F ra n c e s»
E ugene,
97403
Volumn XXI, Nur
Schoen-
D re q o n
O re g o n
• V• • » / v o r o t t v V W
♦’’rv*»*
f t » 4 • • rV< »V • ♦ •’• ‘r'*’# M M *'ti *’• ‘
?w sp ap
L:
“The Eyes and Ears o f the Com m unity”
D v w m i I h t 4,1991
©ire |J3nrt kmh (©bseriier
Multi-Cultural Holiday Showcase To Premiere
At Interstate Firehouse Culture Center
December 12-15 a the Interstate
Firehouse Cultural Center, Oregon Dance
Consort will present a lively alternative
to traditional holiday programs. Called
HARMONIA, the showcase w ill fea­
ture some o f the Northwest’s finest ethnic
and contemporary artists in a festival of
music, dance and storytelling w ith a
global perspective.
Featured artists include: Ruby Bums
in a moving new solo inspired by her
travels in Africa; Diana Lo Verso and
members o f Amor España performing
the fiery dance and music o f Spain;
Jerry Mouawad and Carol Uselman of
the international mask and mime troupe,
Imago; Ray Terrill o f ODC premiering
a new work set to D ebussy’s “ Dances
Sacred and Profane;” Joe Morales, inter­
nationally recognized contemporary
dance artist; Diana Hinatsu and Kan-
hanae Fujim a o f the acclaim ed tradi­
tional Japanese company Fujinami Kai;
and distinguished Native American Sto­
ryteller, Ed Edmo.
African American dancer/choreog-
rapher Ruby Bum s has long been rec­
ognized as one o f the N orthw est’s fin­
est interpreters of African forms of dance.
Since coming to Portland from New
York in 1978, she has played a vital role
in focusing attention on the diversity
and power of the m any styles of African
music and dance. She has shared her
enthusiasm and her expertise with hun­
dreds of young people of all races through
her popular classes at D ancers’ W ork­
shop and at area schools. Ruby has also
been a strong voice for the developm ent
o f m inority artists through participation
on grants panels and in numerous con­
ferences.
In her new solo, premiering as part
o f H A RM O N IA , Ruby was inspired by
the ancient Baobab tree. A fixture o f the
landscape in w estern Africa, the Baobab
has a life expectancy o f over 500 years
and em bodies seasonal mystical tradi­
tions for the many people who live in its
shadow.
Perform ances o f this premiere holi­
day event run D ecem ber 12-15 and seat­
ing is limited: 8:00 PM Thurs/Fri/Sat,
D ecem ber 12-14; 2:00 PM Sat/Sun,
Decem ber 14-15; and 7:00 PM on Sun­
day, D ecem ber 15. Tickets are $10
G eneral Admission; $8 for Students/
Seniors and D ance Coalition members.
A special fam ily rate o f $5.00 per ticket
is available for the two m atinee per­
form ances and Sunday evening. For
reservations call the IFCC a t 823-2000.
HA RM O N IA , is funded in part by
the Oregon Arts Commission and the
N ational E ndow m ent for the Arts. It will
also be presented for one night only at
the beautiful N ew port Peforming Arts
C enter on the O regon Coast. H A RM O ­
N IA on the coast will happen Friday,
D ecem ber 20th a t 8:00 PM. Tickets are
available through the performing arts
center box office: 265-2787 in N ew port
Oregon Senator Bob Packwood has
introduced a major health care pro­
posal that would guarantee access to
medical treatment for all Americans.
“ Every Oregonian, every Ameri­
can, deserves decent health care. We
can no longer turn our backs on the
millions of uninsured people in this
country who suffer needlessly. Our
current system, which leaves so many
out in the cold, is unethical and unprac­
tical,” said Packwood.
“ Very simply, my plan requires
all employers to offer a basic package
o f health insurance to all full-time
employees and their dependents. This
bill also gives tax credits to small
employers and lower-income working
families to ease the financial burden.
Those who work part-time or are un­
employed would be covered under a
health insurance program administered
by the state,” he continued.
Packw ood’s new health care ini­
tiative is similar to the Comprehensive
Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) which
he introduced in 1974. That bill, how­
ever, required employers to “ play or
pay” - that is, to provide health insur­
ance for em ployees or pay for their
coverage under a state-administered
program. The new bill does not allow
em ployers to shift employees to a state
program. They m ust offer health insur­
ance for basic health care.
