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June 23, 1999
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to: EdKor. Reader Reepooee, P.O. Box 3 1 3 7 ,
T
(USPS 959-68Ö) Established in 1970
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
Editor
G ary Ann T aylor
B usiness M anager
Joy Ramos.
Copy E ditor
M ark W ashington
Distribution M anager
H eather Fairchild
Graphic D esigner
The Institute for Peace and Justice
This St. Louis-based organization
is actually a netw ork o f organization
w orking for peace in schools and in
com m unities. It has designed a non­
violence pledge for fam ilies, as w ell
as books, tapes and other m aterials
for parents, educators, youth and
adults. It w orks on such issues as
hum an rights, including the use o f
child soldiers; and econom ic injus­
tice, including educating parents and
Tony W ashington
D irector o f Advertising
Contributing Writers:
Richard Luccetti
Lee Perlman,
4747 NE M artin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon 97211
503-238-0933 • Fas 503-288-0015
Em ail: Pdxobserv@ aol.com
Deadline fo r all submitted materials:
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A ds: M on day, 1 2 :0 0 p m
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the sole property o f the new spaper and cannot be used in other publications
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unless the client has purchased the com position o f such ad. © 1996 THE
PO R TLA N D OBSERV ER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRO D U C­
TION IN W HOLE OR IN PART W ITH OU T PERM ISSION IS PR O H IB ­
ITED.
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is a m em ber o f the N ational N ew spaper A ssociation—Founded in 1885,
and The N ational A dvertising Representative A m algam ated Publishers,
Inc, N ew Y ork, N Y , and The W est C oast Black Publishers A ssociation •
Serving Portland and Vancouver.
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REV.
JESSE
JACKSO N
SAYS
Louima Verdict Disappointing
• Regarding the verdict in the
trial of four New York police
officers In the Abner Louima
police torture case, the Reverend
Jesse Jackson, president of the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said
the following:
seen in the increase o f police killings
across the nation.
“A bner Louim a deserves full ju s­
tice, and only then will he begin to
fully regain his dignity. He was en­
titled to equal protection under the
law. These five N ew Y ork police
officers attem pted to rob him o f his
humanity by violating his hum an and
civil rights. If five officers accosted
him -but only three held him down,
w hile the two others perform ed the
terrorist act— all five are equally
guilty. They all m ust share the guilt,
the burden and the responsibility for
w hat they have done. Each one had
the obligation to stop it. N o one did.
“ T h o se w h o w e re a c q u itte d
sho u ld have a rrested Ju stin V olpe
and C harles Schw artz. Instead they
ch o se silen ce. E ach had tak en an
“ T he v e rd ic t o f the trial o f the
rem aining four officers is d isap­
pointing. W hile w e resp ect the ju ­
ro rs’ d ecision, we do not agree with
it. A ll four sho u ld have been found
g u ilty as charged.
“The law m ust serve as a deter­
rent to these sorts o f terrorists acts,
w hether they are by civilians or
w hether they are by police officers.
Law enforcem ent officials have the
extra burden to serve and to protect,
but they also have the extra pow er to
abuse innocent people, and in some
cases take their lives, as w e have
B> B ernice P owell J ackson
h ere’s a lot o f talk about ending
the violence in the schools and
in our com m unities and there
som e w ho are doing som ething about
it. W hile the politicians are locked
into debates, and the gun lobbies
continue to hold conventions and
suggest that the solution to violence
in schools is to arm the teachers,
there are organizations w hich have
been quietly w orking for the past
decade or m ore to end the violence.
H ere are two such organizations.
(Ebe ^ o rtla n b (©bseruer
Charles W ashington
Publisher
Working To End The Violence
children about our culture o f con­
sumption. It has developed alterna­
tives to violence church kits in En­
glish and S panish to help local
are churches actively work against vio­
lence. O ne o f its advocacy priorities
is challenging the culture o f violence
and it conducts workshop around the
nation on this topic.
Every y ear at its annual aw ards
dinner, the Institute o f Peace and
Justice honors those grassroots com ­
m unity w orkers against violence.
