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.
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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.
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