The Packwood bill (CHIP o f 1991)
outlines a broad definition of basic
benefits equivalent to the benefits avail­
able under medicare. A dditionally, the
basic benefits must include preventive
and child health care as well as pre­
scription drugs. Full-time workers are
defined as those who work more than
25 hours a week for a minimum o f 20
weeks in a year. The bill requires
employers to bear most o f the burden
for the premiums, with employees paying
no more than 30 percent. The tax credit
for lower-income families is doubled
to help them pay for their share o f the
insurance premiums.
“ The two major issues in health
care today are access and cost. M y plan
will give everyone access to health care
at a reasonable cost by promoting com ­
petition among insurers to lower costs,
and encouraging cost-effective health
care,” said Packwood.
This major initiative is the fourth
part of Senator Packwood’s legislative
agenda on health care. Packwood leg­
islation aiding rural hospitals passed in
1990. The second part o f his rural health
legislation, and long-term health care
legislation, were introduced earlier this
year. Packwood has also been the lead­
ing advocate in Congress o f the Oregon
M edicaid waiver, which would allow
Oregon to prioritize health care proce­
dures.
50th Anniversary Of Japanese Attack On
Pearl Harbor to be Commemorated
Multnomah County Offers Energy
Assistance To Low Income Citizens
Eligible Households Can Apply Now
depleted. Eligible households must
have a total gross income at or below
125% o f the federally set poverty level.
A household o f one would be eligible if
the occupant’s income does not exceed
$8,275 per year or $690 per month. For
each additional household member this
income limit can be increased by $2,825
per year or $235 per month.
Based upon income and household
size, paym ents will vary from $95 to
$250 and will be made on a one-tim e
only basis. Renters and homeowners
receive com parable payments. In most
cases paym ents are made directly to
energy suppliers.
Packwood Introduces Major
Health Care Legislation
Ruby Burns of HARMONIA, a showcase of ethnic and contemporary
artist presented by Oregon Dance Consort.
I
ÿÂfe*::::::
The M ultnomah County D epart­
ment of Human Services has announced
the annual start-up o f a federally funded
program that will provide financial
assistance to those w ho need help with
this w inter’s heating bills. The pro­
gram is called the Low Income Energy
A ssistance Program or LIEAP, and has
been in existence since 1978. At a cost
o f $2.6 million, over 12,000 hoseholds
in Multnomah county received assis­
tance through this program each year.
Multnomah County households who
need financial help to pay their w inter
heating bills can apply for assistance
from Decem ber 2 until the funds are
250
Need fo r Racial Harmony Emphasized
For more information about this
program citizens can call the LIEAP
Hotline at 227-5437 or obtain infor­
mation at the following Portland in­
take agencies:
Albina Ministerial
Alliance (Pacific Power Community
Room) 3535 NE 15th, 284-2776;
Transition Projects, 435 NW Glisan,
274-7850; Friendly House, 1910 NW
Everett, 288-4337; Human Solutions,
Inc. 2900 SE 122nd, 761-9234; Port­
land Impact, 924 SE 45th, 239-4328;
St. Johns YW CA, 8010 N Charleston,
286-2165.
All o f these agencies will be open
during regular business hours.
The 50th anniversary o f the Japa­
nese attack on Pearl Harbor will be
commem orated on December 7, 1991.
On Thursday, D ecember 5th at 9:30
a.m., the Multnomah Board o f County
Commissioners will mark this signfi-
cant occasion with the adoption o f a
resolution to honor those who died, to
emphasize the need for racial harmony
among people of diverse backgrounds,
and to call for a lasting peace.
The com m em oration will be a time
when all Americans reflect upon this
tragic event. The events of Pearl Har­
bor and beyond were also momentous
times for Japanese Americans. The
internment of 120,000 Japanese Ameri­
cans during W orld W ar II (4,500 of
whom were Oregonians), and other acts
of violence during that time in our na­
tion’s history were the direct results of
racism.
The Japanese American Citizens
League and others are concerned that
the 1980’s have brought on a dramatic
increase in hate crimes and negative
sentiments directed at Asian Ameri­
cans, including “ Japan-bashing” which
has resulted largely from economic and
trade frictions between the United States
and Japan. The Japanese American
Citizens League joins the Board o f
County Commissioners and other
community leaders to mark the occa­
sion o f this anniversary to work to­
wards increased racial harmony.
xYxíx-iw
There are only 20 days until Christmas.
