September 1997 September 1997 September 1997 Newsletter Convention Update - September 15 Opening speaker for the Convention on Friday, September 26 will be the Rev. Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church. Rev. Williams will set the tone for this convention in its dedication to fairness and equity for all peoples. Opening remarks on Saturday, will be presented by Sarita Gupta, President, U.S. Student Association At the Luncheon on Saturday, September 27 Featured speakers will be Matthew Martinez, Congressman from Los Angeles; Dolores Huerta, Leader of United Farm Workers; Tom Ammiano, San Francisco Board of Supervisors Dinner Banquet, Saturday, September 27 honorees: The Maggie Kuhn National Award for Social Justice will be presented to San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and to the National Leadership of the AFL/CIO (John Sweeney, Linda Chavez Thompson, Richard Trumka) and accepted by Mark Splain, Western Regional Director. Walter Johnson, San Francisco Labor Council and Barbara Aldave, Dean of St. Mary's Law School will complete the list of dignitaries at the banquet. On Sunday, September 28, opening remarks will come from Fred Azcarate, National Director of Jobs With Justice. Starting at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday there will be a demonstration at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco against the hazardous Cassini Project. We could be dooming our children to Plutonium poisoning just because NASA won't wait for a safer energy source. Voice your opposition! Info on times, places, fees, available at (415) 552-8800CALENDAR OF EVENTS
CONVENTION OF GPs IN SAN FRANCISCO
Voting delegates from the San Francisco Gray Panthers
Network include:
Any of the above will be happy to explain further the plans, speakers as they accept, and workshop requirements and agendas.
You May Never Win a Sweepstakes But. . .
. . . you do have a chance to be a winner at this convention.
We have a few $10.00 daily registration tickets which entitle
you to everything but the food. There will be workshops,
discussions and networking opportunities. Volunteer for
just an hour or two at the convention or help with the
preparations to qualify for the special rate.
Call Mary Francis (621-7456) and let her know the
day you want to attend and the area in which you are
prepared to assist.
One of the richest experiences that come out of a
convention of Gray Panthers is the one-on-one exchange
that comes from sharing your home and its facilities.
Some out-of-town members have requested your hospitality.
Open your door and home if you have any room- a bed,
futon or even a couch-call Augusta 452-1910 ASAP
to make arrangements for your guest.
Convention Schedule At-A-Glance
Friday: Issue Day
8:30-11:30 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. Welcome and Hospitality
10:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Exhibits
12:30-1:00 p.m. Opening Remarks: Business
1:00-1:30 p.m. Gen. Assembly: Opening Speech
1:30-3:45 Jobs & Workers; Health Care; Education;
Family Security; Political Integrity & Economic
Opportunity; Environment; Foreign Policy
4:00-5:30 General Assembly: Reports from working groups
Saturday: Action Day
8:00 a.m.-noon Registration
8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Exhibits
9:00 a.m.-noon General Assembly: Reports
Noon Luncheon with speaker
2:00-5:00 p.m. Reports and Skill-building
6:00 p.m. Gala Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner Banquet with a featured speaker
Sunday: Business Day
8:00 a.m.-noon Exhibits
9:00 a.m. Business Meeting: Bylaws; Reports;
Elections; Director's Report; Farewell from
Charlotte Flynn, retiring National Chair
12:00 Convention Adjourned
Northern California Network Notes
The regional meeting of GPs networks was held in
San Lorenzo on July 26. Representatives from Southern
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Oakland, Berkeley,
Sacramento and San Francisco attended. The main
subject of the meeting was the upcoming convention.
In addition, Augusta agreed that the SF Network
would publish notes from our region whenever possible.
Keep them coming!
The next regional meeting is scheduled for Saturday, November 1 in Marin.
From Sacramento: It is estimated that 50,000 women will die from breast cancer in 1997. Senate Bill S726 supports an optional 33¢ stamp for breast cancer research. That could net as much as $300,000,000 annually for research! Write to Dianne Feinstein, 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 305, S.F., CA 94111 and urge her to support the bill.
