Front Street Weekly; 524

[beep] [choral, shimmering sound] Portions of this program were previously aired during Front Street Weekly's regular season. [synth & piano music plays] [Booth]: Chances are when you apply for work, you may be asked to take a urinalysis test. What your employer wants to know is if you use illegal drugs, but is what you do off the job any of your employer's business? [Fevroski]: The same employer down the street may say, "I think that this evidence is an attitude of criminal activity, and I don't want to have people in my organization who are engaged in criminal activity."

[Pulvers]: Does the fact that someone employs you give them the right to look into your private life? [Swenson]: Merger Mania! Is the consolidation of Multnoma, Clackamas, and Washington Counties the answer to growing demands for efficiency in government? [Higgins]: These geographic lines and this form of government ought to reflect present day realities. So we talk about 1 government instead of 5. [Kafoury]: The prime benefit to me is not cost savings, but is being able to set up effective systems. [Atkeson]: I'd like to wait a little bit for a little more sunshine than we've got. [camera snap] That's it! [Booth]: Take a visual tour of Oregon with scenic photographer Ray Atkeson. You'll see those stories tonight on Front Street Weekly, Oregon Public Television's news magazine. Good evening, I'm Gwyneth Gamble Booth. [Swenson]: Good evening, I'm Jim Swenson. Legislators will probably have to wrestle with them in the

next legislative session. Employers, maybe yours included, are stepping cautiously toward it now. What we're talking about is drug testing. Reporter Hope Robertson tells us that in several ways, it's already affecting Oregonians. [Fevroski]: Drug abuse, uh, cuts across society, a- a- a huge swath. Uh, these are people that, uh, are your friends, they're your neighbors, they're your children. [Female voice]: I do know people who do do drugs and some people that are very burned out on 'em, some people that you'd never know that they did 'em, you know? Some people that do 'em maybe like once a year- [Male voice]: I have used those drugs myself. Um, And I know other people that have. [2nd Male voice]: This is a, you know, a, an American dilemma, and, and, and in order to solve it you have to do something with everybody. [Robertson]: The problem of drugs is an American dilemma. On the one hand the move to legalize certain drugs has never been stronger. On the other, the recent call for drug testing has never been louder. Drug testing: It's where you take a urine sample to a laboratory

and it reveals what kinds of drugs are in your system. One quarter of the Fortune 500 companies now have drug screening programs already in place. [Fevroski]: When I come to 'em talking about the possibility of saving money and workers' compensation benefits by instituting drug screening programs, they all listen and they nod their heads affirmatively. [Robertson] Dennis Fevroski is one of the few lawyers on the drug screen speaking circuit. It seems since the president's commission on crime recommended drug testing for all American workers, employers are more eager than ever to listen. [Fevroski]: If there is presence of an illegal drug, Then uh, there is probably impairment. I think that when you are in a position to be a danger to the safety of the public and to coworkers then your rights have to be, um, modified. [clinking test vials] [Robertson]: When you do a drug screen, what does that tell you about that individual that you've tested?

Does it tell you that that person is impaired? [Hibbs]: Well, given a positive marijuana screen and somebody says, "Should that person be driving a truck?" we don't have the answer to that. [Robertson]: What can you tell from a urine screen? [Welch]: That someone has at some previous time taken a drug. [Robertson]: What kind of previous time generally are you talking about? [Welch]: Depends on the drug. Um, [Robertson]: For instance? [Welch]: For instance, marijuana. It can be several days to several weeks to more than a month. Um, amphetamines it's a couple of days, cocaine, a couple of days. [Pulvers]: They're taking you into a- into a bathroom with somebody else and they're making you pee into a cup and they're saying, um, while- while they're standing there and that's plainly, uh, an- an affront to people's privacy and dignity. Um, they're looking into what you did on the weekend, by testing for things which don't uh, leave your system, uh within a, a short enough period of time. Um, they're testing into what you do on your off-hours. I think those are all recognized invasions of privacy, the only question is: What's the

