The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 27, 1991 - Page 7
Charities
struck by
economic
pressures
Associated Press
The economic slump has charities
struggling to cope with increased
umbers of people seeking aid this
anksgiving, including a "new
class of poor" who were the donors
of past years, officials say.
A Connecticut church group is
turning people away in what its di-
rector calls "the most heart-
wrenching decision I've ever had to
make."
In Michigan, which abolished
welfare for 83,000 adults last
*onth, a soup kitchen is facing
astronomical" demand.
In Burlington, Vt., the emer-
gency food service is trying to serve
up to 20 percent more people with
only a tiny increase in donations.
"Don't tell me that the recession
is over," said Ruth Shecter, execu-
tive director of the Housing Infor-
mation Center in Kansas City, Mo.
"President Bush needs to walk with
#e people and find out what it re-
ally means."
Capt. Phil Murphy of the Salva-
tion Army in Raleigh, N.C., said do-
nations to his unit are off $18,000
from last year for the Christmas
and winter reliefrdrives, but the
number of people seeking help has
been rising.
"There are more people living
xom paycheck to paycheck than ever
fere," he said. "This is awhole
different strata of people, and it's
going to happen for some time."
In Bridgeport, Conn., hard-hit by
economic troubles, a coalition of
churches known as Area Congrega-
tions Together, or ACT, is turning
away about 100 families who_
sought Thanksgiving food, out of
about 250 who applied.
"It's unbelievable, it's tragic,
O's the most heart-wrenching deci-
sion I've ever had to make," said ex-
ecutive director Kathleen Samla.
Donations to fund the holiday
meal program are down so sharply
that "we don't know if we can feed.
the families we've accepted, nevert
mind the ones we've had to turn
away," Samela said. k
"In our annual mailing asking
Or donations, we've receivedsa lot
of letters from people who havel
been big donors in the past saying I
just lost my job. here's $2," shel
said. "These are people who might
have given $10, $25 or more last
year."
Kay Wallick, executive director
of the Mid-America Assistancel
Coalition in Kansas City, Mo., de-c
scribed the ranks of new applicantsl
or aid "a new class of poor, newc
clientele who have never used assis-
tance before. These are people who
used to give to the United Way."
Americans clear
out of Filipino base
CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines (AP) -
The American flag was lowered for the last
time at Clark Air Base today as the United
States abandoned one of its oldest and largest
overseas installations, damaged by a volcano,
in June.
About 1,000 people watched as an Air
Force honor guard handed the flag to U.S.
Ambassador Frank Wisner. U.S. officials said
about 250 American troops remained at the
base, but plan to leave later today for new as-
signments.
"The longstanding U.S. military presence
is ending," said Maj. Gen. William Studer,
commander of the 13th Air Force, which will
move its headquarters from Clark to Guam.
Filipino base employees embraced depart-
ing Americans and many in the crowd wept
during the two-hour ceremony, marking the
end of nearly a century of American military
presence at the base about 50 miles north of
Manila.
U.S. sources, speaking on condition
anonymity, said looters quickly swarmed over
the base, taking appliances and other materials.
In February, looters stripped another U.S. fa-
cility, Camp O'Donnell, of nearly everything
Americans left behind.
In recent years, the United States stationed
about 20,000 troops, military dependents and
defense department personal at Clark, a major
transit and training facility for U.S. and allied
forces in the Pacific region.
The 130,000-acre base was heavily damaged
in June when Mt. Pinatubo erupted, spreading
tons of volcanic debris.
U.S. officials decided to abandon Clark and
try to negotiate an agreement to remain to at
the Subic Bay naval base, which was less
severely damaged by the volcano.
In September, the Philippine Senate re-
jected an agreement that would have given the
$250 million in aid in exchange for a 10-year
lease. Talks are expected soon on a schedule
for withdrawal from Subic.
"I think the general mood is probably ex-
citement about going home, being back with
your families again, sadness at leaving your
friends here, all mixed up with some fatigue
from working the way we have for the last
four or five months," said the Clark Base
Spokeperson Lt. Col. Ron Rand.
A 1990 Philippine government report sug-
gested turning the base into an international
airport and agricultural business center. But
the volcano damage has apparently put the
plans on hold, and it was not immediately
clear what the Filipinos plan for the site.
"It's sad," said Sgt. Harry Sharp, 27, of
Canton, Ohio, a member of the honor guard as-
signed to Clark in May. "It's a goodbye to
your friends and move on."
The closing of the base is expected to fur-
ther damage the local economy, which is still
I think the general mood is
probably excitement about
going home, being back with
your families again, sadness
at leaving your friends here,
all mixed up with some
fatigue from working the
way we have for the last
four or five months'
- Ron Rand
Clark Base Spokeperson
suffering from the effects of the volcano.
Antonio Abad Santos, mayor of nearby
Angeles, said about 30 percent of the city's
250,000 people have moved away in search of
jobs elsewhere.
He said at least 15,000 people had lost
their jobs when the base closed and only about
400 have found new employment.
Placards placed near the base praise the
Americans and express regret that they were
leaving.
"No country can replace you in our
hearts," one of the signs read.
Makin'
Doris Tseng,
copies
a Business School senior, makes color photocopies in the Union yesterday.
