-Rev. Joseph E. Lowery

On Saturday, January 16, 1999, Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, will speak at the Fifth Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at the King-Kennedy Memorial Center, 601 N. Martin Luther King Dr., Modesto. There will be poetry, choral singing and a welcoming address by Modesto Mayor Richard Lang as well.

A dynamic speaker and preacher, Rev. Lowery, along with Martin Luther King, Jr., helped found the pioneering civil rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. He recently ended a twenty-year stint as its president but was unanimously elected president emeritus until the position could be filled by Martin Luther King, III.

In bestowing the 1997 Presidents Award of the NAACP, Kweisi Mfume said, "...Lowery is by any standard of measure the dean of the civil rights movement having raised his persistent voice for nearly a half century for justice..."

Dr. Lowery began his civil rights career in Mobile, Alabama in the 1950s leading the desegregation of buses and other public accommodations. He was appointed by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead a delegation to Alabama Governor George Wallace, following the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. He led efforts to extend the Voting Rights Act, as well as protests against American firms doing business with the former apartheid South Africa. He helped organize Nelson Mandela's visit to Atlanta, and led a peace delegation to the Middle East.

Rev. Lowery has been a leader for economic empowerment for the black community by helping negotiate covenants with food and grocery chains to increase community investment, employment, and black-owned businesses. Under his leadership, the women's division of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference launched the first educational program by a black advocacy group about the dangers of HIV - AIDS.

Under Federal court order, members of the Ku Klux Klan who had attacked peaceful marchers and shot four people in Decatur, Alabama in 1979, were given a choice of jail or attending a workshop on human relations led by Dr. Lowery. Some chose jail but five attended the workshop, two of whom then quit the Klan.

In addition to his civil rights work, Rev. Lowery has been a United Methodist minister for 45 years, leading congregations in Mobile and Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia, and he has been the recipient of many awards including being voted one of the "15 Greatest Black Preachers" in 1984 and 1994.

ACTION: Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. for this FREE event. Come early to get a good seat and be prepared to be inspired! Call 577-5355 for information. Sponsored by: The City of Modesto Community Services and Neighborhood Connections Department, the Modesto Peace/Life Center, the City of Modesto Human Relations Commission, the King-Kennedy Center, The Modesto Bee, the Modesto Irrigation District, and the Modesto Church of the Brethren.

By INDIRA CLARK

One of the goals of the Modesto Peace/Life Center is to help and encourage citizens to take active, responsible roles in this democracy and world of ours. One way to learn how, for children in particular, is by example. The Peace Essay Contest this year focused on models of responsible citizens: individuals and organizations who, sometime in the last 1000 years, have work for peace, the environment, a better world. Contemporary newsmakers were chosen as subjects along with people from the pages of history books, internationally renowned figures, local organizations, inspiring teachers, and loving grandmas.

Over 700 fifth through twelfth graders from all over Stanislaus County sent in entries by the December 4, 1998 deadline - we even received essays from a few 4th graders!

As Stanislaus Connections goes to press, screeners are reading their way to the selection of 20 finalists in each of the four age divisions. Final judging takes place in early February.

ACTION: Mark your calendar for the Awards Reception of the 1999 Peace Essay Contest, Friday, March 19 in Forum Building 110, Modesto Junior College/West at 7 p.m. After judging is completed this year, Elaine Gorman plans to take a sabbatical from the contest committee - after 12 years she deserves a break! One or more replacements are needed on the 2000 Peace Essay Contest Committee beginning in Spring 1999.

By INDIRA CLARK

"Have you ever thought of adding a speech component in the Peace Essay Contest, having students get up and talk about peace?" the voice on the peace center answering machine inquired. The high school speech coach offered in the ensuing conversation to advise a committee, if one were set up to pursue his idea. It is a great idea.

One school has used a number of past PEC topics as subjects for the school-wide 6th grade speech requirement, we've been told by a teacher there. When it's her turn to serve on the speech committee, she thumbs through the line-up of annual PEC Booklet of Winning Essays in her classroom library for ideas. "The topics are ready to use," she says.

* * *

For all 14 years of the PEC there's been discussion of adding an art element; a poster contest is most often proposed. It has been suggested as a way to involve children too young for the writing contest, which starts with fifth graders. Many schools require students to protect their textbooks with bookcovers. Some peace groups print bookcovers to distribute to students, a way to counter the flood of free military bookcovers. An annual poster contest could be the source of bookcover artwork. Peace propaganda.

* * *

The PEC committee has always been made up of textcentric individuals - very word oriented (and very individual, but excellent team players). We are good at running this contest; teachers, parents, judges, and past participants send us fan mail. All volunteers with full lives, the current committee have neither the time nor probably the talent to add and run a speech or art component. A speech contest and a poster contest could be run parallel to the essay contest, sharing publicity, fundraising, etc. What is needed are a few individuals willing to make the commitment to develop criteria, figure out appropriate age groups, seek advice and solicit judges experienced in the area, work through the glitches. It would mean more than a one year's commitment.