justification on the other side? [Robertson]: According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there can be only two justifications for drug testing: If safety on the job is a question, or if the employee's job performance indicates drug use. The ACLU calls, "random drug testing" an invasion of privacy. [Robertson]: Lemme come from the other direction, and ask you how you can support, in a way, these people using drugs that are illegal, because that's the question that- [Pulvers]: I guess I- I don't see that as the question, I don't want to avoid the question, but I think that the question is whether your employer has suddenly become a deputy sheriff, and they haven't. Um, no one has turned your boss into a junior law enforcement officer and it's not their job to go around, uh, doing the work of the police, and if they want to the work- [fades] [Robertson]: In January, Portland General Electric began testing all-new hires for the Trojan Nuclear Plant. Part of the reason: A Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirement that nuclear

plants test all new employees for drug use. But recently PGE made pre-employment testing mandatory for all its new employees. Office workers and linemen alike. [Davis]: If I were a lineman on a pole with another lineman, I'd want to know that they weren't under the influence of, uh, drugs. [Robertson]: But the test doesn't tell you if they're under the influence or not." [Davis]: No, but I, I think I would like to know that the company is screening, uh, employees on a pre-employment basis, based on that. [Robertson]: Screening to make sure that what? [Davis]: Make sure that, that, uh, drug users are not being hired by the company. Rich Davis is Employee Relations Manager for PGE. He says about 10 percent of pre-employment tests turn out positive for one or more drugs. That is, illicit drugs. Testing does not usually include legal drugs like caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol. [Davis]: PGE is not a police er- force, but I- we have a general concern about hiring people who are potential abusers of illegal substances. [Robertson]: But how about potential abusers of alcohol? [coughing] [Davis]: We have uh- I guess we have a concern there too. Uh, [Robertson]: But you're not testing for them.

[Davis]: I'm not sure how you would test for potential abusers of alcohol. [Robertson]: Trojan hires hundreds of part-time workers during spring refueling. During a recent tour we asked several workers how they regard the new drug-screening procedure. For some, it was the first time giving a urine sample to get a job. Most everyone told us they welcome the test, thinking it will keep drug users away from potentially hazardous situations. Only one person remarked that it isn't any of the company's business what he does in his own time. But he didn't object to taking the test because he wanted the job. [Vielander]: The use of drugs is something that. Is something that society has to deal with. [Robertson]: Bob Vielander is manager of the lab where PGE sends its samples. Most errors in the test, he said, are human errors, and Vielander's's lab technicians always run a second test for confirmation of a sample. The importance of that second test goes beyond just double-checking results. Most lab experts say, if you want to be really sure you have to use one method to test, and a second method to confirm, but not every lab

requires confirmation. Not all are as thorough as Vielander says his lab is. [Robertson]: Is it accurate enough for you to have your specimens sent to an unknown laboratory, and- and have your own career possibly riding on the line? [Vielander]: Well, that's not quite a fair question because I know enough to question the results in an appropriate way, so uh, I think the general public should, if they feel that the result is inaccurate, question the results, that, that would be my answer. If you know, you- that you have not been using the drug. [Robertson]: In July, 1985, the Oregon corrections division began randomly testing inmates for drug use. Those who tested positive were disciplined. That's what happened to Gary Davis. A positive test for marijuana landed him in solitary confinement, known in prison as segregation, or "The Hole." [Davis]: We went over there one time to take the test, and I know, good lord, that I was clean, and it came back dirty. [Robertson]: You know, good and well that you were clean, that means that you know you hadn't

used marijuana for more than a month? [Davis]: Right. Oh, for longer than that, yes. [Robertson]: How long? [Davis]: Um, [exhales] 6, 7, 8 months. [Robertson]: Davis filed a lawsuit against the prison through the American Civil Liberties Union. His main charge? That the test is unreliable. [Keeney]: I don't think we've bum beefed many people. [Robertson]: Many people. But if you've bum beefed even one, that's enough. That's enough to say that the test isn't infallible. [Keeney]: I'm not sure- well, no I'm not saying it's infallible, but uh, yeah if we did 300 and one out of the 300 we gave him 7 days restriction because it was a false test, I guess, that's one of the breaks you get for being an inmate, baby. [Robertson]: This is the kind of test the state laboratory uses, EMIT: Enzyme Multiple Immunoassay Test. EMIT is the most widely used examination outside prison walls too, because it's inexpensive and highly accurate, but like all drug tests it has to be confirmed for certainty, and it is at many labs. EMIT is confirmed by thin layer

