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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1987)
Page 8, Portland Observer, D ecem ber 23, 198/ Speak Out Do you feel the spirit of Christmas? by A rn o ld P itre Danny Bergquist Jeannie M o o re 10 year old student Saleslady Veah . . . I feel good inside at Christmas time. I like to see the Christmas lights. I hope it snows, so I can go skiing. I think that I will get a lot of presents this year. I like our Christmas tree. Yes . . . This is the time of the year when we celebrate the birth of Christ, and I enjoy that. I enjoy hearing the Christmas music. I work in the Jantzen Mall, and it's nice to hear the music and work around the different people that come through here. It is a giving time of the year, and I enjoy giving. Most people are feeling pretty good at this time of the year, and it is nice to be around people when they are feeling the Christmas spirit. A n th o n y P itre 14 year-old student Yes . . . but not as exciting to me as when I was younger. I just like to see the younger kids have fun. I don't expect to get a lot of gifts like I used to as a kid, but it is fun to receive them. The family comes together at Christmas time. We do a lot of visiting, and seeing them is special to me. Diane Matsubara 7 year old 2nd grader Yes . . . I like to get toys and I like to go see Santa. I went to the mall to see him and it was fun. He asked me what I wanted and I said a 10-speed. He kissed me on the cheek and said Merry Christmas. Nero Sponsors Community and Economic Development Award Mr. David M. Nero, Jr. sponsored a cash award for the best paper pre sented on African American econo mic development. The papers were read aloud and judged at a collo quium sponsored by the Oregon Business League and the Nigerian Professionals of Oregon on Novem ber 14, 1987. The colloquium was held at Williams Baptist Convention Center located at 220 N.E. Beech Street, Portland, Oregon. The colloquium attracted 21 regis trants, all local African American professionals and business men and women. Dr. E C. Ogbuobiri was the moderator for the colloquium. This seminal meeting, as intended, pro vided an opportunity for some peo ple with powerful ideas to lay them out and explore them with collea gues and individuals in the commu nity who are in a position to do ALPHONSO'S SANDWICH SHOP FEATURING Homestyle Food Daily Menu Changes Dirty Rice - $2°° & $4°° Dolo Sandwiches —$1°° Deep Fried Catfish - Every Friday 3940 N. Williams Phone 281-1679 20% Off Most Toys rv Com m unity M ental Health by Steven Bailey, N.D. ....... Drugs, Alcohol and Mental Health Concepts on Health Good mental health in its optimum state entails a secure, productive, and social network that supports one's psychology. One's mental outlook is also greatly influenced by genetic factors that make up the biochemical balance within the brain. Obviously this is a delicate balance. Therefore, when an individual introduces illicit drugs and/or alcohol into the brain, one is at risk. . . . „„ .„ i Few people realize that there is a new generation with chronic mental and emotional disorders. Generally the public tends to associate a prefer ence for drug use with the stigma of mental disease. It is more acceptab e to view abnormal or bizarre behavior as the result of drug abuse, which is an example of where the individual can be perceived as having control, rather than to construe that bizarre behavior as biologically based, and, therefore, out of the control of the individual. Yet current medical opinion maintains that anyone with a history of alcohol and/or drug abuse in the family is susceptible to the negative affects of chemical substance abuse. Although drug addiction and certain mental diseases share similar characteristics, they Thus far in this series on AIDS, I have written about the new federal definition of AIDS, general symptoms, testing for AIDS, and a general over view of the immune system and how it is affected by the AIDS virus. Before I begin on how you get AIDS (transmission) and what you can do once in fected, I would like to discuss the general concept o f ' health or wellnefcr and how it inter relates with the current AIDS crisis. , "Health" is currently defined as "optimum functioning with freedom from disease and abnormality." Orthodox American medicine (allopathic, i e M D 'si has, to a large part, emphasized, both in education and practice a primary, if not sole, importance in the "freedom from disease " portion df health. The American public is now taking a renewed interest in the concept of “ optimum health", and the medical community is finally beginning, to understand the relationship between "wellness" or "optim um health and the p ote ntia l to develop serious disease. "Optim