ACTION, Volunteer to begin this aspect of Peace with the Modesto Peace/Life Center, 529-5750.

By INDIRA CLARK

It did pour rain on the morning of the Harvest Supper, the annual Peace Essay Contest fundraiser sponsored by the Modesto Peace/Life Center. But by late afternoon the street in front of the Methodist Church Fellowship Hall had emptied of drenched farmers and Farmers Market customers. The sun came out and prisms sparkled in the rainwater.

There was a great turn-out for the supper. Thanks to all who worked. Donations from local restaurants, caterers, and individuals made the evening was almost pure profit - nearly two-thirds of the annual Peace Essay Contest budget raised.

Many thanks to DeV‡, The Brighter Side , and special thanks to Pat Roberts who has cooked up the all-time favorite soup flavor, clam chowder, for nearly 20 years now and for use of her kitchen for the grand pie baking session.

[The Harvest Supper was originally a fundraiser for Stanislaus Safe Energy Committee, the Center's sister organization in the '70s and '80s. The "California Nuclear (energy) Wars" wound down just about the time the Peace Essay Contest was started. (Please note that the Waterford Nuclear Plant was NOT built; neither were dozens of other proposed reactors.)

The menu for the Harvest Supper has traditionally been "the best salad bar in town", soup, and pie. The Reagan Years brought out so many diners that the logistics of serving so much hot soup brought on our manicotti years. But by popular demand soup was reinstated as the "entrée".

Harvest Supper Committee: Deborah Roberts, Bonnie Costello, Debi Brooks, and Indira Clark.

ACTION: Sign up now for the 1999 Harvest Supper Committee. It traditionally holds two planning meetings in September and October - over supper at DeV‡. All ages welcome. For other choice Peace Essay Contest job opportunities, see article.above.

SAVE THIS DATE: Peace Camp, June 25-27,1999

The first planning meeting for the 1999 Peace Camp will be held on January 20th at Jim and Lenore DuprŽ's home, 1526 Myrtle, Turlock, 7 p.m. (Between Berkeley and Colorado) Ph: 667-1256. Now's the time to dust off all those great ideas and help make them happen. Normally the committee meets monthly until June.

ACTION: Attend the meeting or phone in your ideas anytime to the Modesto Peace/Life Center's friendly answering machine 529-5759.

By INDIRA CLARK

For the first time in a generation a new public library facility opened in Stanislaus County. And not just one, but three. Keyes, Empire, and Hughson Libraries all received new homes in 1998, thanks largely to that extra bit of sales tax we pay in Stanislaus County.

Not since the Newman Library was upgraded in 1974 has a new facility been opened. The population of the County has doubled in that time, making libraries bursting at the seams with avid readers. Public libraries are primarily locally funded. In California, counties supported Libraries and other public services from property tax revenues until the passage of Proposition 13 (the so-called tax-payers' revolt) in 1978. In 1978 there was one central library in Modesto with 18 branches throughout the county. Six branches were closed immediately following the vote, including all within the City of Modesto except the central (main downtown) library. By the mid-90's library hours and services had been cut to the bare bone.

Stanislaus County pioneered a new way of funding the library system with a special one-eighth percent (0.0125%) sales tax passed by the voters in 1995. In the three and a half years since the sales tax passed, the annual library budget has gone from $2.53 million to $6.58 million.

"The additional funding generated by the sales tax has enabled the Library System to restore open hours, to buy new books, magazines, videotapes, and books on tape, and to subscribe to on-line data bases," according to the Stanislaus County Library's 1997-98 Annual Report.

While that special sales tax is designated for library operations and services only, other moneys are being freed for long overdue capital improvements. Traditionally the county has owned the library buildings. All three new facilities have come into being through new types of real estate agreements. In Keyes the new library stands on school grounds, courtesy of Keyes Charter School. In Empire the new facility shares a building with Healthy Start (Empire School), Health Services, and the Sheriff's Department substation. United Samaritans Foundation built the new building, in which the Hughson library is located, to library specifications and also rents space to a pharmacy, a cafŽ, the Hughson Chamber of Commerce, and others.

On-going funding for public libraries is local, Kriessman stated emphatically. Of the $6.58 million budget this year, 84 per cent comes from the special sales tax. This year, for the first time, there has been a significant amount from the California State budget, about $100,000. But that's a year by year allotment, cautions Kriessman. The State Legislature could decide to spend that money some other way next year. Occasionally, a special federal grant comes along.

Stanislaus is one of California's fastest growing counties: the population is projected to double in the next 20 years, from its current 418,500 to 793,600. In 1997 a Library Needs Assessment and Facility Plan was conducted for the county. The existing facilities were assessed and the current and future needs analyzed. Six of the 13 libraries have less than half the space needed to provide adequate services to its community, the study concluded: Ceres, Modesto, Riverbank, Salida, Turlock, and Waterford.

Access to information available in the libraries has radically changed with technological changes. There is public access to the Internet available at every library. The reference department answered 225,924 questions for customers in 1997/98 via visits to the library, telephone, fax, and e-mail inquiries. Kriessman is pleased that the current cumbersome on-line catalog will soon be replaced with Web-pack.

