil lis t'll m ihc m vlhology oi M .m ili'si IX-simv llx |u im ip lcd ouis|s>kcimcss dis placed hv Di M mm | u M k i King li and Xl.iliolm \ aiul c.iihct by AX I I, I hi Bois .uni Paul R o I ks o ii sg| (he tone lo i i I k - BI.uk lo m m iim is lo become more ami more- deeply involved III ill lcin a lio n .il all.m s I In v pointed oul lhal sin h iin o lic iik 'iii is nol onlv iia lu i.il and p iojK , bul im pcralivc I k cause t I k m iernalional is more* and more' lied in w iih the d o iiK s tu . all ol humanity s condition more' ami more arc lied in w ilh e a th individual vcondi lion I I k le.kleiship given by King and Stalcolm has been earned lorlh in ihc cu n cn i jk 'iio il bv others, im h id in g a (very» lew ol out piom m cnl chinch [K o jilc amt elected o I I k i j I s who have publu ly challenged Reagan poheu's hi ( c n lia l Amcnk.i B ill along w ith mu n i v o lv i iik i il. Alio Amciikaiis should hcow iic k miw li'ilgc.iblc about m leni.i tional a lta its. educating «mrsclvcs I k v o iu I Ihe in lo im .ilio n im>ic o llcn . mis in to im a lio n provided bv Ih r csiab llshm cnl iik 'd ia o r bv Ihe mis cdiu alion sysicm As we conlm uc out ic n lm it's long struggle lo i e q u a liiv . lei us not at Ihc saiiK Him- embrace ihc standard version o l llu A iiK iikau Dream which has ic .illi m l.uge part been a nightmare* o l genocide, i . h is iii and c xp lo ii.iiio n Piiisning lhal dream w hile huidenvd w iih re-alily. ihe I S has becoiiK a trihalized ami psychologically unha lanced nalion I n i inclined lo believe. Ihc- d trih a li/a iio n ami spiritual healing o l il • S require' Ihe pursuit o l an allern live A nx-nkan dream, one lhal gives it K isic human rights o l all human heuii Ihioughoui ihe w o rld the highest pnoi HV A lio Am eriian aspii.iim iis and ii leresis arc part and pa ne l o l such a iihcin ativc vision sirxc o u r ow n slniv g li against racism and economic op pression has always heen. whether al o l us have iim lersiikHl ihis or not. struggle lo r an alternative, lundamen (ally d ille re n i s ik u - i i |,1 jn (,H. I1| k . know Asa visionary o l a dille re n i am b ille t soeiciy and w o rld. I understand the lo n iK c iio n iKiw een skyrocketing m ilitary expenditures, wheihei on the P em .ig on \ weapons or on m ilitary aid <>l ihc kind ih,.i goes io Ceniral Amenk.i. and ihe cutbacks hi social services that adversely alleci m in ority, w orking class. ,sm i ,,nd elderlv com m unilies m U k l x I n d c stand,ire-U k connection u s,u se lo lk d ix e m no set ’ red lo out miere-sis o l ihc mlercsls ol mosl Amerikans m I X m iliia iy .ml lhal enables wealthy scllish and racist elemenls m other cou iilrK s lo keep ihe m a jo rity o l ihc ,K (,p k t |l,wn ||( Nuaragua. I I Salv.uk.. or llo n d iii .s «hen fam ilies have heen dispe-rsed. dispossessed, and disuniied I here- are many ainjiuiees m Ceniral Amenk.i 'h ia p n e l victim s, dehydrated baNcs and paraplegics Ihc am m unilion that led thousands de.nl oi maimed is lalx'led 'made in t S A " AAlx n voii conn- up know ing oppu-s 'io n face to lace, you can have more s’ mpalhy ami undcisiandmg lo i U k suite-ring o l oihers I hose who ..re moved by a sense ol urgency aboui ihc danger to wot Id |Kace hi Ceniral Am enk.i. should s,Knd llu ii nexl vaia non ihere- A on w ould no longei have |<> « .•m il', whal ha,.,xneil lo some o l ihe money lhal was taken fio m l.s s l stamps Im out hungry, whal puipose U k money is being pm ilia i was taken Horn loans enabling om sons am i daughters io iHeml College i.iih e i ihan end up in piison Where- is some o l ihe money "'••t ' hi'ing laken Hom out elderly m i zens w ho have worked all o l Uu ir lives ms, a l.llle S.M .,| Security in ihc eml ’ A on w HI Hml souk o l il in Ceniral Amcnka I l Blacks m Amenka would heconx- more concerned w uh Anx-nkan lorcign p o la y . then perhaps, we could help humanize lhal ,x>licy II Dr King was w ith us l.slav. I k w ould tell us. Our nalion is wrong, abroad and al home Ihere can bi' no peace w ithout justice Amenk.i needs to learn the Christian lesson lhal right is stronger ihan m ight P,x>r people around ihe w o rld, and in this nation are rising up and saying right shall w in oul I hey are saying lhal the words o l l) r M artin Luther King. Ik-ep in our hearts we do believe lhal we shall o ve rco m e ," mean let Ihere he peace w ith iiisiice D i Jamil Chenrege /<» the kditor: I he ( om piom isc o l 19X6. Indian sjy w hile man must I k stupid he build big lire , and sil way back, Indian build small lire sil real close, w ho could think a simple ijuolc could mean so much in 19X6 A tael Zachary l ay lor 17X4 1X5(1. 12th prcsidcni o f ihe LInilc-il Stales, and lew presidents have entered o i lin ' w uh less know ledge o f whal w as expected o l them I would like lo persuade voters lha, I am then fx'si choice lo r G overnor ol Oregon, and there are three specific reasons Reason o ik a ltirm a live aclion: anv action lhal is inii-ndcd lo correct effects o l past discrm unaiion. to elim inate pre seni discrim ination, o r to prevent d is crim ination in the future Reason tw o cnvuonm enl the com mg together o l all external and internal conditions affecting ihe existence, grow th, and welfare o f organisms Reason three environm ental a lfin n a live aclion aclion which deprives an individual o l em ployment o r eduea liona l opportunities I would like to create adverse impact on environm ent by using 4/5 rule. 4/5 mle is 211% AA hue. 20% Black, 20% Hispanic 21 % Asian 20% Indian A i i k i i c an lo house specific people for specific reasons in a place as large as ihe King D o n e lu ll o l apartments, and healed by w md (lower, and lo buy land Hom Bonneville Power A dm inistra tio n . lor 4 B illio n dollars Nine I would gel Oregon out o f the tim her business, and into ihe (arm busi ness. il m u want i i k as your (io ve m o r please w rite Iriem ls. relatives, and any o ik who wants change, ask them lo move io ( Jregon Robert Torthan