um " is defined as "the best or most favorable condition for a pan ticular situation". This means that optimum health may vary from person tp person or with time and situation, but that it employs the very best of health for each situation. In a singular situation, this means personal energy, clear ness of thought, emotional vitality and stability, creativity, as well as an absence of disease. It would also mean that limiting symptoms such as ner vousness, digestive disturbance, irritability, etc., were not on-going condi are two separate and distinct states of mind. In some cases of drug induced psychosis, once the chemical substance abuse is discontinued, certain individuals return to living constructive viable lives Whereas in the bio-chemical case, where the individual indulges in drug abuse and has bio chemical imbalance, discontinuing the chemical sub stance use may reveal further psychiatric problems, which will necessitate the use of clinical drugs to restore the chemical balance in the brain. Take the case of marijuana, which to many is an innocuous drug. e American Medical Association, in a 1980 update of its report on marijuana, labeled it a dangerous drug based on a range of adverse, acute or long-term tions of one's day-to-day life. There are many reasons most of us do not experience optimum health. The stresses of twentieth century life (job stress, pollution, etc.), inter personal conflicts, less-than-adequate exercise, and less-than-optrmum nutrition are some of the most common reasons for our not achieving our full health potential. Promiscuous life-style, as well as drug abuse, contri butes to ill-health dramatically in some segments of our society. When con sidering the AIDS crisis, all of the above-mentioned stresses are noteworthy. The conclusion of this series will look directly at optimum nutrition and exercise, as well as other support programs for the immune system. It is the effects, both physical and psychological. Just as any other habits, cigarettes, coffee, alcohol, marijuana, and the other drugs, as well as patterns of behavior, such as losing one s temper, or going to sleep, there are times when these types of behaviors may be done without harm. Albeit, when habits interfere with one’s ability to cope, with one's quality of life, and is used as a mechanism to avoid the task of personal and social development, it becomes a detriment to the individual's ability to maintain adequate personal balance and social performance. The 1979 study, "Highlights: Drugs and the Nation's High School Stu dents Five Year National Trends", states: "A n in-depth study of 17 young sters who abused marijuana found that one-third had learning disabilities, two-thirds had difficulties participating in class, and all seemed to have with drawn from competition . . . Marijuana served, among other purposes, to sustain grandiosed fantasies while avoiding anxiety-arousing situations. If this pattern persists, it becomes a conditioned response to retreat from life's frustrations and stresses. The net effect is to arrest maturity at the point in which the individual becomes chronically involved with marijuana, and, there, the individual remains in perpetual adolescence. There are facilities that address chemical substance abuse in our com munity. It is important for the individual who is involved in drug abuse to seek counseling, preferably in a group such as Alcoholics- or Narcotics Anonymous. Success for breaking the cycle of abuse is often attached to an individual getting involved with a support unit larger than oneself. Other options for recovery have been found in church and the belief in God. The N. NE Community Mental Health Center has a dual-diagnosis group which deals with individuals who suffer from drug abuse and mental health problems. Other agencies which serve clients residing in N/NE Portland are The Project for Community Recovery (which specifically targets the Black population for client treatment), Alcohol Treatment and Training, St. Vincent de Paul, and T. A.S.K. other above-mentioned stresses that we now take note. T w e n tie th C e n tu ry Life There are many "givens" to living in the twentieth century that are sub stantially different from previous human experience. The type of work we do, how much physical work is required on a daily basis, how much of our diet is comprised of whole foods, and how many new environmental toxins we encounter are all substantially different from even our grandparehts. Much of this we cannot change, but we can accomodate these new stresses with changes in our life-styles and eating habits. The automobile, television, changes of jobs have all contributed to a dramatic decrease in how much the average American exercises. Manypfeo- ple have taken up jogging, joined spa's, or taken up other "aerobic dtetivi- ties but for most of us, brisk walking (i.e., to work, at lunch, etc.) 19 suf ficient for our exercise needs. At whatever level you wish to exercise, your program should be one that leaves you feeling good shortly after working out (i.e., 1 to 2 hours). If you feel "drained" for some time after exercising, you are probably overdoing it. Our diets have changed dramatically with corporate farming and the wide-spread processing of our foods. "The American Journal of Epidemio logy" recently listed the 15 most common foods in the American diet.