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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1987)
K r, r , « . « . . 3=hoe»--:««':o’ ’‘ r « • » u n iv e rs ity of Orsson L lb r .r y C"*9Âon 97403 PORTLAND OBSERNER USPS «♦«•♦** f l if A X/Muftief ( , ,'n, »»‘M I Volume XVII, Number 33 June 24, 1987 25C Aids and Minorities Dr. Roger Bakeman, a psychologist at Georgia State University, points out that economic status also plays a major role in the disproportionately high rate of AIDS among minorities. "People of lower class get less atten tion from the medical system," he says. Minorities are also more vulner able to AIDS because chronic malnutrition, and other consequences of poverty, have weakened their immune system from the outset. According to U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, the disease is spreading to the general population after having been largely confined to gay men and I.V. drug users. He remarks: "The best protection right now — barring abstinence —is use of a condom." He also states that the quaran tine of AIDS victims has no role in the containment of AIDS because it is not spread by casual contact. The virus is spread through contact with an already infected person's bodily fluids, such as blood and semen. Accor ding to Koop, 25,566 Americans have been diagnosed as having AIDS and another 1.5 million are believed to have been exposed to tne disease. Photo by Richard J. Brown Nate Jones, Principal of Jefferson High School. Jones Named Outstanding Secondary principal the Thirteenth Annual COSA (Confederation of Oregon School Nathan Jones, Principal at Jefferson High School, Portland, has been recognized as The Outstanding Secondary Principal Administrators) conference. The theme of the conference, "Challenging Oregon School Administrators . . . Pursuing Emerging Options” , will feature national and state leaders who will speak on current educa tional issues. Gov. Goldschmidt will be one of the speakers, from the Oregon Association of Secondary School Administra tors (OASSA). He will be honored at Seaside at the Annual COSA Conference and will receive a plaque and special recog nition at 8:30 a.m ., Friday, June 26th at the Convention Cen pending the conclusion of the 1987 Legislative Session. One of the highlights of the conference will be the honoring ter. Approximately 1500 Oregon School Administrators will be meeting at the Convention Center in Seaside, June 24-27, for of the outstanding principals in Oregon. These principals were first selected by Colleagues from each region. Schools Win $5000 For Fighting Drug Abuse by Alan Brown Drug abuse on the school grounds of America has reached frightening nrooortions Sixty-one percent of all high school seniors have tned some form of hard drugs. One in twenty high school seniors smoke marijuana daily In 1986, there were four hundred children between the ages of 11 and U picked up for narcotics violations by the Los Angeles Police Department Children, as young as 7 and 8, are not only using but also selling illegal drugs Lives of America's youth are being ruined every day by drugs. Because of these and other alarming statistics, the Concerned Business- men's Association of America is sponsoring an annual Se A Good Ex ample Contest,” with the goal of ending drug use on school grounds and h ^ ' g children develop pride in themselves. This yea, s contest, vvhrch ended April 1, involved 1700 schools and youth groups from across the " ’ The contest i. inspired b , THE WAY TO HAPPINESS sense guide to safer, happier living. Over 13.5 million copies of the book, 14 different languages, have been distributed throughout the world^ The book has started a grass-roots effort to get drugs o ff the school grounds in the United States and return youths to such values as compe tence, good citizenship, honesty and setting a good exam ple-the idea on which the contest is based. , . . . For the contest, each school's student council was required to originate nlan and run a "drug awareness" campaign using principles from Trie WAY TO HAPPINESS book to influence their fellow students in a positive direction awav from drugs. During .he comes.. needy 600.000 book, were distributed by students in their schools and communities. O™ X h e winning schools, which will receive $5.000 to continue its fight against drug abuse, was Roosevelt Jr. High of Charleston. West qinia. The school's activities included passing out THE WAY TO HAPPI NESS book to all the new 6th graders entering the school, a ta ent s ow with an anti-drug theme, and a "Jump Against Drugs" at a localm all m which students jumped rope for three continuous hours-joined by local celebrities, the Mayor and other community leaders. The other winning school and groups, which were equally effecbve and creative in their campaigns against drugs and will also receive $5 000, were. Sydney Elementary School of Sydney, New York; Eunice Sr. High of Eu nice, Louisiana and Children Against Drugs (CAD KIDS), a youth group from Hollywood, California. Judging this year's contest were: Kim Fields, star of television s Facts of Life; Susan Newman, Executive Director of the Scott Newman Foun dation; Brian Dyak, President of the Entertainment Industrial C o u n c ilo r a Drug Free Society; Fred "M oon" Mullins, Secretary-Treasurer and eral Manager of Municipal Motorcycle Officers of California (M M O C ),M ar cine Shaw, Senior Deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn; Teddv Joudeh. Executive Director of Narconon International and Debbie Hughes, Executive Director of Sterling Management Systems . The next contest has already started as of last month. Books and ant. drug education materials are provided free of charge to schools entering the contest by CBAA, businesses and professionals sponsoring the contest in local communities and the national association of Pharmacists Against DrForAmoreC information about the 1987 88 SET A GOOD EXAMPLE con test and/or copies ofrthe WAY TO HAPPINESS book, to Contest, Concerned Businessmen's Association of America. ^.Ish.re Blvd., Suite 320. Los Angeles. CA 90010. Or call toll free 800-782 6767. "The media make you think that AIDS is a white, gay man's disease That's just not a true picture," says Sandra McDonald, one of four black board members of AID Atlanta, the city's principle support group for A ID b victims. In reality, McDonald points out, statistics show that U.S. minori ties are suffering in disproportionately high numbers from the AIDS epi demic. For example: . • As of July 7, 1986, of the then known 21,546 AIDS cases, 11,787 of the victims were people of color. . . . . • The rate of AIDS cases among Blacks and Latinos is nearly three times as high as it is among the rest of the population. • Blacks and Latinos make up 18 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 40 percent of all reported AIDS cases. • Nearly two-thirds of intravenous drug users with AIDS are Black or Latino. • More than 50 percent of women with AIDS are Black. • Eighty percent of all children with AIDS are Black or Latino. • Ninety-one percent of infants with AIDS are non-white. Minorities are made more vulnerable to AIDS because, until very recent ly, preventative education programs have focused almost exclusively on the white gay male population. Since the recent release of statistics show ing the high incidence of AIDS among minorities, minority groups around the country have been pressuring health agencies to widen AIDS education programs to include minority communities. In particular, they emphasized the need tor education among intravenous (IV) drug users, many of whom are people of color. According to Dr. Richard Wright of the Eastside Health Center in.Denver, IV drug use is the main culprit in the spread of AIDS in the minority community. Fran Moore, who works with the AIDS testing and health counseling program for the Denver Department of Public Health, argues that another barrier to AIDS education among minorities is cultural disapproval of homo sexuality within the Black community, which makes Black men reluctant to admit they are qay and part of a high risk group. ★ NOTICE * The Portland Observe- will be moving to 5011 N.E. 26th A v . . , P ortlehd to be our modern and spacious facility OR 97211. We We expect expect to œ moved mwou into «... ------------------- »------ ___ in unr-nm inn issues. issues. . . ....___ 1 information by July 1, 1987 Look . for additional in upcoming ir *