chromatography or gas chromatography, by different methods. At the state lab, EMIT is confirmed with a second EMIT test, lab workers there estimate a 95 to 99 percent accuracy rate. [beeping and whirring] Gary Davis's lawsuit is still up in the air, but testing within prison has already had one effect that we may also see mirrored in society. [Keeney]: The drug of choice has turned to heroin and speed in this institution. [Robertson]: Instead of marijuana? [Keeney]: That's right. They're trying to beat the testing system. [Ward]: I think by getting rid of the marijuana here in this penitentiary is turning it into a hard drug penitentiary. 'Cos I see guys- [Robertson]: What do you mean? [Ward]: Hard drugs! I see guys stickin' needles in their arms, y'know? That never stuck needles in- in their arm before, because in 4, 5 days you can go down and pass that urine test. where, marijuana it takes about 22 days. [Robertson]: So is that a good result? Is that something that makes you want to continue this testing? [Keeney]: That is not a good result.

It makes us want to continue the testing because we want to stop all drug usage. Y'know there's great concern out there about what drug usage does to people on the job, uh, in institutions and it's uh, [Davis]: Be realistic ?inaudible? the bulk of the marijuana, is it [Keeney]: It's a problem. Not only in prison, everywhere. [Davis]: coming from the ?inaudible? room or is it coming from ?inaudible? [Pulvers]: It's difficult to say, in my mind, that because drugs is a problem in society and therefore also a problem in the workplace, um, that that gives em- employers the right to randomly, or otherwise, test their employees for drugs. [Swenson]: Many employers are assisting their employees when alcohol and drug use become a problem. PGE is among those with employee assistance programs to pay for abuse treatment, but drug testing still leaves open the question of whether drug use is drug abuse, and, with an initiative to legalize marijuana coming, there is no indication whether employers will continue to test for pot if that passes in Oregon. Gwyneth? [Booth]: It's been more than 140 years since the Oregon territory was divided into counties.

Back then, there were just four. Now there are 36 counties. Some people think it's time for another adjustment of those boundaries, because they feel they're not getting the essential public services they need. The change this time would consolidate Multnoma, Clackamas, and Washington counties; forming Willamette county. Reporter Steve LaBelle tells how the proposed "Super County" plan evolved. [LaBelle]: This is Multnoma county, the home of big business and a busy port. Clackamas County is the center for industrial and manufacturing operations, and Washington County has a mix of high tech and agriculture for its economic base. So, what then do these counties have in common? So much, there are many people who say the tri-county should be consolidated. [Kafoury]:If you look at the patterns of where people live, where they shop, how they move, where they work, it isn't just done within a county and the services should reflect that. [Myllenbeck]: Anything that- that's done in Portland is suspect in Washington County, even though we

benefit from a lot of things that are done in Portland. [LaBelle]: There has been intense rivalry between these counties, some would even call it jealousy. Attempts over the years to bring about closer governmental relationships have failed, but now in the name of better government, a change is demanded. [Higgins]: Our basic premise is that some services, specifically county services, and the services the Tri-Met and Metro provide, are best are- are in fact regional services, and the- the regional form of government under Oregon's constitution is county government, so we said, we'll create a new county. [Female speaker]: I would like to welcome City Club members and guests- [La Belle]: The Portland City Club, a civic research organization, is the driving force behind consolidation. Its report calls for 5 political entities: Multnoma, Clackamas and Washington County governments, along with Metro and Tri-Met to be replaced by a new government. Willamette County. [Higgins]: These geographic lines and this form of

government ought to reflect present day realities. So, we talk about 1 government instead of 5, and a consolidation of those services such as corrections and transportation, which are truly regional in nature, into one government. [LaBelle]: The report is based on a dual premise: Consolidation would increase efficiency in government, and the metropolitan area has grown beyond Multnoma County. [Kafoury]: The prime benefit to me is not cost savings, but is being able to set up effective systems something like the library system, which is really meaningless, that Multnoma County has 1 system, Clackamas, Washington have others. [LaBelle]: The services which counties must provide are set by the state legislature. The City Club report claims consolidation will eliminate duplication in administering those services. [Judge Herrell]: Bigger is not better, nor more efficient, necessarily. Um, in fact, uh, we'd have to be very careful to delineate what's best to be provided