Most of our libraries do not have the space to house an adequate number of computers to meet current demand. Space for new material formats such a videos and books on tape is very limited. There is also very limited or no space for public programs.

The library has an active Read/Succeed adult literary program. Trained volunteers teach adult students to improve their basic reading, writing, and math skills. But in Waterford, for instance, there is no place in the current library facility for tutor and student to meet. There have also been changes in our populuation that impact the library budget including the need for subscriptions to on-line databases, for security guards to be on duty, and for structural modifications to comply with the American with Disabilities Act.

Waterfordians were pleased to hear Kriessman state in October that, in her opinion, Waterford is next in line for a new facility. Plans call for a facility triple the size of the current Nora Ballard-Waterford Library. Modesto and Turlock libraries are greatly impacted. The City of Patterson has also expressed interest in a new facility.

A special property tax proposal was defeated at the ballot box in 1986. Many library funding suggestions were floated, including charging for memberships or per book. But this is the Stanislaus County Free Library, providing access to information to every citizen. A library is the gateway to the American Dream, a cornerstone of an informed electorate, and an essential of democracy itself.

The library sales tax has a 5 year life-span, expiring in June, 2000. The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors recently voted to place extension of the library's special funding tax provision on the June 1999 ballot. It is essential that we campaign to maintain library funding.

"Since 1994/95, all 13 Stanislaus County Libraries have seen a tremendous increase in usage. The number of open hours has gone from 13,000 to 29,796 in 1997/98, the number of items checked out has increased 35.5%, the number of library cards issued has increased 47%, and the amount of books requested has almost tripled since 1994/95."

— Stanislaus County Library Annual Report 1997-98

VOTE LIBRARY!

If you love the Library, VOTE!

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisor voted in December to ask voters to continue the one-eighth of a cent library sales tax. June 8th will be the date. Stanislaus County Voters previously approved the unique library tax in March 1995 and it doesn't expire until the year 2000. County official set the election early because if it fails, they will need to begin to cutting staff and services. "We hire a lot of people and have a lot of contracts for computers other services," says Starrett Kriessman, Stanislaus County Librarian. "It's only fair to let these people know." The campaign will be run by volunteers.

ACTION: There are precincts to walk, information tables to staff, and

funds to be raised. Be there! Contact the library to be of service.

(NOTE: Congress has not only refused to acknowledge that there is, in fact, such a thing as "global warming" but has actively opposed attempts to remedy the situation. A steadily growing body of evidence suggests this attitude will be costly for all of us. PNS commentator Susan C. Strong is co-founder of the "Who's Counting" project and a writer whose work has appeared in papers across the United States.)

As 1998 turns into 1999, it's time for the American people to turn up the heat on congress about climate change -- and keep it on. Since the initial Climate Change Treaty conference in Kyoto a year and a half ago, congress has been a stumbling block in the attempt to fight against global warming, both internationally and at home.

Scientists at the Buenos Aires treaty negotiations last month reported that our changing climate will keep on creating more and more costly killer storms, fires, floods and droughts. The devastation and human suffering caused by Hurricane Mitch in Central America is only the latest and most shocking event in a year already marked by unprecedented temperature extremes, fires and floods in the U.S. But what has congress done so far to promote a sane climate change policy?

• In June 1997, congress refused to support the climate treaty negotiating process. Indeed, the Senate refused to ratify the treaty before negotiations were even finished.

• In late 1997 a blue ribbon panel of U.S. energy experts, including environmentalists and far-sighted oil industry representatives, called for a dramatic increase in public spending to foster increased efficiency in use of fuel and to develop new sources of power.

• A Clinton administration proposal to spend $6.3 billion on energy saving measures (partly in response to the panel's recommendations) was rejected by Congress

• In July of 1998, Congress actually approved a spending bill that restricted funding for the fight against global warming and other government programs. In one particularly offensive section, the bill barred the EPA from spending any money for actions in line with the still un-ratified Kyoto treaty. The EPA was even prohibited from encouraging industry to increase U.S. energy efficiency, cut energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions.

These maneuvers, and others like them, were slipped onto other essential pieces of budget legislation as "riders," out of the range of public scrutiny and debate.

In an issue that featured this year's disastrous weather, LIFE Magazine, not known for radicalism, bluntly warned the public to start taking global warming seriously, and urged such steps as planting trees, driving less, and wrapping water heaters. These suggestions point in the right direction, but we need an all-out effort by every sector of our society. That would include everything from stricter rules on miles per gallon requirements to fast, effective short-term business incentives for creating climate-friendly products and services. Such changes will also foster new industries. In short, making the shifts required to deal with global warming would be a win-win solution for us.

As the United States is responsible for the majority of world emissions, congress must recognize that climate change is a genuine and pressing national security issue -- exactly like a full-scale military emergency --and it's time to defend ourselves. Not curing our emissions (problerms) is just plain negligence. © PNS.