The free Congressional switchboard number is 1-800-962-3524. Use it to call Boxer, Feinstein, Matsui and Fazio. The Older Americans Act must be reauthorized immediately! At-risk, poor and disabled folks depend on the services the Act brings to the community.
Bay Area: Many HMO users do not know to whom to turn with problems or for advice. The following organizations are dedicated to give consumers independent medical advice.
Care Counsel in San Rafael (1-888-227-3334) will conduct a quality review of your cancer treatment in conjunction with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
In San Francisco HICAP, an acronym for Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, is state financed and set up to address the problems Medicare recipients encounter with their health care providers. There is no charge for the program. For more information call 861-4444.
Care Counsel in San Rafael (888-227-3334)
will conduct a quality review of your cancer treatment
in conjunction with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Violet Jacobson 1920-1997
Family, friends and colleagues will join in a memorial for
Violet "Vi" Jacobson who passed away on July 14, 1997.
The memorial will be held at 2:00 p.m. on September 14, 1997
at 4 Berry Street in San Francisco.
Donations in her honor should be made to the Gray Panthers, National Council of Jewish Women and the San Francisco School Volunteers, efforts that Vi worked with and supported.
Vi was born in New York City and came to San Francisco
fifty years ago. She worked with the California Labor School
and for the United Jewish Community Center where she served
as controller for more than 20 years. Vi was an active member
of the San Francisco Gray Panthers and in 1988 became a
member of the National Board of Directors. In 1992 she
became the Secretary-Treasurer of the National Board and
member of the Executive Committee and the Mahler Committee.
And in 1995 Vi became a member of the National Gray Panthers
Strategic Planning Committee of 15 members. The upcoming
convention owes much of its planning and (we hope) successful
fruition to Vi's dedicated critical, thoughtful foresight.
Vi is survived by two sons, Joseph of Benicia and Michael
of Rio Nido and by a myriad of friends and associates
who shall miss her sorely.
An Urgent Message from Dr. Helen Caldicott
"Remember the old Hollywood movies when a mad scientist
would risk the world to carry out his particular project?
Well, those mad scientists have moved to NASA!"
-Dr. Horst Poehler, Scientist for NASA contractor
This deadly nuclear experiment must be stopped.
On October 6, NASA plans to launch the Cassini Space Probe from
Cape Canaveral. On board will be 72.3 pounds of plutonium-238,
the most deadly form of plutonium. The Cassini launch could
endanger millions of lives on earth. Scientists estimate that
20-30 million deaths from cancers alone would be caused by a
re-entry accident. Other effects of exposure could include an
increased incidence of genetic diseases and birth defects.
Just one pound of Plutonium-238, hypothetically, if evenly
distributed, could induce lung cancer in every person on earth.
Meanwhile, a safe alternative for powering missions like Cassini does exist. The European Space Agency has already developed highly efficient solar cell technology for deep space missions. Solar cells could provide the 745 watts of electricity that Cassini requires to power the instruments aboard the probe. Most of NASA's Earth orbit satellites already use solar power, and several studies have indicated that deep space missions such as the Cassini mission could be powered by solar cells. Excerpted from a letter from Dr. Caldicott to WILPF
What you can do: Send a postcard to President Clinton (see below). Copies of Contra Costa GPs' petitions are in the office. Get one or more and fill them out. Call the local offices of Senators Boxer and Feinstein and Representatives Pelosi and Lantos. Ask them to help stop the Cassini Space Probe.
President Bill Clinton 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Clinton, I am calling on you to use the power of your office to cancel the Cassini Space Probe. It could cost as much as $3.4 billion, spread 72.3 pounds of deadly plutonium through the atmosphere and and endanger as many as 30 million people. Solar technology is available to power the mission- even NASA admits the technology is possible. We can't afford nukes in space.