regionally and what's not. [Higgins]: On the 1 hand, we think we have a very attractive argument, saying in effect that we are- we are eliminating, you know, very many of the lay- so-called layers of government, 5 into 1. On the other hand, we were very careful not to touch local services. Uh, we have only consolidated apples to apples. [LaBelle]: County governments are struggling to meet the demands for services. The executive officer of Metro, Rick Gustavsson, says the role of the county is in turmoil. [Gustavsson]: The question really is, "How do we manage this region? What needs to be overhauled, and continued?" And then frankly, the overhauling has been accruing over the last 25 years, starting in 1961. [LaBelle]: Oregon is divided into 36 counties. Multnoma is the smallest county with the largest population. Clackamas is 1 of the 4 original Oregon counties, and Washington County has undergone a transformation in the last decade. The metropolitan area has grown across county lines, now more than a million

people live and work in the region. [Gustavsson]: It's a- simply a matter of how do we take the county responsibilities, the metropolitan responsibilities of the zoo, transit, convention facilities, and so forth, how do we merge those with a county government structure? And we can do that easily under Oregon law. Can we finally get those together? [LaBelle]: Counties oversee health and social services, law enforcement, and some roadwork. Some services to the tri-county residents have already been consolidated. The Metropolitan Service District operates the Washington Park Zoo, the St. Johns Landfill, and the Clackamas Transfer Station. But Oregonians are still slow to adopt governmental change. [Klein]: I don't hear the people saying they are dissatisfied. I don't hear people clamoring for change, and I guess, on the basis of that, I would say that there is a level of satisfaction there. [LaBelle]: The City

Club report recommends that local services are untouched. Police, fire, street cleaning, and alike will still be provided by city governments. Services needed region-wide, such as corrections and libraries, would be provided by the newly proposed county government. [Myllenbeck]: Definitely in the operation of sewers, uh, bigger is usually less expensive. [Gustavsson]: Library is another one where all 3 counties have serial levies, and why not merge those into a single library levy and have a metropolitan investment in libraries. They could merge their jail services, and, I think, have more effective use of the bed space available in this region. [Klein]: I think cities by and large are, um, responsive to their citizens and are able to respond and react to, uh, what people need maybe quicker than larger governmental structures. [LaBelle]: Both Klein and Gustavsson question the need to abolish county

boundaries. Gustafson has an alternative: [Gustavsson]: A more- I think, effective strategy, is to take a look at specific services that can be united via contract, or can be united under Metro. [LaBelle]: A few services are already handled on a contractual basis, but most people gauge the value of any governmental change in dollars and cents. [Gustavsson]: The, uh, state medical examiner believes that a significant amount of money, 30 to 35 percent, could be saved if the 3 county coroner or medical examiner offices were consolidated. [Higgins]: The overall cost will grow as much as they otherwise would have. Uh, it's- it's gonna be one of those deals where, if you don't do this your costs are going to be much higher than they will be if you do do it, but either way, y'know, I think it's just deceitful to tell people they can expect some big windfall of, uh, of relief. [LaBelle]: Despite the fact consolidation has found favor with

politicians, convincing the constituents is another matter. [Myllenbeck]: Washington County is just not ready for, as I don't think Clackamas County, and I won- really wonder whether the rest of the area is. [Klein]: Again, I don't see people on street corners talking about what's wrong with the current system of government in the metropolitan area. [Gustavsson]: I believe, that unless something is done in the next 5 to 10 years, there will be that crisis. That counties will not be able to keep up with the obligations they have for services. [Booth]: Well, whatever happens with the proposal, it still will require modification of state laws and an election in the tri-counties before Willamette county becomes a reality, and then it would take at least 3 years to implement the plan. Jim? [Swenson]: Well in our next story, reporter ?Kaya Zeledak? and videographer ?Todd Sanfleeth? introduce us to internationally acclaimed landscape photographer, Ray Atkeson. A man obsessed by his love of photography. [classical music]