"I bet Alaska must be extremely cold."

"It must be getting dark early there."

"Welcome to the freezer! Polar Bear Country!"

"Is there snow all around you?"

These are just a few comments and queries I have had from friends and families in California since arriving in Sitka, Alaska on August 19 to begin my year as an AmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteer with Sitka Community Schools. Sitka is colder than Modesto, and we have made it down to 7 hours, 25 minutes of daylight, with a five to ten minute loss of daylight hours each day.As I write this article on Thanksgiving, it's 32 degrees and snowing in downtown Sitka. I wouldn't call Sitka a"freezer," though, and I haven't seen any polar bears yet.

I spent my Thanksgiving surrounded by friends at the Community Dinner in Sitka's Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall. In addition to traditional turkey, I got to sample several native foods, including herring eggs, seaweed with salmon eggs, and "muk tuk" (whale blubber). It was certainly a memorable evening.

To find Sitka on a map, look for southeast Alaska. Sitka is on a small island 95 air miles south of Alaska's capital, Juneau. The town is surrounded by national forest land and is near the Mount Edgecombe volcano. My VISTA project has kept me very busy. The Volunteers in Service to America program, of which I am a part, is a domestic service program which was initiated by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The Corporation for National Service now sponsors VISTA as one arm of its AmeriCorps program.

TheVISTA mission is to catalyze capacity building in communities, especially among low-income residents, and to initiate projects which can be sustained by the community after the VISTA leaves. The organization with which I work, Sitka Community Schools, coordinates after school use of school district facilities and sponsors educational and recreational classes for the community.

My VISTA project involves three parts. First, I develop and coordinate programs and special events for parents and their children ages birth to five. One program I coordinate for this group, a weekly Family Open Gym, has involved 36 parents and 52 children. Since it resumed for the fall on September 15, I also planned an Alaska Day Family Fun event for Sitkans in October, and 50 adults and 123 children attended.

In addition, I am responsible for implementing the America Reads Challenge in Sitka. America Reads is a national initiative that calls upon communities to mobilize resources to ensure that all children read well and independently by the third grade. To pursue this goal, I have initiated a Youth Mystery Readers Group in collaboration with the Kettleson Memorial Library in Sitka. Each week, Youth Services Librarian Patsy Young and I read mystery books out loud to a group of children for an hour. I also lead America Reads training for tutors working in the local elementary schools.

Finally, I co-facilitate a weekly after school recreational/arts and crafts program for third, fourth, and fifth graders. Drawings by five students in the program were included on a Children's Artwork Calendar this is being sold in Sitka to earn money for programs at the local Teen Center.

Being here allows me to volunteer at Raven Radio, Sitka's public radio station. I edit and type public service announcements which are read on the air. This has been a great chance to find out more about what's going on in Sitka, especially as the holiday season approaches.

Since arriving in Sitka, I have been given many responsibilities, but I have had many opportunities to explore Alaska. I have hiked up Harbor Mountain, Gavin Hill, and on the Indian River and Beaver Lake trails. Furthermore, I have taken two marine cruises and one ferry trip and seen several whales, otters, bottle-nosed porpoises, and even a couple of bald eagles.

I have learned more about Alaska history. I was here for Alaska Day, and I got to watch a reenactment of the transfer ceremony when the Alaska Territory moved from Russian to US control in October of 1867. I learned about Alaska's statehood when I assisted with the Senior and Sitka Sound Youth Oral History Project. This year, high school freshmen interviewed local seniors about their experiences living in Alaska in 1959 when Alaska became a state. The island of Chichigof, on which Sitka is located, has only 14 miles of paved road, but the warmth and generosity of its citizens know no such boundaries.

I am very much looking forward to the rest of my year here and would welcome correspondence from any friends in California.

ACTION: Write Satya Onorato at P.O. Box 6192, Sitka, AK 99835. e-mail: onoratos@bms.ssd.k12.ak.us. For more information on AmeriCorps programs, or to request an application, call 1-800-942-2677, or visit the Corporation for National Service web site at www.cns.gov. To order America Reads publications or to find out more about the initiative, call the US Department of Education at 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327)

By MYRTLE OSNER

Public Access to Cable TV will be open for discussion at a town Meeting on Monday, January 11, 1999 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Modesto City Council Chambers and is open to the public. The program will be carried live by Cable One on Channel 8.

Last month in these pages we discussed the fact that Cable One, our local (Modesto and Oakdale) Cable provider must renew its franchise next year. Since Cable TV is a monopoly, the city franchises its use of the public right of way in return for certain fees and public access.

Up for discussion are various proposals relating to what the station must provide for the public, in addition to cable hookups. As you all know, you pay a monthly fee for those hookups so that you can receive about 40 channels, some of which are dedicated to public access. Actually, only the City Council and Board of Supervisors and the public schools have that access now.

