THE INAUGURATION: A GRAND OLD PARTY
WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 18. 1989
                                     The Baltimore Sun

Homeless dinner tops 'counter' events


By Susan Baer
Washington Bureau of The Sun

                                      WASHlNCTON -- Tonight. as the Ilmos pull up to Union Statlon.
one of the three sitesfor ihe S1,500-a-plate inaugural dlnner.
and women fn glittery gowns and men In'tuxedoes step out. another group of people wlll be gatherlng just yards away --Washlngton"s  homeless.
 The Washlngton Peace Center. a coalition of more than 70 peace and justlce groups. Is settlng up a soup kitchen-style dinner outslde Union Station to call attention to the disparity between the hlgh price tag that accompanies this, the most expensive inaugural week ever, and the great number of homeless and
hungry people in the country. 'It's a horrible waste of money.
says Mark Anderson. one of the coordinators of the dinnei for the
homeless, which b to be held from 5p.m. to 8 p.m.'We want to focus on the gap, between the rhetoric of the~Incomrng Bush administration and Its way of presenting itself. The gap
Is too glarlng to overlook. If GeorgeBush is serious about a kinder. gentler Amerlca. he's gettlng off totally on the wrong foot. We're trying not only to crlticize. but to offer another
agenda for a truly kinder. gentler America."

     The Community for Creatlve Non-Vlolence. which Is assisting in the dinner; yesterday held a news conference to deplore the inaugural's cost. put at upward of $25 million.
      For its part, the American Bicentennlal Presidential Inaugural Committee. which raised the money through such private means as individual and corporate donatlons and Interest-free loans. says tt wfll donate any leftover food from the Inau-
gural events to local food banks.
      In explaining ~he record-settlng expense of the inaugural. committee offlcials point to innation and the fact that there are more free. Public events than ever before.
     ~The dollars are not bcing spent on gold and ~litter." said Stephen M. Studdert. executive dlrector for t~i~ inaugural commlttee.'but on substantive events."
      Also. he said.'l thlnk we ought to sit back and renect on. really. what are we celebratfngi~ Thls Is the only country In the world that. regular as clockwork . . . has a chai~ge of power
on a scheduled date by the voice oT every man and woman in the country who chooses to speak. and does Lt peacefully. And.that's worthy of celebration. that's worthy of sending a message. not only to all America. but to the world.'
      But peace actlvlsts aren'i the only ones feeling out of the loop. and thus staging -~ountef Inaugural actrvrties this week. Along wIth the'lberals lnaugural Ball' sponsored by the
Americans for Democratic Actlon on Friday night In WashIngton. a Los Angeles group called the 2nd Coming Is hostfng ~The L.A. lnaugural Ball." It's bIlled as ~The Political Party for the Rest of Us."