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1, 1997 « T he P ortland O bserver
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Demand paper:
It’s the law
T here’s a reason why stores ask.
“Paper or plastic?" when bagging
purchases—they have to. Accord
ing toOregon law (ORS 459A .695),
retail establishments that offer plas
tic bags to customers for purchases
made at the store must offer paper
bags as an alternative to plastic
bags. Further, the store must in
form customers that the choice is
available.
The law was passed in 1991 to
encourage the use of paper bags
and facilitate recycling options.
Paper bags are considered environ
mentally superior to plastic bags
for a number of reasons: They are
manufactured from a renewable,
natural resource: they are easy to
recycle; they are made from recy
clable materials; and they require
less energy to manufacture.
Willamette Industries. Inc. is the
largest producer of paper grocery
bags in Oregon. Bags are manufac
tured at the com pany’s Beaverton
plant with paper manufactured at
W illam ette’s paper mill in Albany.
The null combines recycled bags
and old corrugated containers with
leftover wood fibers from sawmills
and plywood plants to make paper.
W illam ette's bags contain up to 60
percent recycled content
O reg o n
re v ise d
sta tu te
459A.695: Any retail establishment
that offers plastic bags to customers
lor purchases made at the establish
ment shall offer, at the location
where the customer pays for the
goods, paper bags as an alternative
to plastic bags and inform custom
ers that a choice is available. Noth
ing in this subsection shall be con
strued as requiring retail establish
ments to use plastic bags.
—Carrie Keese,
Willamette Industries, Inc.
exaco released its diver
sity plan, in response to
the scandal caused by
the corporate racism in its exec
utive suites.
"Texaco is on a journey from trag
edy to triumph The journey is in
complete, but they have changed their
course
“ It took a combination of factors
to trigger a review of Texaco's toxic
culture: worker resistance to indigni
ty, the sacrifice of some jobs and
careers, law suits, embarrassing tapes,
and a strong consumer boycott which
devalued Texaco’s stock.
"Texaco's review was from the
Board ol Directors to entry level
positions Under the leadership of
Peter Bijur, Texaco has developed a
plan for equal opportunity and inclu
sion- an affirm ative rem edy to
present and past discrimination
“Mr. Bijur plans to expand by
pursuing the urban market, as op-
p e r
N A T IO N A L
C O
A L IT IO
N
Texaco: Tragedy to triumph
poseil to the present strategy of urban
abandonment. Texaco is now reach
ing out for new talent and new capi
tal This is good under the law, and it
is good business.
“Texaco’s new plan is compre
hensive and thorough, but our stand
ing concerns about the environment,
and the lack of complete data remain
unresolved. Without detailed em
ployment information on l.atino/His-
panics, without further details about
African American employment, and
s p
e
without an adequate plan to reduce
emissions of carcinogens, their plan
remains incomplete We will contin
ue to m onitor-and force adequate
attention t o — these areas
“The specific benchm arks for
goals, targets, and timetables for
employment and business opportu
nity expansion are substantial For
example, Texaco plans to double the
number of minority- and women-
owned wholesaler marketers within
five years. Overall company minori
ty employment will increase from
23% to 29% within four years, and
employment of women will increase
from 32% to 35%.
“Texaco also plans to increase its
purchasing with minority and worn-
en-owned businesses, from $135
million this year to a cumulative total
over five years of more than $1 bil
lion.
"Those businesses include pro
fessional service firms in the areas of
law, advertising, accounting, and
public relations.
“Texaco officials say they are al
ready increasing the number ot m i
nority- and women-owned banks they
do business with, from 21 to 50. The
company will increase the number ol
fixed-income and equity managers
of its pension fund who are women
and minorities from one to eight, and
increase the funds under their m an
agement from $31 million to $186
million--13% of the fund.
r
e s
We Have Fire, Now Let’s Move On
• ome of us seem not to
have had a new idea since
th e discovery of fire.
At least it would appear that way
when we examine a number of pro
grams said to address the economic,
educational or social situation of
African Americans.
Certainly that is notjust one m an’s
opinion, a fact made abundantly clear
by (he reader comments generated
by recent articles: "W ho fold You
That You Were Naked" for an in
stance, and similar expositions of
forw ard-looking interventions --
quite successful and which could be
applied across the board.
Special interest was expressed in
my description of inter-generation
applications that enabled the design
of experience-based programs for the
youngsters. By sensibly taking ad
vantage o fa real-time learning curve,
one has no difficulty tailoring a pro
cedure which with that parent and
grand parent support can accomplish
a seamless transition into the ‘year-
2000’ technology.