[Atkeson]: I just like to convey the beauty that I see and sell to those that enjoy it too. [Zeledak]: Capturing the beauty of nature is a way of life for Ray Atkeson, and has been for over half a century. [Atkeson]: Uh, you say what do I do in my spare time? I, uh, I take pictures, [laughs] and, uh, I always am telling Rick, my, uh, stepson, I try to impress him with the importance of dedication and so on, and, Doris has a better word for it, of obsession. You have to have an obsession for it. It's uh, it's just, uh, has to

have priority over everything else, that's how it's been with me. [Zeledak]: Photography has been a priority for Atkeson since he came to Oregon from the midwest in the late 20s. He was immediately inspired. [Atkeson]: Well I just loved it. I love nature, and I love the- The, uh, beauty of the land here in the Northwest particularly, and, uh, I just wanted to get out and see more of it, and- and one thing I might mention that coming from the Midwest has been a tremendous advantage in me- for me in taking pictures because everything seems so out of this world to me, whereas people who live here all the time take things for granted. It's been a tremendous advantage in my visualizing, uh, and- and a interest of things to me for- to photograph. [Zeledak]: Atkeson's first job with photography was with a commercial studio in Portland. He stayed with the studio through the '30s working under a well-known photographer of the day named Claude Palmer. It was a 6 day work week, but when there was free time, Atkeson headed for the mountains, the

beach, or into the darkroom to process and print the black and white film shot during his many hikes and climbs. The success of those photo adventures attracted publications all across the country to Atkeson's pictures. Newspapers and magazines from the Chicago Daily News, to Life. In 1946 he left the commercial studio to begin a full time freelance career. His photographs are mostly in color these days, reflecting the ever changing face of not only Oregon, but other Western states as well. [classical music] [Atkeson]: That's a picture I took several years ago. I-I, uh, I took from, uh, Ecola State Park. Up, uh, on Tillamook Head, and found a vantage point, I got up, started out before sunrise, and, uh, got up there at just after sunrise, and, uh, as you'll notice, there's a layer of fog in the distance around Ecola Park and, uh,

the um, Cannon Beach area, and in the background Neahkahnie Mountain, I thought it was a, well, it was ideal conditions, the best I've ever had. [classical music] Proxy Falls is, uh, it's quite colorful with that moss, and it comes down like a veil, y'know, and spreads out over the rocks and it's really an unusual place. [Zeledak]: Besides good subject matter, ideal conditions for a good photograph include good lighting. As far as Atkeson is concerned, lighting is the main element of the success of any picture. Today, Atkeson spends most of his time in the office, organizing the more than 50,000 pictures in his library and working on new projects. But he does find time, now and then, to shoulder his camera, and head for the out of doors, always looking for a better picture. [Atkeson]: And there are some I'm satisfied with, but most of them I think that I can go back and do a better job. I keep going back and trying to get a better picture,

sometimes I get 'em, better ones- usually not, but, uh, that obsession is, uh, dedication. Getting up early in the morning to get the early morning light; late evening light just before sunset, and, uh studying, uh, the work of artists. It is an art. To a great extent. Especially nowadays, more than it used to be. [classical music] Some people say you must have an awful lot of patience, honestly I have no patience, but a lot of persistence so. [music concludes] [Swenson]: A number of special awards grace Atkeson's walls from the Oregon Association of Broadcasters Award, which we received in 1977, to the Governor's Arts Award bestowed upon him in March of 1986, and Gwyneth you want to be sure and look for a new coffee table book, which he plans to have out sometime before the end of year. [Booth]: I'll bet you there are more of his books on coffee tables in Oregon and around than anybody else. [Swenson]: There certainly are on mine, I know that. [Booth]: Good,

well, here's what you're going to see on the next edition of Front Street Weekly: Proposed budget cuts by the Reagan Administration would drastically curtail subsidized low-income housing. [Swenson]: And Umatilla County Jail has had an unexplained rash of suicides in the last year and a half, we'll look into some of the causes of those deaths. [Booth]: And join us for our conversation with Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel Prize winner. Well that's our program for this evening and we'll be back next week with another edition of Front Street Weekly, and we hope to see you then. [Swenson]: Now we're going to leave you with some photographs by Ray Atkinson. Good night. Good night.