Have a safe and happy holiday season.
A Bush/Duke Ticket In 1992
By
That is not as outlandish an idea as
would have seemed a month ago, is it?
Such a slate, under ordinary conditions,
m ight be put forward as the plot o f a
television situation comedy or as a con­
temporary farce in a revival o f vaude­
ville. But, today, there is nothing funny
at all about this dude in the W hite
House who has not yet grasped the
crisis nature of the economic and moral
problem s facing this nation.
How really dangerous is this man,
G eorge Herbert W alker B u sh -w h o at
one m om ent secs him self as the creator
o f a NEW W ORLD O RD ER, bringing
peace and prosperity to all in the com ­
posite role of a Napoleon and a M a­
hatm a G h a n d i- and at another refuses
to advance any meaningful programs
that could achieve equivalent goals at
home. And, who finally signs a wa­
tered-dow n Civil Rights Bill, while
sim ultaneously directing his legal
henchm an, E. Gordon Gray, to advise
all Federal agencies to “ forget it-y’all
know I didn’t mean it!”
W e have here a modern version
o f the Greek god Janus who had two
sets o f facial features on one head and
at a 180 degree angle to each other.
This original talking head was un­
doubtedly the model for this adm ini­
stration as it began to craft what was
believed to be an easy repeat o f the
Perspectives
Nostalgia: Don’t
Leave Home
Without It
By McKinley Burt
M c K in le y
1988 victory. They still do not under­
stand the depth of the frustration and
fear that is abroad in the land as they
flirt with some of the most reaction­
ary and racist o f conservatives. Gary
Trudeau (“ D ooncsbury” ) may be
driven to even greater heights of cari­
cature.
Amazingly, that great group of
endangered poor Americans who were
blessed (and brainwashed) with the
modern title M IDDLE CLASS are
suddenly awakening and discovering
that they arc not in the middle o f any­
thing except poverty. Soon, they will
further leant that for forty years this
class o f scores of millions (mostly
B u rt
while) has been the victim o f the great­
est advertising, marketing and dem o­
graphic scam since Marx raised the
curtain on his version o f “ voodoo
econom ics.” As they line up for un­
em ploym ent compensation, food
stam ps and w elfare-rig h t next to the
blacks and hispanics-thcy might get
nasty about the whole thing, and that
opportunity to cater to a racist back­
lash is w hat makes this administration
“ dangerous.”
Now, before W orld W ar II,
“ M IDDLE C L A SS” in this country
meant that you did not have to get up
in the morning and go to work on
som ebody’s job. You had people
working for you who opened the store
or office, or fired up the boiler at the
plant. M ostly, you had at least one
servant and employed hired caterers
for social affairs. In terms o f today’s
money your ordinary income was from
$100,000 to a half million dallars and
your clubs, schools, frats and sorori­
ties were exclusive amenities that made
the same kind o f statement as your
clothesandjew elery. A sahighschool
youngster I worked for these kind of
people after school. There was also a
W EALTHY CLASS, but you stayed
in your place.
So what has Madison Avenue and
the media done? They have used the
Sports
News
Duckworth: Describe Him
in One Word
The Three Things In Life
You Can’t Avoid
by Bill Barber
by Gregory Oliveros
Page 2
♦ »
P ro f.
potent imagery of television-accom ­
panied by the juicy icons of Japanese
im p o rts-to convert millions o f car­
penters, truck drivers, painters, plum b­
ers, sales people, teachers, oncologists,
nurses and anathcsiologists into naive
hordes o f Middle Class pleasure seek­
ers, pursuing the good life and for the
most part happy they were not born a
minority.
As the administration fast disabuses
them of this mistaken notion-abetted
by Savings and Loan and Junk Bond
Contributors-they are beginning to ask
questions o f their leaders (even about
banks and credit cards).
Entertainment
Cosby and AT&T Celebrate
Crossroads Theatre Company
Opening
Page 3
Page 2
Page 5
E D IT O R IA L
NEW S
RELIGION
ENTERTAINMENT
C L A S S IF IE D S
BIDS/SUB-BIDS
2
2
4
5
7
8
• ♦ 4 * * » T ■'
, < « • 4
« * 4 0 X*