Portland Observer, July 31, 1985, Page 3
Mason elections
METROPOLITAN
Tri-M et proposals
Lisa Hodges, m anager of Portland Plasma Corp on N E. Union Ave ,
attends to a donor.
(Photo: Robert Lothian)
Portland Plasma Center
helps people in need
by Robert Lothian
“ Unemployed? Make immediate
cash by becoming a regular donor at
Portland Plasma Corp., 3726 N.E.
Union.”
This ad appears daily in The Ore
gonian. It attracts donors from
throughout the city to the plasma
center which opened last August.
Some of the center’s mostly un
employed male donors receive up
to $100 a month for donating approx
imately a pint of plasma as many as
nine times in a 30-day period.
Contrary to common perception
»hat plasma centers exploit Iran
sients, Portland Plasma manager
Lisa Hodges said they actually ofter
those down on their luck an oppor
tunity to make a few dollars while
contributing to a worthy cause.
The 1,200 units a month of plasma
collected by Portland Plasma is
shipped frozen to hospitals and clinics
to help hemophiliacs, burn victims
and to product hepatitus vaccine,
Hodges said, laboratories separate
out six plasma components valuable
to drug companies, she added.
Portland Plasma, owned by North
American Biological Corp , operates
one of three plasma centers in Port
land Several men often lounge out
side the center’s entrance on Union,
talking and smoking cigarettes. There
is a no smoking rule inside, where
pastel colors, music and laboratory
cleanlines contribute to a soothing,
if businesslike atmosphere.
The center makes an effort to keep
its donors happy — a table in the
large waiting area holds a suggestion
box, and a wall poster announces a
bonus promotion for July.
Donors lie comfortably on con
toured couches in the spacious donor
room. Plastic tubes carry blood from
their arms to plastic pounchcs. The
plasma is separated from the red
blixxl cells in a centrifuge, and then
frozen in plastic bottles at minus 25
degrees centigrade. The red blixxl
goes back into the donor’s arm.
The donor only loses a small
amount of protein which the body
reproduces in 48 hours, said Hodges.
Donors can give a maximum of two
times a week, and must wait 4g hours
in between sessions, she said.
"There are no side effects,” Hodges
said. Donors are screened lor hepa
titus, AIDS, and other diseases, she
said, and they must take a complete
physical exam, which is free of charge
An instruction sheet indicates
something about the clientele — it ad
vises donors who carry knives to
check them at the desk
"Most of our donors are people
who have been unemployed for some
time," said Hcxlges. "A good per
centage of them have either recently
lost a job or their hours have been
cut.”
Donors who spend 11 •• hours on
the couch for each session often tell
their hard luck stories to the stall,
she said. "Sometimes if they come in
too soon they're worried about
whether they’re going to eat," she
said. "I think most people use their
money for groceries."
Terry Bichoff from Vancouver
came to the center for the first time
recently after she lost her job and her
wallet. "It's just for the money, real
ly," she said.
Northeast Portland resident Rufus
Williams, 30, said the $9(1 a month he
earns as a regular donor supple
ments what he makes as a part time
cook for the Portland School District.
He said he appreciated the tree physi
cal exam and blood pressure screen
ing. "You can’t beat it, plus you're
helping people," he said.
About 25 percent of Portland Plas
ma’s donors come from the Albina
area. "That surprises me,” said
Hcxlges, who said she expected a
higher percentage of donors from the
low-income neighborhoods near the
center.
She said the center is operating at
about 75 percent capacity, and even
though it processes 90 donors a day,
it could use more. “ I'd like to do
some community education," said
Hcxlges Live out ol 14 staff members
reside in Northeast Portland, accord
mg to Hcxlges, who said she hasn’t
advertised in community papers.
Project HELP helping
Project HELP, the winter heating
assistance program Pacific Power A
Light Company started in the North
west m 1982, has completed its third
year of helping customers meet their
heating needs.