An ad hoc group interested in Cable access has planned the meeting. It intends to present information about what other communities are receiving in cable access as a benefit to the community. A video may be used to show what is happening in other cities: locally generated news shows, political forums, etc. Presentations by local communications teachers in high schools and college are expected. Questions from the public are welcome and should be written. The City Council also has a committee, whose chairperson is Armour Smith; with a staff person assigned to it.

The ad hoc group, in a letter to the City Council, stated, "We live in a culture which gets ever increasing amounts of information through electronic visual media. A diverse and healthy community deserves ready access to the tools and time that facilitate these new forms of communication. This is the purpose of the proposed town hall meeting: to inform our community of the communication resources it requires to remain vital in the new century."

ACTION: You are urged to attend and add your voice and questions to the forum. Contact David Dolan for more information, at 529-3662 or P.O. Box 1799, Modesto 95353.

Review: Rockefeller wealth propelled missionary conquest
By DON MCMILLAN

Gerard Colby with Charlotte Dennett. Thy Will be Done: The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. 960 pages.

Nelson Rockefeller, grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, shares the glare of this book's stark beacon with an unlikely shadow: fundamentalist missionary Cameron Townsend. An uneasy symbiosis links the very earthly drive for mineral wealth figured in Nelson's manifold corporate ventures with the religious fervor of Townsend's Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), better known in the U.S. as Wycliffe Bible Translators.

The book traces a conflict from the wresting of the western U.S. from indigenous tribes in the late 19th century while Rockefeller interests secured fossil fuel reserves on the tribes' former holdings. Meanwhile, mechanization of agriculture, also partly driven by Rockefeller capital, created resentment among U.S. farmers, many of whom were fundamentalists. Rockefellers represented to the fundamentalists the creeping threat of modernism, a questioning of literal scriptural interpretation. Mediating these tensions were Rockefeller contributions to Baptist missions among Indians in western states.

Cameron Townsend's first foreign mission assignment was with the Central American Mission whose founder, Cyrus Scofield, had been shaped by the earlier conquest against the indigenous people of the U.S., having campaigned against Indians in Texas. Though fundamentalist to the core, Scofield's doctrine proved useful to modernists like the Rockefellers. Colby notes " ... Scofield preserved for his donors as well as his missionaries the central thesis of the Puritan ethic. By living one's life according to the Book, one could avoid social reform and still win both riches and the keys to heaven. Social reform was deemed impossible in a world ruled by Satan and 'Man's Fallen Nature,' so why try?"

Nonetheless, Townsend was soft enough on modernist ideas to appreciate the folkways of prospective converts. He felt a calling to bring the Gospel to the indigenous tribes of Latin America. His modernist leanings suited him ideally as a mediator, marshaling fundamentalists to the cause of translating the Bible into indigenous languages while courting funding from Rockefellers and others likely to profit as the tribes deserted traditional ways and adopted Western ways. Townsend's willingness to hobnob with Latin American government officials, wealthy corporate underwriters, and stateside evangelists like Billy Graham often landed his organization contracts among remote tribes sitting on mineral deposits in South and Central American countries.

Though likely Townsend never met Nelson Rockefeller, Colby presents evidence that Rockefeller funding and influence often led to patterns of SIL "occupying" tribes just where oil had been discovered. When SIL translators entered and broke down tribal ways, tribes could often disintegrate without apparent bloodshed. More shocking are the documented instances in which tribes resisted the exploitation of their ancestral holdings and were decimated by bullets. SIL, the while in contact with the tribes and with knowledge of their ways, remained silent about the killings.

This is a tale of Christianity in service of international capital throughout the Cold War as SIL extended its services to Africa, the Philippines and, during the conflict there, Viet Nam. It chronicles the rise of Castro, portraying Cuba's wily foreign minister, Che Guevara, almost as a Christ figure himself: when CIA agents and Bolivian troops captured him, the commander had to get his firing squad drunk before they'd kill the captive.

In reply to the false competition, the greed and zealotry that mark Nelson Rockefeller's purported liberalism and the missionaries' conservatism, between which the indigenous tribes and the vibrant ecosystems of their ancestral lands are bulldozed, Colby offers an impassioned defense of cultural diversity viewed as "cultural and economic riches derived from different perspectives on natural resources and what it means to be human." Such genocidal events as those in which Colby implicates SIL betray "a deep malaise in the world's metropolises. Indigenous peoples will suffer the most, but humanity as a whole will suffer the loss of some of its memory, not only of a unique knowledge of the natural world, but of its ability to cope with the future in various, diverse ways."

Implicit to this work is a warning for people whose cause may not be evangelism but who may nonetheless be contributing to good causes abroad. If, for example, I contribute to environmental organizations which are largely beholden to large corporate donors, is there perhaps danger that such an organization may become complicit in atrocities much as those Colby charges SIL in? The book might be read as a warning to monitor practically any type of charity's links to big money too easily granted.

