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Response to Candidate Questionnaire by Eric DeVaris
Response by Candidate for South Orange Board of Trustees:
ERIC DEVARIS
to South Mountain Peace Action Candidate Questionnaire
REPLY BY ERIC DEVARIS:
I am sorry I did not respond earlier; the campaign has demanded a lot
of my time and couldn't focus on your questions. Now we are in the
last stretch and I still cannot write a whole treatise in response to
your questions. Instead I will give you some facts and some
photographic documentation to illustrate my stand on some of the issues
you question.
On June 12, 1982 I joined the 1,000 protesters march against the
proliferation of nuclear weapons in New York, together with a group of
40 other New York architects. That march gave birth to an organization
called "Architects for Social Responsibility", which within one year it
became a national organization. I was a board member and treasurer of
that organization from 1982 to 1990.
In 1984, at a time when Reagan was calling the USSR the "evil empire",
I traveled with other New York architects to Moscow and met with our
Soviet counterpart. After negotiations with them we agreed to form an
international Architects for Social Responsibility. In 1985 we all
traveled to Cairo, to the Congress of the International Union of
Architects and made an appeal to the representatives of countries from
all over the world. That gave birth to ARC-PEACE, a conglomerate of 40
countries, against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. I served as
board member of that organization as well from 1987 to 1990. I
continue as a contributing member of these organizations to this date,
but since my retirement I am less active in them; instead I aspire to
be active in my local government.
For the past twenty years both organizations have been very active,
Architects for Social Responsibility evolved to Architects, Designers,
Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) and is now focusing in
correcting the imbalance between the need to provide for the common
defense and the need to promote the well-being of all citizens, in arms
reduction, protection of the natural and built environment, and
socially responsible development.
ARC-PEACE has earned the status of an accredited consultative
Non-Government Organization (NGO) in the UN. As such it participates
in the special Human Settlements Caucus set up to promote effective
measures for solving global housing problems
On January 20, 2005 I, together with other architects from New York,
protested in the "coronation ceremonies" of G.W. Bush in Washington, DC
and against the war and all other foul policies of this administration.
The following photos are from that protest.
I hope the above gives you a good idea where I stand. We are on the
same wavelength.
I wish you success in your endeavors.
Photos taken by Eric DeVaris at protest in DC, Jan 2005