rhe Scarlet it Black, iJccemher 2, ion—page a

 

 

Houston—color, action in the IWY arena

forward even at the expense of limiting
debate or to support amendmens from
the floor as they come up. I 11 just have to
wait and see what kind of stalling,
delaying or other parliamentary tactics
the opposition uses to stalemate the
progress of the Plan. Opponean comprise
only about 20 per cent of the elected
delegates but there is some concern they

ay try to pack the observer sections.

Around 11 pm, 1 went to the Pro-Plan
observer’s caucus and ran into various
people including ex-Grinnell prof Kathy
Staudt in an elevator. The next elevator 1
00k carried Bella Abzug and Gloria
Steinem!

Saturday, November 19th, 3 ail-11,1 spent
most of the day wandering around the
exhibit a as. picking up literature,
signing ma ing lists, going to work shops
in community organizing and listening to
some great feminist music and speeches.
All day long 1 had thought about going
across town to the Astra—arena but I hadn’t
made it. However, some of us decided to
attend one of the informal “speakouts” in
he main convention hall. A woman was
speaking on feminism and socialism when
four guys in doublerbreasted suits walked
briskly down the aisle and sat down. One
immediately stood up and began yeuing
“Jesus is Lord." Then he signed up to

ella Abzllg is surrounded by admirer

 

speak for his two minutes. He said he
believed in ladies having equal pay for
equal work, but he didnt want his wife
equal to any of us. We had gone too far, he
said. Then he launched into an incredible
evangelical tirade about inviting the
judgementof the Lord upon us. it required
a roomful of several hundred women all
shouting “Time's up!" to get him quieted
down. Wilma Heide, former NOW
President and moderator, finally asked
him and his friends to leave the premises.
It was a little disquieting, but aside from
that I witnessed no real confrontations
outside the plenary sessions.

lNSlDE THE first plenary, people un-
successfully tried to question the
legitimacy of the Mississippi delegation
and its five acknowledged members of the
Ku Klux Klan. The Iowa delegation sat
right behind the Hawaii delegation, which
was 100 per cent Mormon and thus “pro-
family and pro-life" in a state where
Mormons compose only 3 per cent of the
population. All challenges to Mississippi
and Hawaii were thrown out. After in-
troductory remarks by Barbara Jordan,
discussion began. Many of the initial
planks in the Plan including arts and
humanities, battered women and others
passed with little debate. This prompted
cries of “railroading" from the con-
servatives who turned their backs to the
chair and refused to acknowledge her
efforts to maintain order. Both child care
and child abuse components were subject
to intense debate as the issue of “fetus
abuse" was raised for the first time. One
woman from Oklahoma actually con-
sidered federally funded day care for
preschool children as analagous to Nazi
youth camps!

The first plenary adjourned just short of
addressing the first big issue. ERA, and I
went to a concert by Holly Near, Mary
Watkins, Cryer and Ford, and feminist
comic Robin Tyler, among others. The
concert solidified the positive impressions
l had received in this first official day of
activities. The diversity of women in temis
of social; economic, geographic and ethnic
origins and the unity and support shown
for issues of concern to all women created
a powerful bond among Conference par-
ticipants. It seemed like we were all part
of a gigantic network of individuals and
groups who were realizing for the first
time that we were not alone, that many
had gone before us and that we
represented many more back home as
well. In addition to this personal feeling of
connectedness with others, there was a
tremendous sense of political efficacy and

collective strength that pervaded the

 

57v

,.nh c Billy Joe Clagg denounces IWY contcrencc tpllotos by Patty Roset.

whole Conference,

Sunday, November 20th. 3 am Ispent
much of the day observing the plenary as
the controversial subjects of reproductive
freedom (the new jargon for abortion
rights) and sexual preference (read gay
rights) reached the floor. 1 apparently
missed the ERA vote by about five
minutes on Saturday night because I
couldn’t drag myself away from the
singing. Both of the other issues came up
today, though, and provoked heated,
emotional debate before they were
eventually passed, A large number of
women participated in a “prolife” floor
demonstration after their unsuccessful
efforts to defeat a resolution reiterating
the right to abortion. Singing “All we are
saying is give life a chance,” they paraded
to the center of the hall and gave Bella
Abzug a huge carton of petitions and a
large picture of an aborted fetus. They
were countered by a growing chant of
.“Choice! Choice! Choice!“ which efr
fectlvely killed their demonstration.

