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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1982)
Portland Observer, October 6, 1982 Page 11 Aaron Mitchell and Son Plumbing Mondo Piccolo heralds U.N. Week Henry Mead Keiser unveils plaque tor Edgar F. Keiser Building during dedication ceremony at Kaiser H ealth Center Thursday. D O. W agster reads inscription. Kicking o ff U .N . Week, Oregon United Nations Association bursts forth on Saturday, October 16, with its first "M ondo Piccolo G a la ." The celebration, taking up both ballrooms o f Neighbors o f W o o d craft H all for twelve festive hours (10 am to 10 p m ), w ill feature world-wide cultural displays, inter national delicacies, a cosmopolitan wine and beer garden, as well as continuous international film show ings and live entertainment by color ful “ round-the-world" dancers and singers. Admission is free. The M o n d o Piccolo H oedow n Dance (8 pm to m idnight) will fea ture Rick Meyers and the Stehekin River Ramblers with N atio n al F id dling C ham p C aro l A nn W heeler and other surprise attractions. A d mission to the dance is $2.5 0 per person. Both M o n d o Piccolo G ala and Mondo Piccolo Hoedown Dance are being held at the Neighbors o f Woodcraft H all, 1410 S.W . Morris- son S t., S aturday, O ctober 16— sponsored by Oregon U n ited N a tions Association and World Affairs Council. Mondo Piccolo ("small world” in Italian) will boast cultural intrigue happenings by A m erican In d ia n , French, Greek, Cam bodian, Irish, Ita lia n , Japanese and N orw egian groups, to name a few, plus in fo r mative "what-have-you” booths by a variety of community enterprises. Ross C atiey, Executive D irector fo r Oregon U n ited N ations, says, " W e ’re providing a marvelous op p o rtu n ity for fam ilies to see the ‘world on a string’— global studies in a capsule— something really great tor global or social studies teachers to encourage students and their par ents to explore.” On Sunday, O ctt ber 17, M ayo r Ivancie officially opens U .N . Week at a 3 to 5 pm , adm ission-free, public reception at the Scottish Rite Tem ple, 709 S .W . 15th Ave. There w ill be free entertainm ent and re freshments; the Oregon Consular Corps w ill be honored and P o rt land’s international students are to be introduced. * Experienced P lum ber * Licensed end Bonded Established in business for 25 years Have lived in the Portland Area for 40 years WE STAND BEHIND ALL JOBS 1703 N .E. A lb e rta 288-4040 Professional Astrologer n io n i ia o u p u u i a i l u i Perfume Originals presents fragrances such as Oscar de la Renta, Opium and Halston at Travis House N.W. 284-0463 $14S0 TT ■ ■■ for 2 OZI of sprayed perfume Quality fragrance» at affordable prices. J&alpIfB ¿Hnllçioooô jFlorist (SFIüfocrs ^Frorn ¿Halluinoah I n YAW S R esta ur an t 2005 N.E. 40th Portland, OR 97212 249-1888 W e Deliver Anywhere rl Pause with Pepsi........... .............and step into history. Youngster« enjoy puppet« during Open House et Edgar F. Kaiser Health Center. Center was open to the public Seturdey. (Photos: Richard Brown) Sickle-cell research jeopardized by Henry Duval! F orm er president R ichard M . Nixon in a message to Congress in 1971 declared sickle-cell disease as a prio rity health problem. Congress reacted by setting in motion legisla tion to form the National Sickle Cell Disease Program in 1972. In a hotel across the Potomac River in A rlington, V a ., experts in the field gathered at a conference re cently to observe a decade o f pro gress in sickle-cell disease research, treatment and counseling— but with concern about future support. M any challenges face the sickle cell disease program today. There is worry about what the “ new Federal ism " in health care portends for a disease that primarily affects blacks. The federal government wants the states to assume the responsibility of this and other genetic disease pro grams, with funding to come from health block grants for services to communities* A dm inistration budget cuts and Congress* in co rp o ratio n o f the sickle-cell act into the genetics dis eases act have also raised concern about funding o f sickle-cell disease projects, "There is competition for money to fight diseases, and sickle cell is caught up in th a t," says Dr. Roland Scott, director o f the Howard U n i versity Center for Sickle Cell Dis ease and one o f the chief architects o f the national program. D r. Scott, whose center co-spon sored the recent conference observ ing the 10th anniversary o f the na tio n al sickle-cell p ro g ram , also points out that some people think it is hopeless to search for cures for genetic diseases, and that perhaps the concentration should be on in fectious diseases. "T h e re ’s an a tti tude that you c a n 't do anything about genetic diseases. This is a mis conception." Sickle-cell disease is an inherited blood a b n o rm a lity that strikes about one o f every 500 black Am eri cans as well as Caucasians o f M edi terranean origin and blacks from other regions o f the world. An esti mated 50,000 persons in the United States s u ffer fro m this disease in which, as the result o f an abnormal h em oglobin, the red blood cells have a sickled shape rather than the normal round shape. This disease occurs in the o f f spring o f two individuals who both carry the gene for the sickling trait. I f the child inherits this gene from each paren t, the child w ill have sickle-cell anemia. I f he inherits the gene from only one parent, he will have sickle-cell trait, which usually presents no m edical problem for him but may possibly affect his own offspring. Persons afflicted with this some times fatal blood disorder, particu la rly young c h ild ren , have an in creased susceptibility to bacterial in fections. Infections seem to precipi tate crises, periods in which the symptoms o f the disease become ac tive, causing severe pain. Although there is no cure for the disease, advances in early detection, patient care and management have led to longer life spans o f the dis ease’s victims. Sickle-cell disease can now be di agnosed before a baby is born thiough amniocentesis. And a sim ple test o f blood from the umbilical cord can detect the dissease imme diately after birth. Prior to 1970, interest in the dis ease was at a "relatively low scien tific and health-care p rio rity,” says D r. Scott. Legislative, political and organizational initiatives helped to establish comprehensive sickle-cell disease centers, which have de veloped program s o f research, public in fo rm atio n , im proved pa tien t care, screening, as well as counseling and community involve ment. But H o w a rd ’s D r. Scott is con cerned that public and government support is waning. In addition to di m inishing resources, he cites "creeping” apathy and black Amer icans’ sensititivity to being identi fied with and perceiving the blood disorder as a " m in o rity disease." "P e o p le are concerned first o f all about jobs and paying b ills ," he said during the three-day c o n fe r ence. "Education (o f the public) is the bottom line," Dr. Scott emphasizes. " W ith o u t education and visibility o f interest, the program cannot achieve the necessary government and c itizen ry support required to bring the problem under control.” IN S U R A N C E Need SR22 Filing? Loretta I. Harpole 1439 NE Alberta • 287-1147 9am-4.30pm M -F • 11/1 noon Sal Carter Goodwin Woodson (1875-1950) Bom in Canton, Virginia, ed ucated at Berea College, Kentucky, he earned his B.A. in 1907 and his M .A ., from the University of Chicago, in 1908. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912, he became a college professor and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Howard University, in 1921. In 1910 he organized the Associa tion for the Study of Negro Life and History. He initiated the Annual February observance of Negro History W eek in 1926, and w ro te and published 16 outstanding books on Black History. He received the Sping- am Medal in 1926. Take The Pepsi Challenge. Let your taste decide. t ♦