Several people were especially
appreciative of my reprise of earlier
U.S. Forest Service Outreach Pro
grams where this time instead of tak
ing the youths and parents to tree
nurseries or other horticultural sites
to see black role models in techno
logical environs - my program trans
ports them to the 'w est side provinc
es of cyberspace' and the w orld's
electronic future. W e’ve discovered
fire and I thoroughly understand its
time to move on (or perish).
One reader said, “we wondered
what was up when we could drive by
your place and see you sitting out
there on that little ledge in front of the
beauty shop - or my son would quiz
zically comment that sometimes he
would see a van load of kids pick you
up (doesn't look like he’s headed tor
the Senior Citizens Center). Now we
know; right on brother.”
Several teachers commented, “we
were wondering why you were ac
tively involved with AOI (Associa
tion or Oregon Industries), hobnob
bing with all those big C.E.O.s and
executives from that other culture'
and paying those big dues for the
privilege. But now it all begins to fall
into place.”
Well, thank the Lord for little
things. Some people are beginning to
remember that I came to the teaching
fraternity after two decades of inten
sive experience in the very real world
of American industry and business,
m oving alo n g the tra d itio n a l
timelines: worked technician, book
keeper, accountant, certified for Fed
eral Tax Court practice, and admin-
istrator/executive.
This, I explain to sometimes un
comprehending people, is how I was
able to win that National Science
Foundation Award for that Math-
Communications Demonstration in
The Dalles O regon’ - startling ev
eryone by being the first ever to put
terminals in elementary/jumor high
class rooms and to On-line with re
mote computers and industrial sites
( 1966). Earlier this year I gave a hint
of my new ‘21st century' designs
when I gave a demonstration for
P o rtlan d 's "Saturday A cadem y”
(Michael Grice, Director).
The word out there in westside
cyberspace land is that several of my
new designs may again win national
awards Once more I am trying to
point the way, demonstrating the
obvious - that the education process
can be successfully designed to in
corporate the “real world” . But real
izing that this requires input of real
people from the real world, not the
superficiality of academic dilettantes
(not all of course).
And also it is found that real world
experiences equip one with a “peo
ple posture" that transcends race and
culture;e.g my organizing a demon
stration support group for The Dalles
demon station: engineers, electronic
technicians, ranchers, teachers, el. or
when back in 1949 & 1950 I orga
nized 2 dozen white car dealers and
set up "Union Ave. Finance Co.”
“Shuckin and Jivin” ( hosea 4 6)
ur youth need to be re
educated. They need the
intellectual history of the
B lack movement toward people-
hood, and it’s leaders.
Today this task falls heavily on the
shoulders of youth who have it with
in their grasp to lead us all out of this
wilderness on the treacherous shores
of this modern Babylon. They can do
so not only by looking forward, for
they came further than the rest of us,
but by looking backward as well, for
they can see the future more clearly if
they look from the perspective of the
past It is for them to complete the task
which was so nobly advanced by our
leaders of the past. These children of
the sun Io whom life has bequeathed an
awesome legacy. For they - our youth
- are surely the last best hope for the
transformation of our people, our coun
try, and our world.
Critics sometime say that each
generation of young Blacks acts as
though history didn’t begin until they
cam e on the scene; that the young fail
to appreciate that there is interna
tional in scope. To the extent that this
charge is intended to promote cyni
cism and demoralization, it should
be rejected out of hand. But to the
extent that it is intended to instruct
then its merits should be considered.
I'm inclined to believe, history
favors no particular generation; we
must all hack our way through time,
clim bing over obstacles and strug
gling with forces that would oppress
us But each generation is not isolat
ed unto itself, stumbling along in an
historical void. Others have traveled
similar paths, and we would do well
to learn from the fighters and teach
ers who have gone before.
Since we tend to associate people
with events, it is particularly fitting
that we should pay tribute to Jose
Marti, H oChi M inhand Malcolm X.
It is significant these revolutionary
figures and, more importantly, in their
lives we can discern the history and
unity of the great struggle against
racism and oppression.
Brother Ho Chi Minh, the man
who was to lead the Vietnamese peo
ple in their long struggle against
French, Japanese and Amerikan im
perialism, was born. Five years later,
Jose Marti, called the Apostle of the
Cuban Revolution and a hero to the
oppressed people of Latin Amerika,
was killed in battle while fighting the
Spanish colonialists. Thirty years
later. Brother Malcolm X, who was
to epitomize the new Black awaken
ing in North Amerika, was born.
Ho Chi Minh was a revolutionary
Vietnamese patriot, but he was also
an internationalist concerned about
all oppressed peoples, including
Black people in the United States.
