ustxtxb_obs_1987_03_20_50_00021-00000_000.pdf

.’,V1 and Associates 1117 West 5th Street Austin, Texas 78703 REALTOR Representing all types of properties In Austin end Central Texas C.15 Interesting & unusual property a specialty. 477-3651 OBSERVATIONS March 20, 1896 U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua. March 21, 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr., leads march in Selma, Alabama. March 23, 1925 Tennessee legislature bans teaching of evolution. March 25, 1894 Coxey’s Army of unemployed march on Washington demanding jobs. March 28, 1979 Near meltdown of nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. March 29, 1923 War Resisters League founded. April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr.. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. I implore you, beloved brothers and sisters, to seek a better world. . . , to have hope, joined with a spirit of surrender and sacrifice. We must do what we can. All of us can do something. . . . Archbishop Romero in his final homily El Salvador moting a program called “CAER,” Community Awareness and Emergency Response. \(It is pronounced like “care,” but ironically it means “to fall” in Chemical Manufacturers Association and the Texas Chemical Council, tells people how to escape from dangerous chemical spills or emissions, what to do in specific emergencies, and how certain chemicals will kill you. The program extends across the Gulf Coast region, where chemical plants have spoiled the air and water and continue to make people sick. The smoke gushing out of these plants is supposed to be regulated but the smell is so bad you can’t imagine that the monitoring equipment is plugged in. People are told not to worry, and are handed colorful, upbeat pamphlets about CAER. It is a responsible if unsettling concept, and maybe more people in Bhopal would have survived if chemical companies had established an emergency evacuation plan there. But community information and safety programs do not touch the real problem the runaway production of dangerous chemicals. The CAER approach, which fails to offer a plan for actually reducing or eliminating production of hazardous chemicals, is the duckand-cover program for the ’80s. Although citizens deserve the right to know which chemicals are produced or stored in their communities and how to escape from accidental chemical releases, their more basic right is to be free of any exposure to these substances. The Environmental Protection Agency recently reported that since 1980, Texas has experienced nearly 200 accidental releases of toxic substances and some very large. The releases occurred in plants and during transportation and caused millions of dollars worth of damage. Scores of people were injured; some were killed. The figures do not reflect the injuries and damage resulting from exposure to toxic waste dumps and incinerators in the state, and they don’t cover all accidental releases. Many are never reported. Because of the power and dominance of chemical companies in Texas, our state holds a double responsibility: citizens and regulatory agencies here are accountable for overseeing not only our own regional safety from chemical dangers, but also for making sure chemical companies headquartered in Texas or holding large interests here are not endangering other parts of the world. The implications of The Bhopal Syndrome are clear: it’s time to accelerate the educational and political activities needed to understand and address the dangers associated with chemical production. The Bhopal Syndrome is available by order from the Center for Investigative Reporting, 54 Mint St., 4th Fl., San Francisco, CA, 94103, for $6.00. SOCIAL CAUSE CALENDAR CENTRAL AMERICA WEEK IN AUSTIN The Central America Peace Initiative will sponsor a symposium entitled “Where’s Central America Going?” in Austin on March 22. Speakers will be John Stockwell, author, activist, and ex-CIA agent; Michael Conroy, assistant director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, UT-Austin; and Hugo Noe, professor of economics at the National University of Honduras. The symposium will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 12th and Lavaca, and will begin at 7:30 p.m. On March 23, the seventh annual Oscar Romero Memorial Service will be held at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 203 East 10th St., Austin. The service is sponsored by the Austin Religious Community on Central America and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Two films about Central America, Tell Them For Us and For a Woman in El Salvador, will be shown on Wednesday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m., at the Women’s Peace House, 1406 West 6th St., Austin. On Thursday, March 26, there will be a benefit for Central America Peace Initiative at Club Islas, 217 Congress Ave.. Austin. Dance music will be provided by the Suspenders and the Civil Serpents, and there will also be a magician act. The party will begin at 7 p.m.; a $5 donation is requested. For more information on any of these events CANDLELIGHT PROTEST On Tuesday, April 7 at 7 p.m., there will be a candlelight protest at the Governor’s the demands to divest state funds in South Africa and to keep the Texas National Guard out of Central America. This action is designed to highlight and build support for the April 25 Mobilization for Justice and Peace in Central America and Southern Africa, which it is anticipated will be the largest demonstration in front of the White House since the Vietnam War. For information about and reservations for the April 25 RAUSCHENBERG IN CORPUS The Art Museum of South Texas will sponsor “Robert Rauschenberg, Work from Four Series: A Sesquicentennial Exhibition” from March 11 through June 7. The exhibit is organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston as part of the TEX/ART 150 series and will include 39 works completed since 1971. For more information ANDERSON & COMPANY COFFEE TEA SPICES TWO JEFFERSONSQUARE AUSTIN TEXAS Wiall 512 453-1533 Send me your list. Name Street City -Zip THE TEXAS OBSERVER 21