NATIONAL & STATE NEWS

Freeze Conference A Success

By Eleanor Deyo

"Listen, honey, it's not a sprint-it's a marathon!" Dr. Helen Caldicott, President of the National Advisory Board of the Physicians for Social Responsibility, gave the closing remarks to 600 delegates (more than half of them women) at the Third Annual Conference of the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign in St. Louis in early February. Afterward, one of the women from our Ohio delegation asked Caldicott how she kept her energy level up with such a grueling schedule and she gave the above reply.

Dr. Caldicott was only one of the many diverse speakers addressing the conference. Mary Calder came from England to represent the women there who have been working to stop deployment of the

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IF WE CAN RISK NUCLEAR WAR

CAN RISK DISARMAME

Cruise and Pershing II missiles in Europe. Opposedl to the deployment of Soviet SS-20 missiles as well as the new U.S. weapons, the women Calder repre.sented are skeptical of the outcome of the current Geneva arms control negotiations, and fear they will end in compromise. Our commitment to pressure our leaders to stop the planned deployment of Pershing II, Calder said, is as essential as the commitment of Europeans who don't want the missiles on their soil.

The ties between European and American Freeze advocates were also emphasized by Yvonne Logan of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), WILPF members will culminate their year-long STAR (Stop the Arms Race) campaign by traveling to Brussels March 8 to support their sisters' demonstration against the Cruise and Pershing II.

Randall Forsberg, often called the "mother of the Freeze," worked at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute from 1968-74, and now

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serves as Director of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies, which she founded. In her conference speech, she asked us to consider whether there is any need for the new destabilizing weapons such as MX, Trident II submarines, and the Cruise (which can sneak under radar systems and are not covered under the Salt II agreement). She also emphasized the potential danger inherent in our current development of smaller and more mobile nuclear weapons, such as the new nuclear shells which can be carried by and launched from Howitzer tanks. "I see a greater threat of a conventional war going nuclear," she concluded.

Forsberg was firm in emphasizing that we can and must elect a new Congress and Administration in 1984 to insure that a Freeze is implemented through an claborate treaty, satellite inspection, cooperative inspection and by other means as needed. We need a veto-proof Congress; the Freeze must pass with 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate. The current House of Representatives will be voting on the Freeze Resolution, HR 2, in early March. Defeated by a two-vote margin last year, it is now expected to pass. The Senate version, SJR 2, known as "KennedyHatfield," faces a far tougher battle, and if it passes, will undoubtedly be vetoed by the present administration.

Passage and implementation of the Freeze will also depend on a great increase in citizens' legislative awareness and action (on an almost daily basis) on nuclear weapons-related legislation on local, state and national levels. The crucial nature of a strong citizen lobbying effort was highlighted by Dr. Caldicott. "Most Americans don't vote, and there are 1500 Pentagon lobbyists," she pointed out. "If the price and workload seem at times to be too much to bear, we must remember the alternative.".

One efficient way of making sure you'll have the chance to contact your legislator and make your voice heard when it counts is to become part of a legislative phone tree network. In Cleveland, call the Freeze office, 631-2210, to hook into your local phone tree. You can also call the Council for a Liveable World's legislative event tape, (202) 543-0006, for a weekly update on peace-related legislation.

The Conference voted to release a statement stating that "a nuclear weapons freeze has been estimated to save at least $84 billion over five years in the U.S., and upwards of $200 billion in the next decade, according to a recent preliminary analysis. These potential savings could be used to reduce the deficit, help revitalize the economy, and restore social programs...."

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The Two Faces of Eve

(HerSay)-A prestigious Bible scholar is now out with the word that Eve, the first woman on earth, was actually created as Adam's equal. But, says University of California scholar David Freedman, Eve's true status somehow got lost in the translation of holy texts. Freedman claims the Hebrew words used to describe women's role on earth have generally been translated as "fitting helper." He maintains, however, that the term is more accurately translated as "strong equal."

Bombers, Not Babies

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(HerSay)-Poor women and children all over the country are facing "life-threatening" conditions due to the Reagan Administration's slashes in the national budget, according to Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Washington-based Children's Defense Fund. Edelman made that charge last month when the Fund released its own study on the budget cutback made between the fall of 1981 and 1982.

The Fund's report shows that 725,000 persons, 64 percent of them children or women of child-bearing age, have lost services at community health centers due to spending cuts. The Fund's report also charges that the cutbacks have resulted in higher infant mortality rates in Alabama, Maine, Michigan and Ohio.

First in Censorship

(HerSay)—Books by and about women make up three of the four most-censored American books, according to a survey of 860 school librarians around the United States. The survey found the inost often censored book is Go Ask Alice, the diary of a teenage drug user who committed suicide.

Next on the no-no list are J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, followed by Our Bodies, Ourselves. Fourth on the list is Forever,, a novel by Judy Blume who writes best-sellers for young people, using realistic social settings. The survey was sponsored by the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English and the Committee Against Censorship of the National Council of Teachers.

Literary Winners

Women have garnered an unprecedented four out of five nominations for best new fiction in this year's American Book Awards competition. Books nominated in the hard-cover category are A Mother and Two Daughters by Gail Godwin, Shiloh and Other Stories by Bobbie Ann Mason, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Ann Tyler, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux. Winners will be announced April 14.

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Court Seeks Help

Since 1977, state-licensed agencies have been required to submit to Juvenile Courts a written plan for the care of each child in their custody within 60 days of receiving custody and annually thereafter. A Custody Review Board monitors these plans as well as plans for the reunification of families and the placement of children in permanent care.

Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court currently needs thirteen volunteers to serve on its Custody Review Board, to review plans for the care of neglected, dependent, unruly and delinquent youngsters who are in the custody of agencies licensed by the Ohio Department of Public Welfare. Last year, the Board conducted approximately 1,260 reviews.

Volunteers who are experienced in dealing with children in any professional capacity are encouraged to apply. Send letters of inquiry to Doris Hunt, Custody Review Director,, 2163 East 22nd Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44115.

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