-This 15-food list began with white bread and rolls as number one; cookies, ‘bake and donuts as number two; followed by hambergbrs, soda and 4% milk as three through five. French fries, at nine, were the only vegetable, and whole wheat bread, at 15, was the only grain. White flour, red meat, dairy and sugar made up the rest of the 15 most common foods. Simple changes to a more basic "whole foods" diet would do mudh to change America's "epidemic" levels of chronic and degenerative disease. Decreases in white flour, red meat, dairy (fat), and simple sugars, with in creases in salads (dark greens), fiber (whole grains, beans, fruit and veggibs), and some level of trace mineral supplementation is an excellent startjng place; more specific nutritional suggestions will follow in the conclusion of ________________ We invite our readers to write The Community Mental Health column at 128 N.E Russell, Portland, Oregon 97212, attention Danny Bell_______________________ something about them. It was an experiment at non-social, non public relations, multi-organization gathering for presentation and dis cussion of community issues. The participants were greeted by State Representative Margaret Car ter and Amelia Lanier from the Ore gon Commission on Black Affairs. Commissioner Carolyn Leonard of the Oregon Commission of Black Affairs distributed information and explained that the Commission un der her leadership is going to do everything possible to be supportive of the African American economy. The presenters of papers were: Mr. Matthew Chavis, Ms. Ora Hart, Commissioner Carolyn Leonard, Bishop A. Wells, Mr. Joseph Lam bert, Mr. Owen R. Owen, Dr. Ozodi Osuji, Mr. John H. Brown and Mr. James Washington. All papers pre sented were excellent quality and pertinent to the economic develop ment of the African America com munity. The award winning paper, with the help of a colorful graphical chart, explained a framework for community development. In this framework, the business commu nity is central and the community non-profit organizations have a key lobby role to play. In other words, he showed that all elements of the community have a role in his econo mic network. The task then is to de velop the appropriate synergistic linkages. Lottery Exceeds Forecasts this series. The Oregon Lottery transferred $11,679,906 to the state Economic Development Fund, exceeding the forecast amount by $4 million. The lottery has earned $21,314,714 to date for economic development projects for the 1987-89 biennium, an increase of more than $5 mil lion over the $16 million projected for the period. This quarter yielded an additional $3.1 million for eco nomic development. State lottery law requires, quar terly economic development re ceipts in excess of $8 million go into a reserve fund to cover income fluctuations. When the reserve U d llU lia . » » ir o n .ssSMsr«* N ext W eek: H o w You Get A ID S ness Development Fund, Targeted Training, Tourism Marketing, High- er Education, Stabilization Fund, the Oregon Resource Technology and Development Corporation, and others. "It is great news for the entire state,” comments Richard Reiten, Director, OEDD. "The additional money, which primarily goes to the special public works fund, will signi ficantly benefit Oregon's cities, counties and ports." reaches $2 million, 75 percent of the excess is applied to the special pub lic works fund and 25 percent to the strategic reserve fund. In the previous quarter, $1.55 mil lion was transferred to the reserve. The transfer of $450,000 will raise the reserve fund up to its manda ted level, and the excess will go into the two programs. Other programs benefitted by lot tery proceeds include the Regional Strategies Program, Oregon Busi- ~ NEW PATIENT SPECIAL™*«* » A hing l’ol'd Ced,t,r pot -tons r ¿tv . , Ot This certificate entitles each new patient with: exam , bite - w ing x - rays , ROUTINE CLEANING Fwo„„ n $35 00 o? $40.00 OFF N EW DENTURES • Free Denture Cleaning • No Charge Consultation Reline & Repairs while you wait • Preventive Family Dentistry • Special Attention to Children and Gum Disease «2 Edward E. 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