The program offered an emergency
fuel fund of public donations,
matched by Pacific Power sharehold
er dollars up to $100,000. Io distribute
to customers needing temporary help
Most of the funds were collected
and distributed by the Salvation
Army, the rest by a number of other
social service agencies in five of the
company’s six-state service area.
Nearly $23,000 was distributed in
246 grants to Pacific Power custom
ers in the Portland area alone, said
Jack Samper, PPAL regional vice
president. The dollar total and num
ber of requests both were down
slightly from the previous two years,
reflecting a milder winter
Statewide, more than $111,(MX) in
Project HELP money was distribut
ee! by the agencies, including individ
ual contributions from members of
the public plus matching funds from
Pacific Power
"Even though the weather was
milder last winter, a certain amount
of unemployment and sluggish econ
omy affected some of our customers,
and they sought temporary help,”
Samper said "Project HELP has
been a useful program for the past
three years, and the company will
evaluate the results and decide wheth
er to continue it next winter.”
Take Action Against the
South African Krugerrand
Join Portlanders Organized fo r
Southern African Feedom in
a PICKET OF CO LUM BIA COIN,
614S .W . 0th. Portland
Wednesday. August 7th. at 4 00 P .M .
Concerned over what could be a
substantial drop in ndership follow
ing a steep fare increase, Tri-Met Gen
eral Manager James E. Cowen has
asked the District's Board of Direc
tors to consider a balanced revenue
package including a proposed 10-cent
increase in adult cash fares only.
Cowen aLso recommended a freeze on
(he current adult discount tickets and
PASS PLUS prices
Cowen requested the Board to hold
a second reading on the revised fare
schedule and adopt it for implemen
tation in September. The revision
would increase the base cash fare to
85 cents and keep discount tickets and
PASS PLUS prices stable. Youth
cash fares and discount tickets, how
ever, would be eliminated, and youth
PASS PLUS would be increased to
$20 00, Cowen said.
“ The recommendation on Youth
fares is in line with what two citizens'
committees have been saying. Unless
there is some subsidy of the sub
stantial Youth discount from a
source outside Tri-Met, the commit
tees believe the Youth fares should
be brought more in line with Adult
fares,” Cowen explained.
Cowen also proposed three busi
ness license taxes as part of the bal
anced revenue plan. "These new
taxes on gross receipts from whole
sale petroleum distribution, commut
er parking and new and used vehicle
sales also responded to the commit
tees’ recommendations that motorists
share in the operating costs of the
District since they directly benefit
from its operation," Cowen said.
JOSEPH L. HARVEY
At the recent summer election held
during the 25th annual conference of
the Most Worshipful Prince Hall
Grand I odge of Oregon and its Jur
isdiction, Portlander Andrew Childs,
the Most Worshipful Grand Master,
turned over the gavel to Joseph L.
Harvey of Boise, Idaho. Harvey
stepped up from his position as Right
Worthy Deputy Grand Master in the
hcirarchy of the 1 odge, after serving
the Grand Lodge of Oregon as Grand
Junior and Senior Warden.
The new MWGM hails from Stur
geon, Missouri, and Topeka, Kansas
Higher education was received at
Washburn University. A former
member of the U.S. Air Force, he
functioned in the branch of Medical
Material Services His duties during
his 20 years took him to Europe,
Africa and England and finally to
the Mountain Home Air Force Base
in Idaho. It was there he was intro
duced to Masonry.
"I am currently a career agent
with Ohio National I lie Insurance
Company," Harvey said. "I aLso
belong to the National Association of
1 lie Underwriters, and I am a mem
her of the Boise Stale University Ath
letic Association Board of Directors.
For the local chapter of the NAACP,
I am working as publicity chairman.”
Harvey, 53, and his wife Jeanne
have five daughters and one son, and
four grandchildren. They are active
members of the Hillview United
Methodist Church.