WE ALL CAME to the Conference
with various expectations, goals and
reasons, but we all came out with a Plan of
Action that is far stronger than the one
originally submitted for consideration,
One of the most exciting aspects of the
whole Houston experience has been
Watching that Plan as it was amended
from the floor to make the language
stronger and more sensitive to the needs of
all women. Thus, the Older Woman
resolution was re-writted by the Grey
Panthers and 'then passed, and the
Minority Women's plank was also ex7
panded and forced to address more

 

specific issues such as Bakke. im»
migration laws relating to Chicanos and'
reservation termination for Native
American Women.

Monday, November zist, on the air»
plane Todays closing session was sup
posed to deal with implementation of the
Plan, and a proposed federal Womens
Department. That latter item was really
Bella’s baby and it didn’t pass due to op—
position from NOW, labor and other
groups concerned with bureaucracy and
other forms of excessive centralization.
The extensive debate on it forced the
meeting to a close with a very superficial
treatment of implementation.

THE CLOSING minutes were hectic and
chaotic as Addie Wyatt, chairwoman,
unsuccessfully sought order. The pro-
family delegations who now have the
audacity to call themselves “the Grass-
roots Majority," finally staged their
walkout moments before the official ads
journment. Singing “God Bless America,”
they paraded around the floor with huge
signs proclaiming, “GOP against ERA
and IWY,” and Carried photos of aborted
fetuses. For the rest of us, singer Margie
Adam'summed our mood by singing “We
Shall Go Forth," and many observers
including myself crowded onto the floor to
join the remaining delegations in a last
song.

The Plan of Action is to be submitted to
both houses of Congress and President
Carter in the next 180 days, Hopefully, our
elected representatives will recognize the
mandate that they have received from
over onerhalf of their constituencies and
redress cur grievances as soon as possible.

Speakers cite imits to growth in'present system

ByAndrchchullz
The Iowa Public
Research Group (IrPlRG),
Grinnell College, the Iowa
Humanities Board, and National
By»Products, Inc, sponsored a
three-day conference here this
week on the topic “Agriculture:

Flowers make a
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Christmas
BATES FLORISTS

101'2 Broad
236—3197

Eyes Examined
Phone 236-7502

JENSEN
OPTOMETRIS'I'S ,
Earl J. Jensen, 0.D.

Clark J. Jensen, 0.0.

Across from Post Office
Closed Thursday p.m,
and Sal. p.m.

Interest.

Limits to Growth,”

Speakers generally agreed that
many elements in the present
political and economic structures
hinder future growth and that
conservation is needed. There was
a consensus that the agricultural
outlook depends on how finite
natural resources are handled,

The purpose of the conference
was to bring together a wide
variety of speakers for discussion
of present issues in agriculture
policy. Farmers, economists,
legislators, public interest 307
tivists, and business people met
and exchanged views during three
days of lectures, panel discussions,
question and answer sessions, and
small group workshops.

SAM GAKST, who works for the

,USDA’s Congressional Affairs

Department, spoke of the limits to
growth in terms of price inflation,

Garst argued that high land and
equipment prices discourage
would-be farmers from starting

new farms, He also pointed out that'

existing farmers are discouraged
from maintaining their farms due
to low prices on their produce and
inadequacy of federal insurance
programs designed to protect
crops from natural disasters.
Robert Voertman, chairman of
the Grinnell economics depart-
ment. spoke on “Why It Pays To
Have Soil Erosion." Voertman
stressed the political and economic
aspects of farming as limits to
growth, He argued that farmers
are encouraged by the market
system to grow crops that will net
the highest yield and a maximum
profit. Corn and soybeans are such
high yield, high profit crops. Un-
fortunately, he said, growing these
crops produces extemal economic

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unrest. These crops, grown year
after year, take a heavy toll on soil.
Furthermore, growing such crops
requires use of highly erosive
herbicides and pesticides, he said

VOERTMAN said that the only
way to counter the structural ins
centives of the market system is to
offer alternative incentives that
promote better land use. Roger
Blobaum, head of the Center for
Rural Studies, echoed this idea,
and called for the government to
reaffirm the conservation ethic
with a national policy to preserve

resources.
Water is another area of concern

in agriculture policy. Max Schnepf,
editor of Journal of Soil and Water
Conservation, said at the con»

ference that ”water will be the
next natural resource crisis,” and
added his support to the idea of
more conservation planning.

ENERGY was also discussed at
the conference. Energy shortages
are the most severe limits to
growth in the near future, it was
noted. The energy crisis hits farms
hard, and directly affects everyone
because it alters food production.
Today, the American farmer is
dependent on petroleum as both a
fuel and a fertilizer. Alternative
energy plans discussed at the
conference included substituting
natural for petroleumbased
fertilizer, substituting human
labor for mechanical labor, and
implementing solar heating and
electrical systems.

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Any Other Beer.
Ask For It Yourself.

Budweiser

arms or azsnso

 