This year, for instance, they hon­
ored an interfaith partnership b e­
tw een a St. Louis tem ple and a local
Rom an C atholic church w hich to ­
gether fought the state-w ide refer­
endum on carrying o f concealed
weapons. T hey also honored a P res­
byterian church in C larksville, TN
which conducted a tw o-day anti­
violence training for the com m u­
nity, bringing together police, p ar­
ents, social service agencies and
educators and a county violence p re­
vention program in S an taC lara,C A .
Other organizations received aw ards
tation program s have done an excel­
lent job o f preparing people with
disabilities to work, because they
fter I explain the program to
co u ld n 't afford to. I know. I use a
people I som etim es hear them
say, ’’W hat the catch? This sounds w heelchair as a result o f a sw im m ing
accident in the 1960s. Some people
too good!”
were bom w ith their disability; oth­
This is the R esponse after I’ve
ers have developed a disabling dis­
told them how they can go to w ork, a
ease such as m ultiple sclerosis; other
goal they’ve had for years.
like me, were disabled in accidents.
Allow m e to explain. For decades,
For various reasons about 70 per­
many people w ith disabilities have
cent o f the people w ith disabilities
been econom ically discouraged from
are unemployed. Y et a 1998 Harris
working. A s surprising as it sounds,
Poll says the m ajority w ant to work.
if they got even a low -paying job
O
regon’s new program aim s to re­
they w ould often lose needed federal
m
ove the loss o f health insurance as
disability benefits.
a m ajor barrier.
These include health and personal-
People with disabilities often re­
care attendant benefits, without which
ceive a modest federal disability ben­
these people couldn’t survive.
efit, Income. But those on SSDI know
So although vocational rehabili-
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Conflict Resolution Education
Network(CREnet)
T his o rg an izatio n is a n ational
and international clearin g h o u se for
in form ation, reso u rces and te ch n i­
cal assistan ce in the field o f co n ­
flic t re s o lu tio n an d e d u c a tio n .
B a sed in W a sh in g to n , D C ., it
w orks to prom ote co n flict reso lu ­
tio n ed u catio n in all U .S. schools.
Its program teach and m odel skills
o f m ediation, neg o tiatio n and co l­
lab o rativ e problem solving.
Indeed, the evidence show s that
such program s do m ake a difference
for our young people. For instance, a
1992 study in N ew York reported a
50% decline in student assaults after
such education was included and stu­
dent peer m ediation program s also
reduce the incidence o f suspensions
and fighting am ong students. Today
there are over 8,500 school-based
conflict resolution program s in the
U .S., but in a country w ith 86,000
public schools clearly there is much
w ork to be done.
In July CREnet will hold its 14lh
annual conference on Education and
Leadership for Safe Schools, w hich
will be held in Boston and is being
co-sponsored by a num ber o f organi­
zations. It will include dozens o f
w orkshops and m uch inform ation.
(Note: For m ore inform ation on
the Institute for Peace and Justice
and its parenting netw ork and Fam i­
lies against violence network, write
4144 Lindell Blvd., #408, St. Louis,
M O 63108 or call (314) 533-4445 or
fax (3 1 4 ) 5 3 3 -1 0 1 7 o r e m a il:
p pinfaaol.com . to contact the C on­
flict Resolution Education N etw ork,
write 1527 N ew H am pshire Ave.,
N.W ., W ashington, D.C. 20036 or
c a ll (2 0 2 ) 6 6 7 -9 7 0 0 o r e m ail:
nidr@ crenet.org)
For All Of Our “Private Ryans”
Bi B it c h M iller
“Earn this." That was the challenge
at the end o f the movie “Saving Private
Ryan" from one hero ofW orld W ar II to
another. “Earn this.” In the movie, the
phrase means: Honor the sacrifices o f
America’s combat veterans by living a
truly good life.
For those o f us in The American
Legion who work every day with count­
less Private Ryans from every major
conflict o f this century, we know that
the hardships and sacrifices ofmilitary
service have earned A m erica's veter­
ans the right to a modem, accessible
VA health-care system.
For the burdens o f military service
don’t end when the battle flags are
furled and this nation’s Private Ryans
takeoff their uniforms and return home.
Wounds may heal and injuries may
improve but many veterans leave the
military with medical problems that stay
with them the rest o f their lives. Com­
monly, these problems worsen with age.