New York public schools begin y
condom-on-demand program
NEW YORK (AP) - Students weeks and continue through 1992 roles. But we face a life-and-death ,
lined up for condoms yesterday as until it covers all 260,000 high crisis," said Dewey's principal,
the nation's largest public school school students in the city. William Sigelakis. ,°
system started handing out the con-
traceptives on demand.
"They have all the cool teachers
giving them out," Helene
Patterson, 17, a senior at John
Dewey High School in Brooklyn,
said enthusiastically.
Dewey, with 3,000 students, and
an 850-student alternative high
school, City-as-School in
Manhattan, were the first of the
city's 120 public high schools to
begin distributing condoms to stu-
dents without any requirement of
parental consent.
The program will be phased in
at 14 more schools in the next few
Aimed at stemming the spread
of AIDS, the program was adopted
by the Board of Education in
February over strong objections by
the Roman Catholic Church and
some parents. Objectors said
condom giveaways condoned teen-
age sex.
New York City has more AIDS
cases than any other city
nationwide. It is home to about 3
percent of the nation's 13- to 21-
year-olds, but accounts for 20
percent of all AIDS cases in that
age group. "We can debate
philosophy and we can debate
methodology and we can debate
The condoms were handed out in
the school's resource room by spe-
cially trained teachers and coun-
selors. Sex education counseling is
optional.
The package includes instruc-
tions for use and literature on the
risks and benefits of condom use
and misuse. An accompanying card
notes abstinence is the only sure
way to avoid sexually transmitted
diseases.
"It's healthy. I'm not having
sex without one," said Jermaine
Cummings, 16, a sophomore at
Dewey.
Helene Patterson and her boyfriend Joe Temperino display a condom
they received from a distribution program at John Dewey High School in
New York.
Japan agrees to ban on drift-net fishing
IVI /- / r -- U ~ll- - k-; .- p 8- f/L%
Present at both
and closing roll
>ngineering
Aaron Williams
Law.
Michael Warren
;LSA
Ken Bartlette
Tom Cunningham
David Englander
Me an Landers
Joel Martinez
Jeff Muir
Natural Resources
Nena Shaw
Nursing
Nicole Shupe
Pharmacy
Ian Nordan-
Rackham
Tim Darr
Max Ochoa
Amy Polk
opening
calls'
Absent at both opening
and closing roll calls _
Art
Cheryl Hanba
Business
Andrew Kanfer
Antonio Vernon
Engineering
Alexia Fink
Brian Kight
John Vandenberg
LSA
JMark Bernstein
Julie Davies
Scott Gast
Jong Han
Heather Johnston
Kevin Killian -
Johnathan Line
Priti Marwah
Anitra Nolte
Andrew Petrella
Melissa Saari
Kim Watson
Rackhamn
Sean Herlihy
Jeff Hinte
Ben Witherell
Maria Yen
Social Work
Colleen Crossey
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Japan's agreement to stop fishing
with drift nets paves the way for an
international ban on the high-seas
"curtains of death," environmental-
ists said yesterday.
The world's biggest drift-net-
ting country reluctantly , agreed
Monday night to support a United
Nations resolution banning the nets
without exception at the end of
next year.
That could mean an end world-
wide is nearing for the practice -
fought by environmentalists for a
decade - that critics say can indis-
criminately sweep thousands of ma-
rine animals to their deaths in
swaths as wide as 30 miles.
Members of Congress said a
Environmentalists forsee possibility
of international agreement on nets
combination of international pres- this summer mandating sanctions
sure and U.S. threats of trade sanc- against drift-net violators.
tions caused Japan to reverse its Greenpeace spokesperson Blair
position. Palese said, "We still have to clear
"The world has grown sick and the hurdle in the U.N., but in terms
tired of this fishery and I think of a success story for drift nets,
'We still have to clear the hurdle in the U.N.,
but in terms of a success story for drift nets,
we've got the champagne on ice'
- Blair Palese
Greenpeace spokesperson
bers, Greenpeace said.
The Asian nation's fleet of about
450 drift-net vessels fish primarily
for squid in the northern Pacific
Ocean. But critics say the nets trap
and kill all marine life in their path.
In 1990, just 10 percent of
Japan's fleet killed 1,758 whales
and dolphins, 253,288 tuna, 81,956
blue sharks, 30,464 sea birds and
more than 3 million other non-tar-
get fish, the U.S. National Marine
Fisheries Service has said.
After Japan, South Korea and
Taiwan are the world's next largest
drift-netting nations with about
150 vessels each. Taiwan, under di-
rect threat of U.S. trade sanctions,
has already promised to stop the
practice.
Japan knows when to give -up," said
Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), who
sponsored a bill the Senate approved
we've got the champagne on ice."
Japan's decision will carry a lot
of weight with other U.N. mem-
ama ra a/a m a a- w IM IMPLAME a AR A L !
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9 99 99 Dinersty Thanksgiving Special
CcONEKECSISTNE
COOKIESYoung Turkey Roasted in
elDON'T BE A TURKEY D 4
.Twas the month before Christmas
at the University of9Michigan.
students were excited about the
- thought of returning home again.
.
' . 'People were studying
as finals drew near.
... litte to their knowledge,
they could bringfriendsgoodcheer.