The book is long; however, I find it not entirely satisfying. In focusing on power brokers like Rockefeller, Kissinger, U.S. Presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to the NAFTA- and GATT-wangling Bill Clinton and on those less well known like Cameron Townsend who nonetheless eased resource extraction, the book leaves a sense that such influential people are solely responsible. Little heed is given to the processes by which my fellow citizens and I were convinced we need so much gasoline and plastic to be happy, thus making oil exploration in formerly remote regions profitable. No mention is made as to how, collectively, individual decisions favoring conservation over consumption could ease the pressure for more such exploitation.

It may not be Colby's to write, but I'd love to read a sequel. I've already got a cheeky title in mind: Thigh Will Be Done: How Cyclists and Pedestrians Reclaimed Streets from the Tyranny of Oil. We don't have to wait for a historian, let alone a publisher. Through every small act of resistance, we can write it, one step, one pedal stroke, at a time.

It has been more than twenty years since U.S. forces left Vietnam, long enough for a generation to grow to maturity with no direct knowledge of the war. But for those who fought there, and for their children, memory and history may produce painful silences. "Maria Taylor" is the pseudonym of a recent college graduate who is interested in teaching literature.

E-mail from my father. October 29, 1996.

"Ogre says :
Signatures have been affixed,
checks written,
oracles consulted,
all systems go-----
This is not a drill----
launch the jets
Estimated TOT
(time on target)
mid-January,
you are clear to drop when eyeballs on target.
Where are you going for Turkey day?
-Semper Fi
Ogre"

Translation: he has written checks for my tuition, called the airlines to arrange for a ticket home, and wanted to know where I planned to spend Thanksgiving. Ogre was my father's call name in Vietnam. My father was a pilot, a Marine lieutenant in the Vietnam War. The war was over twenty years ago and yet it lives. It lives in the eyes of the homeless man holding a cardboard sign, "Help a Vietnam Vet." It breathes in the houses of the vets, in the blood of their children, despite the silence of their voices. The war is not to be discussed. Their experiences surface only for moments and are quickly hidden again.

I grew up with Vietnam. There is a picture of my father giving me a bottle, while reading a copy of Newsweek with a Vietnamese soldier on the cover. I imagine him whispering with a nursery rhyme voice about paratroopers jumping out of planes on a secret mission. I was twelve years old the first time I realized that my father killed people. We were sitting around the kitchen table after a dinner with one of my dad's old Marine friends. They were joking, telling old war stories, as they had always done, laughing about a bombing mission that went awry. They bombed people, killed people, and they were laughing! I wanted to kill their laughter. I asked them what the hell they were laughing about. I didn't understand.

The war was about camaraderie for them, about brotherhood. I grew up as a child of that brotherhood, a child whose close friends and relatives were all tied by the bonds of the Vietnam war. Our fathers served together, became brothers together, cried together, and now laughed together. We went on camping trips, ski vacations, had barbecues and birthdays together.

But it changed. As we grew older, we began to have questions about the war that we were afraid to ask. A knowing silence filled our homes. We saw our fathers' medals, memorized their war photos, listened to their tales. Occasionally we saw them cry. We were comfortable in the silence because hearing about Vietnam was painful. Dad told me once he beat children who had attacked him with razor blades, trying to rob him. I understood the circumstances, but it was awful imagining my father beating children. It was war, though. I didn't like to hear some of his stories.

As I grew older I started to notice my father's reactions to war. Desert Storm had an enormous impact. He became depressed watching the news. Comparisons to Vietnam distressed him. The house became quiet. We studied the Vietnam war in school. We watched movies like "Platoon" and "The Deer Hunter." We asked if that was what the war was like. We were trying desperately to understand.

"No!" he would answer. His war was different.

We didn't push, but when our father offered to give us a story about the war we sat and listened, and rarely questioned. We were afraid of making him cry. We were afraid of seeing his pain, pain that was always there. He cries when he hears the "Star Spangled Banner." He salutes the flag. He gazes at jets as they soar over, and you know he is thinking about the war.

I am afraid to ask. I am afraid of yelling in the silence. Any vet's child will tell you it is taboo to talk about the war. "You just don't." We are afraid of opening something we can never close again. We suspect our fathers are keeping a great deal from us, knowing probably it would be too painful for us to live with. I find myself being patriotic and defensive about the war because I feel a need to justify our father's pain. You can't say the war was for nothing, or you admit the dying was for nothing as well.

My father is the first to say that the Marines should not have been there, or that we could've left sooner. He is the first to criticize the government, the military and the war. Yet, he believes in what they did. There is no way for him not to.

These feelings, this silence, I can hope will fade, although I am almost certain they won't. There is no way for us to understand what our fathers experienced, no way to understand how they hide it. I wonder if the vets ever talk about the pain with one another.

I know their children take solace in each other. I know we are proud of our fathers.

I know we carry their pain.

I know we want it to end.

(c) copyright PNS

email: pacificnews@pacificnews.org
web page: http://www.pacificnews.org

By SHARON SLENTZ

    -Thoreau

What can a girl from Manteca do to affect international politics and world peace? After speaking with Cindy Harvey, my answer would be just about anything she sets her heart to!