Fortunately, over the decades, this
nation has built an impressive network
o f 173 hospitals dedicated to serving
veterans under the Department o f Vet­
erans Affairs, still known as the VA.
Unfortunately, the VA health-care net­
work, by some standards the largest in
the nation, where half o f all physicians
receive a portion o f their professional
training, is on the verge o f collapsing
through financial neglect.
The VA, you see, is in its third year
o f a frozen, no-growth budget. And
Congress is in the process right now
o f putting together a VA budget that
could guarantee a fourth year with
spending locked at 1997 levels.
This sort o f belt-tightening made
sense in 1997 when a burgeoning fed­
eral deficit threatened to drag down our
economy. Veterans have always been
willing to share the pain during the
tough times. But why, when the federal
government estimates it will take in at
least $100 billion more than it spends
this year, is anyone having any pain'?
W ecan’t freeze the medical needs o f
veterans. Our World War II veterans
are making more demands upon the V A
medical system. Newer Vets are trying
to enter VA hospitals and clinics every
day with their own problems.
The V A ’s top doctor has esti­
mated that h e ’ll have to lay o ff 8,000
medical workers, reduce hours, elimi­
nate program s and even consider
closing hospitals if Congress does
not rem ove the financial shackles o f
a non-grow th budget.
To reverse this alarming trend. The
American Legion has embarked upon a
campaign to preserve the VA medical
system from slow financial strangula­
tion. We call it "Budget Warning2000.”
W e’re urging our 2.8 million mem­
bers. their families, and the rest o f
America’s 26 million veterans to con­
tact their members o f Congress and
insist that the V A ’s medical system
received adequate funding. The Ameri­
can Legion has determined that less
than $2 billion, added to the $ 18 billion
now being considered in Washington
for VA health care, would put the VA
back on the right financial track.
I urge everyone who cares about
veterans - about the Private Ryans o f
this country - to call or write the people
who represent them in the U.S. Senate
and House o f Representatives.
Members ofCongress work for you.
Y ou’re not stepping out o f line by con­
tacting them. Let them know what you
want them to do. Tell them that you want
them to increase the VA budget by $ 1.9
billion over the President’s proposed
recommendation. Tell them that if the
V A is not properly funded, the V A may
resort to the rationing o f medical care
with the possibility o f eliminating care
for nonservice-connected veterans, treat­
ment and screening o f veterans with
hepatitis C , termination ofcritical health
care providers and the possible closure
o f medical facilities. Letters with details
about the way you depend upon the V A
- and the effect upon you o f future
cutbacks - are especially effective.
When America's private Ryans were
called upon to serve their country, not
one suggested that we take a non-growth
approach to pain and suffering. They
did what this country asked them to do.
L ike P rivate R yan, they earned
it. N ow it ’s our resp o n sib ility to
ho n o r that debt.
With FHA's new
higher loan limits,
you can buy your
dream home
oath to serv e an d to p ro tec t, y et
each d ecid ed to ero d e rath e r than
en fo rce the law.
“ W e stan d w ith A b n er L o u im a
and his fam ily in th e ir q u est for
full ju s tic e .”
H o w 's
Oregon First in Nation
B y S cott L ay
for their collaboration on an ti-v io ­
lence projects and for education pro­
gram s w hich seek to end violence.
Together, these thousands o f in­
dividuals across the nation are w ork­
ing to stop the violence w here they
live. T h ey ’re not ju st talking, th ey ’re
working.
that if they regularly earn income,
they m ay no longer be considered
“disabled” - and that spells a loss o f
health benefits.
W e have changed this system in
Oregon. People w ith disabilities can
now share in w orking’s self- esteem ,
income and ability to pay taxes W ith
federal approval, O regon for the first
tim e is signing up people w ith dis­
abilities w ho w ant to work w ithout
losing their m edical benefits. O f the
first 60-plus people, the average
m onthly incom e is nearly $ 1,000 or
about double w hat som e o f them
co u ld safely earn before. T hese
people have a variety o f disabilities,
range in age from 2 1 to 77, and hold
jobs such as short - order cook, soft­
ware engineer and nursing hom e
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g ift?
Since 1934 w e've helped over 26 million Americans gel into new
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