Ho, who visited the U.S. more than
sixty years ago as a mess boy aboard
a ship, had a deep interest in the
plight of Black people. In 1924 he
wrote an article for a French publica
tion denouncing lynching in the U.S.
that essay opened with the statement:
It is well known that the Black
race is the most oppressed and ex
ploited of the human family. It is well
known that the spread of capitalism
and the discovery of the New World
had as an immediate result the birth
of slavery which was, for centuries a
scourge for the Negroes and a bitter
disgrace for mankind. What every
one does not perhaps know, is that
after sixty-five years o f so - called
emancipation. Amerikan Negroes
still endure atrocious moral suffer
ings, of which the most cruel and
horrible is the custom of lynching.
In another article, Brother Ho at
tacked the Christian knights of the
Ku Klux Kian and observed that
Black People and Vietnamese were
victims of racism. He called for sol
idarity among all the oppressed.
Similarly. Brother Jose Marti, who
lived in exile for several years in the
U.S. was appalled by the racism in
this country and its growing influ
ence in his native Cuba. He declared
that the revolution for which he was
fighting must destroy racism In re
sponding to a racist article published
in a Philadelphia newspaper, he as
serted that:
The colored man is already a fully
achieved being who reads his book
and knows the measure of his waist.
He doesn't need any secret manna to
be supplied from the sky of the whites.
In the life of Brother Malcolm X
we see the new militant spirit that
seized the Black movement in the
1950s and 1960s. Beyond that. Broth
er Malcolm also called for solidarity
among all oppressed peoples. He
spoke of “linking the problem of
racism in Mississippi with the prob
lem of racism in the Congo, and also
the problem of racism in South Viet
nam” “it's all racism,” he said. “It’s
all part of the vicious racist system
that the Western powers have used to
continue to degrade and exploit and
o p p re ss the p e o p le in A frik a
(ALKEBU-LAN)andLatin Amerika
during recent centuries." And he con
cluded:
The concept of a unified struggle
against racism and the idea of Third
World solidarity did not arise just
yesterday or in a vacuum. Rather,
they developed as an inevitable re
sponse to the growth and decay of
imperialism on a world scale The
struggle will be long, and unity is
essential for victory. This is the polit
ical heritage left to us by Brother
Malcolm X, Brother Ho Chi Minh
and Brother Jose Marti.
I know many of my Christian
Brothers and Sisters may be mad at
me, but I must say this. Generations
of Black preachers lost sight of the
radical and revolutionary nature of
the Christian gospel. They forgot that
Jesus the Christ stood in opposition
to the religious, political, and social
status quo of his day because he
found those positions to be oppres
sive and de humanizing to his peo
ple. Many are able to talk about the
crucifixion of Christ without really
understanding that here was a radi
cal, a revolutionary who was put to
death for treason Christ was a Mal
colm X.
—Dr. Jam il Cherovee,
Field Fir. For CORF
“How to Maximize Your Unemployment Benefits”
by
R aymond A vrutis
he federal government
d o es not te ll p eo p le
about their rights and re
sponsibilities to receive unem
ploym ent Insurance (U l).
In my co-authored unique book,
How to M aximize Your Unemploy
ment Benefits: Complete Inform a
tion for All 50 States (Avery Publish
ing, 1994, 216 pages, $8.95 + $3.50
shipping. O rder from 1-800-548-
I
5757), I discuss how to get every UI
dollar you my be entitled to receive.
Here arc some facts about UI you
should know:
I . No minimum age is required to
collect UI. You may live with your
parents, or in a group house or even
be homeless - just have a P O. Box or
a friend s house at which to receive
your checks
Problem: Many states disqualify
(DQ) people who would otherwise
be eligible just because they're stu
dents. This form of discrimination
should be taken to the U.S. Supreme
Court. Start by filing your two (gen
erally free) appeals if you are DQ
because you're in class.
2. UI is not welfare, but comes from
an already-paid employer tax on your
prior wages. Employees contribute a
small amount in just three states
Problem: Ul often has a bad name
Unemployment offices can be grungy
places But the program should be
seen as a survival blessing, not a curse
3 You need not be poor to draw
benefits. Rich stockbrokers have re
ceived unemployment checks, which
are often “signed for” no longer in
person, but simply by mailing in a
computer card which is sent back to
you as an unemployment check and
another card (until you exhaust your
claim or find a job). In some states.
UI continued claims are done by
push-button telephone.
4. Part time and temporary work,
even work performed at two or more
jobs in two or more slates, usually
counts towards your UI benefits.
(Part-time work for non-profit orga
nizations that don't pay federal in
come tax is not covered).
Problem When people leave a
job, they are often not told about
their Ul benefit rights and responsi
bilities by their employer
5. You don’t need six months of
constant work to qualify. Base peri
od earnings of $2,000 or more are
necessary in only 11 states. I suggest
you read my book for full informa
tion about qualifying requirements
6. You must be able to work, avail
able for work, and looking for work
to collect UI. But you don't have to
take "just any” job, only suitable
employment - if such work can be
found.