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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1979)
1 Portland Observer * October 11. 1979 Football star counsels youth JC Penny employees honor Viola Bonner By Kathryn H. Bogle Viola Bonner was honored bv her friends and associates at a retirement dinner given in the sunken ballroom o f the Masonic Temple. In Portland for a quick visit with parents and friends is Wilson Parish Walker, 26 year old son o f M r. and Ms. W ilso n C. W a lke r. Young Wilson also has a career in football in mind and he is seeking a chance for a try-out with a team on the m ainland, as he lives now in Honolulu. “ Wilson P.” was graduated from Grant High School where he was an excellent student and a stellar foot ball player. From here he went to the Univertsity o f Hawaii on a four-year scholarship. A t the U niversity o f Hawaii he also played some basket ball, but was a member o f the varsity fo otba ll team u n til, in his senior year, a shoulder injury took him out o f competitive sports. In H onolulu, Wilson P. is very happy and in excellent health, but he yearns for the fall crisp air and the feel o f the football tu rf under his feet. At 6 ’3 ’ - he is pushing up his 200 pounds to beef up his lanky frame. The shoulder healed now gives him no trouble. Since g ra du atio n fro m college Wilson P. has worked as a coun sellor, a “ mellowing experience” he calls it, which has made him realize how good his own life has been. The counselling experience has given him chances to w ork w ith children with a variety o f problems. For the S alvation A rm y he has worked with emotionally disturbed boys from the ages o f 8 to 14 years, and for the City o f Honolulu he has been a youth counsellor fo r high school drop outs from 16 to 20 years old and has helped train them for the job market. At present he is an Employment Training Specialist for the city. He finds jo b opportunities fo r, p rin c ip a lly , m in o rity persons, and provides follow-up on-the-job coor dination with worker and employer. W ith what he has seen now o f problem s facing so m any young people, Wilson P. is dreaming "the big dream” o f helping other people find their own way towards their goals. He likes what he sees other successful athletes can do in this d ire ctio n and a new career in professional football could provide the “ Open Sesame” he needs to Ms. Bonner has been an employee o f the J.C. Penny Company for 18 years. She has been working in the ladies ready to wear department sin ce the October 1975 opening o f the new store at 5th and Morrison, but customers o f the downtown area w ill best remember her fo r the many years she ran the elevator service in the store located at 5th and Stark. Ms. Bonner was n a tio n a lly honored by the Penney Company in 1972 when her picture was chosen for the company 1973 calendar featuring contributors to charitable projects. She received this honor for her ser vice to the N a tio n a l Sickle Cell Anem ia F o u n d a tio n . The Penny Company charitable contribution for that year was given to the National Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation. Guests at the dinner included Ms. B onner’ s husband, Eugene; her sister, C h ris tin e S m ith; nephews Keith Johnson and Billie Joe Patter son; niece Jueanice Johnson, M r. and Ms. Archie Bonner, Madelyn Cambell, Ms. Ora Brown and Dessie Locke. Eugene and Viola Bonner have long been associated with the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. M r. Bonner is a 33rd degree Mason, Past Master o f Acacia Lodge and Past Potentate o f M ina Temple No. 68, A A O N M S . Ms. Bonner is Past Commandress o f M in a C o u rt No. 142 and Past M a tro n and President o f Adah Chapter No. 6, Order o f Eastern Star. Penny associate, who sang accom- paning herself with guitar. Her num bers included an o rig in a l com position. New telephone sales law protects buyer W ilson P W alker of Honolulu. H aw aii A new law effective October 3rd requires a follow-up signed contract fo r magazine sales made over the telephone and requires telephone salespeople to fuliy explain why they are calling within the first 30 seconds o f the conversation. (Photo: Leonard H akahash) realize this , his own dream. Daily work-outs in the Grant High gymnasium are keeping Wilson P. in top form while he is on the mailand. We hope that Wilson P. finds the team o f his choice before long. PCC counsellors attack 'test anxiety' The instructor is about to pass out the test. Students sit, pencils poised ready to feverishly recount material learned during the course o f the semester. But in th is and most college clases, through no lack o f in telligence or e ffo rt, a handful o f students w ill fa il, victim s o f test anxiety. I f such students could only learn to relax in such a setting -- for them, easier said than done -- their grades would improve substantially, accor ding to two Portland Com m unity College guidance counselors. In stru cto rs o f a new personal development course at PPC, “ Stop ping Test Anxiety” , Bob Poole and Norm Yap offer the clammy-hand ed, insom niac student self- help tips to overcome this frustrating mental stumbling block. ‘ ‘ T est-ta king anxiety is an emotional response that is learned and comes to be associated with an unpleasant event: the test,” Poole said. “ Because this reaction is learn ed it can be unlearned. This is where the counseling departm ent comes in .” About five per cent o f students su ffe