HOMES NEEDED NQW
K atarina and Pete are c o m in g to
spend a high school year w ith an
Am erican fam ily
F am ilies like yours are n e eded now
tor European s tu d e n ts arriving in your
.c o m m u n ity in m id August These stu
d e n ts speak English, carry th e ir own
spe n ding m oney and are co ve re d by
in su ra n ce
Katarina
from Sweden
To se le ct your student, ca ll
Pete
fro m Germany
Lurlana Shamsud-Din, 281-3716
E d u c a tio n a l F o u n d a tio n for F o re ig n S tudy
a non p ro fit o rg a n iz a tio n
800 447 4273
CITY schoolchildren need more help than program gives
(Photo Kris Altucher)
CITY programs
less than helpful
Summer Salon Specials!
Haircut - Blowdry
a Bachelor of Science in business ad
ministration and accounting degree.
Instead of relaxing after the rigors of
four years of academic grind, she is
volunteering her lime because she
"sees a need for education in this |the
Black| community."
"I would like to see the kids under
stand the basics; I don't understand
how they get into the grades they arc
in," Currie said. "I am looking at
too many children who don't under
stand the basics; it’s kind of a
shuffle ”
Dr. Parker maintains that the pro
gram has been helpful, reaching a
minimum of children who need help
In the fall, in addition to "track
ing" some of the students, CITY
will continue to work with children in
grades three through eight.
But what about the problem? What
about the responsibility of motivating
children to learn? And what about the
duties of the parents and the schools?
The argument is twofold. The
problem belongs to the parents and
the school system, equally, one edu
cator said. But that docs not condone
a system that passes children who
don’t deserve to be passed.
Debbie Doyle will be a freshman at
Wilson High Schixil this fall. Some
day she intends to become a teach
er. She enjoys working with children
and this summer, instead of "hanging
out,” she is a volunteer math teacher
with CITY's program.
Doyle's commitment is worth re
flecting on. A young lady who has not
begun high school, one who has just
graduated from the ranks of those she
Ls trying to help, sees a need. She sees
and understands (even if she doesn’t
articulate it) that the public school
system has too many cracks, that too
many children arc falling through
those cracks.
Perhaps the Portland School Sys
tem could use a pledge CITY has
one. It goes like this: “ Today is a new
day. . . what I do today affects me.
I realize it is mine to use or to throw
away.”
Let Portland Observer
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by Nathaniel Scott
Judging from the Citizens Involved
in reaching Youth (I ILY) program,
Portland's public schools educational
system is in shambles To put it mild
ly. the public schixil system seems to
be in gross error of misrepresenting
itself as an educating bixly while chil
dren go lacking in the very basics:
reading, writing and math.
The gross neglect, according to
Sandra Harris, a volunteer math in
structor with CITY, is atrocious.
"Some of the kids (the ones she
teaches) will be going into the sixth
and seventh grade level in September
and they don’t know the basics of
math," Harris said. " The kids should
not be passed on without knowing
the basics."
Harris added that there is "defi
nitely” a need for the tutoring she
performs because "there is definitely
a problem [in the public school’s edu
cational system|."
CITY, "Organized under the aus
pices ot people to people ministries —
a private non-profit service organi
zation — was designed to involve the
community
in helping children
achieve their highest educational and
human potential," said Dr. Carl
Parker, the founder of CITY, who
also is a full-time counselor at Port
land Community College (PCC) Cas
cade campus.
CITY began the volunteer program
last spring and this summer, with
books borrowed from the school
system’s library and donated space
from the King Neighborhixxl Facility,
CIT Y has been teaching 30 or more
children on a daily basis.
CITY has a volunteered staff of 11
people, seven adults and four youth,
who teach regular class periods.
Parker contends that the children
come from all areas of Portland and
that (he program is open to children
regardless of race, creed or color.
However, he adds, "Thus far the
children have been minorities
| Blacks)."
Valerie S. Currie graduated from
Portland State University in June with
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Envy is the sincerest form of flattery.
— John C. Collins
The first bus was introduced in Paris in January,
1662 by a company formed by the French philosopher
Blaise Pascal.
The earliest self service grocery stores were two
independent enterprises in California in 1912.
W e do not d o business w ith S o u th A fric a
American State
AN INDEPENDENT BANK
Head Office
2717 N E Union
Port and, Oregon 97212