Signed:
Address:
Dangers of Ruling on Older Workers
from S. F. Chronicle, 8/5/97
Editor-I could not believe my eyes when I saw
the article regarding the Fourth District Court of
Appeal ruling regarding the legitimate dumping of
older workers in favor of younger, lower paid employees. . . .
To me the ruling seems totally unconscionable. . . . By replacing older workers they will say goodby forever to loyalty, morale and dedication to the job. This ruling threatens the very fabric our country is made of. It must be overturned before it does irreparable damage. Hans G. Roenau, Tiberon
National Effort to Save Headwaters Forest
Will the world's last unprotected ancient redwoods be
sacrificed in the name of corporate profit? Headwaters
Forest in northern California, the world's last unprotected
ancient redwood wilderness, teeters on the brink of
extinction. These 60,000 acres of redwoods, including
six ancient groves,are comprised of one of the few
intact remnants of the primeval temperate rainforest that
once blanketed the northwestern coast. In a mere 150 years,
logging has decimated 96% of its original expanse.
Headwaters supports giant trees over 300 feet tall and up
to 2,000 years old and provides critical habitat to endangered
species like the marbled murrelet, the northern spotted owl,
and coho salmon. This forest also serves as an important
ecological link between Redwood National Park to the north
and Humboldt Redwoods State Park to the south. The
establishment of a permanently protected Headwaters
Forest Sanctuary is essential for the survival of this
vanishing ecosystem.
For over a hundred years, Headwaters Forest was sustainably logged by the family-operated Pacific Lumber Company. In 1985, Charles Hurwitz and his Texas-based Maxxam Corporation acquired Pacific Lumber through a junk-bond financed hostile takeover. Hurwitz immediately doubled the rate of logging, clearcutting thousands of acres. For the past 11 years a coalition of environmental groups has waged a heroic struggle to preserve Headwaters through litigation, legislation and grassroots organizing. As public outrage increased, federal and state officials crafted a tentative agreement with Hurwitz to acquire 7,500 acres -only 12% of the 60,000 acre forest-and only two of the six ancient groves.
Under the tentative "deal" with the government, Maxxam will be allowed to begin the destructive practice of "salvage logging" on September 15, 1997. Headwaters Sanctuary Project is organizing candlelight vigils around the country to take place on the evening of September 14 to protest the pillaging of this national treasure and to draw attention to the urgent need to protect the entire 60,000 acres.
Gray Panthers volunteers are needed to attend and
help coordinate vigils in their cities. To find out what's
going on in your area and how to help, please call Aroza
at the SF Gray Panthers, 567-5348 or Susan Stephenson
at the Headwaters Sanctuary Project at (510) 444-4710,
or e-mail her:
Toxic Links Coalition Please call (510) 548-9286 or (415) 243-8373x305
to get more involved or get more info.
Dear Friends of Toxic Links Coalition,
October is approaching and we are preparing for the 4th
Annual Cancer Industry Tour of San Francisco, scheduled
for October 1st, Wednesday, at noon in front of Chevron,
555 Market Street. We are taking back the industry-endorsed
"Breast Cancer Awareness Month" again this year by renaming
it, more appropriately, Cancer Industry Awareness Month.
The purpose of our protest is to expose, confront, and hold
accountable: corporate polluters; public relations firms which
clean up polluters' public images; government officials who
display shameful records of environmental injustices; and,
most importantly, the American Cancer Society whose
national agenda does not acknowledge the environmental
connection to cancer. We need your help!
The Newsletter of the San Francisco Gray Panthers is published each month, and distributed free of charge to members and friends of this nonprofit organization.
Editorial Board: Rebecca Hirshleifer, Mitzi Raas; Publisher, Astrid M. Spector; Art Director, Fannie Biderman; Proof, Lurilla Harris; Circulation: Harold Greenblatt and Mary Francis Smith.
Printed by Graffik Natwicks; Webpage design: Barry Simpkins