r fro m test anxiety. Poole estim ated. Sym ptom s can range from headache to accelerated Ms. Bonner is also active in com munity and church affairs. Entertainment for the dinner was provided by Dawn Burt, a fellow Page 6 breathing and heart beat to muscular pain. The counselors emphasized their program is not desinged for students who perform poorly on tests because o f low ability, a lack o f study habits or educational deficits, such as poor reading sk ills . Such persons are referred to other programs at PCC. For the 20 or so students identified each term as suffering from test taking anxiety, most experience sig nificant improvement after receiving instruction. “ The main feature o f what we try to do is teach the student how to relax. U sing a cue-controlled technique, students can achieve relaxtation in response to a self- induced cue w ord,” Poole explained. This is accom plished by firs t training students to relax by using a progressive tensing and relaxing o f specific muscle groups. A ftr they are able to produce a moderate amount o f relaxation, this state is triggered by a cue word, such as “ calm” . This training in cue-controlled relaxation continues for the rest o f the sessions. “ Practice, o f course, is the key. Students can learn to relax in a num ber o f days but learning to do it quickly takes time. In a test, you can’ t excuse yourself for 20 minutes % C o m m is s io n « Qladya M c C o y started visit« w ith co n stitu en ts on a regular basis st Portland C o m m u n ity Collage s Cascade C anter w ith a reception last week She chatted w ith a num ber of people, including Dianne Lopatlm C om m issioner M cC o y plans to spend the second and fourth W ednesday m ornings at th e college c a n te r m eetin g people M e k e an appointm ent through her d o w n to w n o ffice 1248-6219) or just stop by just to relax. You have to do it in seconds, ultimately just by breathing in and exhaling.” “ Some people have, essentially, been tense all their life and it fright ens them to be relaxed,” Yap noted. “ They feel strange and threatened. It takes awhile to get over that feeling o f vulnerability.” Students also must learn to iden tify tenseness in the body that my precede an anxiety attack. Most of them have a part o f the body that tenses up first, Poole said. “ I ’ ve seen eyebrow tensers, foot tensers, you name it.” Caroline W ilkins, administrator o f the State Consumer Services D ivi sion, said the new law (SB 133) is a m ajor step in providing consumer p ro te c tio n fo r persons who buy magazines and periodicals over the phone. The law states the seller must send a written contract to the buyer, who must sign and return the con tra c t before the magazine sale becomes binding. The Division sought the legislation last winter when reports o f losses from magazine deals in the $200 - $250 range were being received every third day. The new law also requires any per son who s o lic its customers by telephone to state within the first 30 seconds: - The salesperson’ s name and who he/she represents. - The purpose o f the contact - An easily-understood descrip tion o f the goods or services offered. The salesperson also in that time must ask the potential buyer whether he would like to listen to the sales presentation and must immediately discontinue the conversation if the potential buyer does not want to listen further. A similar law already is in existancc for door-to-door sales. The law requires the salesperson to disclose the total cost o f the goods or services in c lu d in g the num ber, tim ing and amount o f installment payments, i f any. Sales o f under $25 are exempt. Test anxiety is not o nly found among students but can be a life-long hinderance to persons who must take tests to attain employment or advan cement. Check hair dryers by Stephanie L. Michael The U .S. C onsum er Product Safety Commission has issued out a warning to beauty salons nationwide who patronize prim arily Blacks. The producer o f the dryers, Bonat Incorporated, o f West Patterson. New Jersey, estimates that since 1972 a pproxim ately 1,000 o f the special purpose hair dryers have been sold to d istribu to rs fo r resale to beauty salons. The company estimates that perhaps 500 individual beauty salons in p re d o m in a n tly major urban areas may be using the Rocket blower. Bonat and the Consumer Product Safety Commission say distributors and beauty salon operators can iden tify the dryer by its name on the label, which reads "B on at Blower Dryer.” Each hair dryer can also be identified from the red light on its side. The "Rocket Blower” model being called o ff the market are B-10, B - 11 and B-14. The dryers are th ou gh t not to present a health hazard. The replacement program is scheduled to begin in mid-October. Beauty salon operators are being ad vised to write the Bonat Company at 250 Lackawanna Avenue, West Pat terson, New Jersey 07424 to recieve details o f the call-back program. Salon operators can also contact the C om sum er P roduct Safety Commission at the agency’s toll-free H otline, (1-800-638 8326), to par ticipate in the retrofit program. At the PhoneCenter Store, you can be choosey. Pick out your new phone yourself. And, for each one you take liome. you’ll save $5 on installation charges. And. if you move, remember to bring your old phones bac k. Well give you a total of $5 in credii. îh» > 4 . ke y M o u x e I h o n e c W »k Dwney Pr*K < t u rn Mnratng procured by Amen« « T e le x '» tw u n .atom Q w >