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	The Center's affiliate organization, Western State Strategies, is continuing our traditional work on campaign finance reform, supporting voter-owned elections and promoting a more transparent election system that expands democracy.



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	VIEWS MAGAZINE ARTICLES

	SUMMER, 1997 - VOLUME 15 Download Entire Volume

	Modest hope: Reflecting on a decade of activism Clear cutting is now "salvage logging," civil rights are "special interests," exploiting the environment is "wise use," protesting that exploitation is "eco-terrorism," and abandoning women and children in poverty is "welfare reform." The Right has staked its hopes on a linguistic end run around the issues. It is a strategy that has proved, in many cases, all too successful. In thinking about Western States Center’s 10th anniversary we asked our longtime friend Suzanne Pharr to share her perspective on activism over the last decade and on why we should stop short of despair.



	Farmworkers organize: Growers wilt under the heat The past several years have been discouraging ones for organized labor, but working people and progressives in need of hope can look to the fields and farms of Oregon where PCUN (Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste), the northwest treeplanters and farmworkers union is waging, and often winning, battle after battle for the rights of agricultural workers.



	The cost of doing business Organizing to challenge corporate subsidies State and local governments across the West are handing out money and benefits to business interests from outside the region at an unprecedented rate. The goal, supporters say, is to boost the economy and create jobs by attracting new industry. But while massive amounts of this "welfare for corporations" are ladled out to businesses in the form of tax breaks and incentives, individuals and communities are increasingly being required to carry more than their fair share of the tax burden. The result is a resentful body of voters who rebel at paying for the basic infrastructure that a growing economy demands.



	It's not easy being green Shining a light on corporate-backed extremism In communities across the country speaking up for the environment has become hazardous to your health. A year's research into anti-environmental harassment and violence reveals that environmental advocates and government natural resource agency workers are under attack, facing threats that include attempted murder, assault and battery, arson, vehicle tampering, animal mutilation, death threats and threats of rape and other violence. In many cases the harassment threatens their jobs.



	Grassroots grantwriting A new book describes what grant reviewers appreciate in a proposal For novice proposal writers, the grantmaking process is often cloaked in mystery. A new book, Grassroots Grants: An Activist’s Guide to Proposal Writing, is designed to help unravel the mystery. The book includes comments from forty foundation officers who fund groups working for social and economic justice, human rights, and environmental conservation.



	New staff Western States Center announces the addition of three new staff: Len Norwitz, Cecil Prescod and Darlene Lombos. The Center asked each of them to tell us a little about their past work and their positions at Western States Center.



	Representing the West In this section we introduce our Board of Directors. We asked our two newest members, Jo Ann Bowman and Ramon Ramirez, to share their ideas on building progressive community in the West.



	From the Director Dan Petegorsky The notion that, when push comes to shove, we all succeed or fail solely on the basis of our own individual achievements or flaws stands at the heart of contemporary conservative ideology, and threatens to undermine the very notion of community.



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