Personal Care Industries America, Medical Relief Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing medical support and humanitarian aid through partnerships, was founded in 1996. It started with a simple desire. Harvey had heard of a little girl in Russia, Sasha, who had a pineal gland tumor, a rare condition, but one that can be treated here in the United States. This girl was only two weeks younger than her own daughter, and Harvey couldn't stop thinking about her. She wanted to do something to help so she began asking around. Although it involved such zany moves as following some doctors to a golf course, Harvey found a local hospital, a neurosurgeon and an anesthesiologist willing to donate time and services. She then campaigned to get the family here, and they stayed in her home. The surgery was a success and Harvey set up her living room as a recovery room for Sasha. This was in June 1995, and the exposure to the need in the Russian Far East led Harvey to establish MRF, which has thus far sent a million and half dollars of medical supplies to various needy places around the world including Africa, Vietnam, Cuba and Honduras.

Although the organization sends supplies throughout the world, MRF's particular emphasis is the Russian Far East. New and used medical equipment that might have been discarded has been sent there as well as basic supplies readily available here but precious in Russia. The severity of the need is beyond what many of us would imagine. The Russian life span is considerably less than it is here.

One striking and simple example of how the lack of resources can affect health care can be found in the treatment of ear problems. Up to a third of pediatric visits in the United States are for problems related to the ears. We are familiar with the otoscope, the light magnification device that doctors shine in the ear to diagnose ear problems. It is a standard piece of equipment. In sharp contrast, a pediatric hospital in Vladivostock visited in October had no otoscopes. Hearing loss is a big problem in children there. A Russian ear, nose, and throat surgeon shared that she knew how to put tubes in ears, but they just didn't have any tubes. Here you have a relatively simple, manageable problem that goes undiagnosed and untreated. Of course, more serious and life-threatening illnesses go untreated as well.

The MRF works to build partnerships to meet these needs within the Russian infrastructure. It has established partnerships with medical institutions, clinics, hospitals, health organizations, orphanages, convalescent homes and universities. In addition to supplying short-term humanitarian aid, MRF has taken steps toward its long term goal of partnering with Russian businesses toward the meeting of these medical needs.

Another important aspect of MRF's program is developing a yearly exchange of medical personnel. A group of 15 U.S. medical personnel went to Vladivostock in October. In May, a Russian medical group will come here to Modesto, staying in host homes. Among these visitors will be the Russian equivalent to our surgeon general.

Of course, all this didn't just happen overnight. The complexities of accomplishing this can be overwhelming. Harvey began to wade through government agencies and foreign policy and eventually came to a dead end in searching for what was being done concerning her vision of medical aid in partnership with medical institutions in the Far East. Congressman Gary Condit was extremely helpful in wading through bureaucracy and letting Harvey know how she could make changes. Senators Boxer and Feinstein also showed Harvey where to access information and how to navigate the politics. Even shipping and customs are major considerations; the ever present red-tape is not to be trifled with. Yet, when the need presents, Harvey's attitude is to get the job done. When the Russian military needed medical supplies and she couldn't get answers about how to go about it, she just innocently shipped what they needed. She returned home to the company of the FBI and CIA. Guts of steel? Or is it just a heart of gold that drives Harvey to lend a hand to people across an expanse of ocean and thought?

Harvey sees the big picture: what organizations like MRF can do to promote world peace. The medical supplies she sends today help the Russians in the present, a sufficient goal in and of itself, but the efforts of MRF also says to the government that there are people here who care. It is a step in bridging the chasm of misunderstanding and ill will between our countries. The global effects of such a peace offering can be far-reaching. Harvey sees MRF's efforts as building blocks toward an amiable partnership with Russia.

Harvey is very proud of our country. What she has seen in other parts of the world gives her pause to consider the tremendous freedom and opportunity that we enjoy. She acknowledges that there is need here in the US as well, but she also knows how many people in Russia are dying unnecessarily. The establishment of relationships and partnerships will benefit both countries, promoting democracy and good-will "through the simple gestures of sending Band-Aids and bedpans." Harvey believes that ultimately we are responsible for taking care of each other and she says, "If we don't, who will?",

And Harvey has certainly taken that responsibility seriously. Her desire to assist has taken her to places she never dreamed of. She recently spoke before the Foreign Relations, the International Relations, and the Appropriations Committees. There is currently a foreign operations bill before Congress, the Far East Russian bill, that will assist in the needs of the eastern Russian people if passed. Harvey said, "I never dreamed in a million years I'd be standing in front of a Foreign Relations Committee in Washington DC with my idol Madeleine Albright in front of me.... and I'm telling them how the US. should conduct ourselves in foreign countries that are developing into democracies." Harvey also meets with top Russian government officials and has been invited to speak before the Russian Duma concerning partnerships in the development of the Far East.

Harvey spoke of the power we have to make changes. She said that many times we have opportunities that present themselves to us and, "If you can keep your eyes open and be ready and aware for those opportunities and be ready to seek them out, that's what changes your life." In Cindy Harvey's case, that is what is changing the lives of many medically needy people throughout the world.

ACTION: P.C.I. America, Medical Relief Foundation has been instrumental in fostering relationships and cooperation between the United States and Russia. For more information or to make a donation, contact P.C.I. America, Medical Relief Foundation, 4760 Terminal Ave. Modesto CA 95357, (209) 551-0335, Medfound@aol.com

By PARENTS, FAMIILIES AND FRIENDS OF LESBIANS & GAYS (PFLAG) et al

The Christian Coalition, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the American Family Association (partial list) used this slogan in recently published anti-gay ads claiming to have cured homosexuals of their behavior. The ensuing debates on morality, genetics or unlearning behavior all miss an important point--we have the right to love whomever we choose. The truth is, human sexuality is far richer and more multifaceted than we're taught to believe. The truth is that neither science, nor politics, nor religion can yet define the genesis of sexual orientation. Most likely each of us is a complex mix of nature and nurture.

The truth is, many people are bisexual

Bisexual people have the capacity for emotional, romantic, loving and/or physical attraction to more than one gender. Some of these so-called ex-gays are undoubtedly bisexual. Bisexuals can choose to be open to the full range of possibilities, but our bisexuality is the potential, not the requirement, for involvement with more than one gender. Some bisexual people choose to be in committed monogamous relationships, some choose other forms of relationships and commitments. Heterosexual and homosexual people also make these choices. Bisexuals come from all cultures, all religions and spiritual beliefs, all sizes and abilities, all social strata and walks of life. Some of us are just like you. some of us are nothing like you. But we are bound together by one important factor: we believe in the freedom to love whom we choose.

The truth is, love is about honor and respect for yourself and others

The truth is, these "ex-gay" ads sow hatred and intolerance. These organizations are seeking to define sexuality, gender, and family solely in their own image. It is an offense to the human spirit for any group to impose their beliefs as the one true way and to tell people to reject and hate themselves and each other because they do not fit a certain mold. That is not love. Love, between people who care for each other regardless of the gender involved, is an important family value that strengthens our society and enriches all our lives. Love is an essential part of life and a celebration of the human spirit. The truth is that the families we create, in whatever form, are precious and entitled to respect and to equal protection under the law.

The truth is, love makes a family.

As human beings we are born with the right and ability to love, to change and to choose as we grow. We must all have the option to choose to get married or not. We must all have the right to have and to raise children or not. All our relationships and families must be equally valued. We must have the right to walk down the street holding hands without the threat of violence. We must have the right to live, to work and to love without fear of discrimination of any sort. We must have the right to make our own moral and ethical decisions based on our own personal integrity.

The truth is, all of us, bisexual, lesbian, gay, transgender, heterosexual, deserve the right to love whom we choose.

Anything That Moves magazine, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, BiNet USA, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, Bisexual Resource Center, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, LLEGO: The Nat'l Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Organization, Nat'l Center for Lesbian Rights, PFLAG,Nat'l Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum.

ACTION: See calendar for local Modesto and Sonora PFLAG meetings.PFLAG Modesto: 209-527-0776, Sonora: 209-533-1665. E mail addresses available on the Stanislaus Connections web page.

By STAN CUNNINGHAM

The Modesto Almond Blossom Sangha meditation group cordially invites you to join us for a one day retreat on Saturday, January 30, 1999. Layla Bockhorst, a senior priest and resident of the San Francisco Zen Center will lead us in meditation, a talk, and time to meet with her individually, as desired. Please arrive by 9 a.m. for an introduction and sitting instruction. Please bring your own sitting materials (bench, zafu, or blanket), a vegetarian dish for eight for a potluck lunch, snacks to share, and walking shoes. There is no cost; however, donations to cover Layla's and the group's costs and time would be greatly appreciated.

By INDIRA CLARK

This dish's aroma alone will warm your soul even on the Tule-Foggiest of nights. The original recipe came from Under the Tuscan Sun. My vegan version was a hit with Song Circlers (see calendar).

Author's introduction: One of those recipes that can expand to accommodate any number.

- Simmer 2 cups dried chickpeas (garbanzos beans) in water with 2 cloves of garlic, salt, and pepper until tender but with plenty of bite, about two hours. [2 cans of garbanzos could be substituted.] Season with garlic, salt, and pepper.
- In hot olive oil, quickly brown 6 chicken breasts that have been shaken in a bag of flour. Arrange pieces in a baking dish.
- Drain chickpeas and scatter over chicken.
- Add a little olive oil to the same pan and sauté 1 coarsely chopped onion and 3 cloves of minced garlic; add 4 ripe tomatoes, also chopped coarsely [or approx. 3 cups chopped canned stewed tomatoes], 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of thyme. Simmer 10 minutes.
- Spread over the chicken. Season with salt, pepper, springs of fresh thyme. 1/2 cup of black olives. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. This is attractive in a terra-cotta dish.
Serves 6.

Vegan version:

- Delete chicken and proceed with recipe.
- Bake as above or combined in that one skillet and simmered for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime prepare your favorite pasta a dente for 6 servings.
- Just before serving, combine drained pasta with garbanzo sauce.