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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1992)
m H*#»*- «r * ■W ** Page 4..The Portland Observer...March 11, 1992 Y o u th fu l D riv in g E x p e r ie n c e : O r e g o n a n d U .S . F a c t S h e e t Mutoi vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among young Americans. In the United States during the 1980s, more than 140,000 youths aged 15 to 24 were killed in car accidents, more than died from all diseases com bined. Although teenage drivers account for only six percent of the national driving population, they represent 14.5 percent o f drivers involved in all acci dents and 13 percent of drivers in volved in fatal accidents. On the rverage, every two or three weeks the equivalent of a senior class at a typical high school is wiped out on our streets and highways. Oregon youths face a significant risk on Oregon highways. Although representing only 15 per cent o f the 2 million licensed Oregon drivers, on the average young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are involved in almost 40 percent of the total auto accidents reported in Oregon each year. In 1990 young adults, aged 15 to 24, accounted for over 43 percent of all Oregon traffic injuries and deaths. In addition to the loss of lives and human suffering, motor vehicle acci dents take a huge economic toll. In 1990 the total economic cost to Oregon from motor vehicle accidents was over $2.2 billion. This amounts to roughly $350 in total costs for each Oregon family. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that the financial toll is at least $27 billion annually for medical insurance costs, property damage and lost wages resulting from accidents involving 15- to 24-year-old drivers. Young drivers ages 15 to 19 are still involved in a disproportionately high rate of alcohol-related crashes, despite an overall decline over the past few years of these types of acci dents. During 1990 40 percent of all traf fic fatalities for Oregonians aged 15 to 20 were a result of drinking and driv ing. Last year in Oregon 60 young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 were killed in motor vehicle accidents in which one or more persons had a BAC (blood alcohol content) of .08+. Sources: 1990 National Safety Council and Oregon Traffic Safety Commission statistics, and “Keep your Teenage Driver Alive,” Reader’s Di gest, June 1991. McMurphy's Appliance Center Washer fit Dryer s1 9 9 - Refrigerators From $ 1 2 9 - Ranges From 51 2 9 - Open Mon.-Fri. 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Sunday Closed I/»»-.. /■»!♦«. u;»A -inn K a tz . Lzliy N e e d s lO m r e lUU More Police Officers Revlon Continues To Support United Negro college Fund With Donation To Colleges, Student Emergency Assistance Fund Katz says a 2% Savings in the General Fund Budget Could Fund Police and Other Priority Programs. Insisting that the City of Portland needs more police officers to fight crime, State Representative and may- oral candidate Vera Katz urged the Portland City Council to approve the Police Bureau’s request for 100 addi tional officers. Katz said the Police Bureau may receive as few as 40 additional offic ers instead of the 100 requested. Port land Mayor B ud Clark was quoted last week saying, “I think we’re going to get at least 40. 100 would be very difficult." “Either the City Council is serous about fighting crime or not-adding only 40 new police officers is not serous,” said Katz. “I am going to be adamant about this," Katz said. “Public safely is my number one priority and I intend to keep the pressure on the City Council to do more.” In a letter to the Council, Katz pointed out that Portland’s overall crime rate is higher than San Fran cisco or Los Angeles. “We can no longer deny the fact that we have a big-city crime problem,” she wrote. “I urge you to approve the Police Bureau’s request for 100 new police officers for the next fiscal year,” Katz said in her letter. “I believe that ap proving funding for 100 additional police officers is the point at which rhetoric about public safety becomes a real commitment to public safety. “It is time the City Council make the same kind of major commitment to public safety and fighting crime in Portland that we did at the Legislature. “I urge you to take the extra time to examine the base budget expendi tures of every bureau, line item by line item. I believe you can find the neces sary funds for police new hires w ithoul cutting services. It might delay the budget process a couple weeks, and it will require a closer review of all budgets. But if you can find more money for law enforcement, I think the benefits will be well worth it. “After all, a 2% savings in the general fund budget, combined with the money currently available for on going and one-time uses could gener ate the funds necessary to add 100 police officers and still have money available for selected add-on programs and/or restorations. “I hope that we are past the point of raising the false fear of “deep cuts in other services” as a legitimate excuse for falling short of what needs to be done to meaningfully increase the public’s safety. “As we face the prospect of 500,000 new residents in the Portland metropolitan area in the next decade, along with an increasingly competi- tiveeconomicenvironment.ourcity is poised on the threshold of tremendous change. The consequences of the choices you make today will be felt for many years to come. I believe making our City safer and more secure is the most important task before you as you face these choices.” BOSTON’S MINI MARKET NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT! Marking 35 consecutive years of support for the United Negro College Fund, Revlon presented the fund with a $75,000 donation earmarked for UNCF colleges and the Revlon UNCF Student Emergency Assistance Fund. Shown at the recent presentation ceremony in New York City are (left to right): Paul Block (President, Revlon Professional Products Group), Virgil Ecton (Sr. Executive Vice President, - UNCF), Joshua Givens (Vice President Marketing, Retail Ethnic-Revlon), William Peters (Director Greater New York Campaign-UNCF). At a recent ceremony in New York City, The Revlon Foundation and the Revlon-Realistic Professional Products Group reaffirmed their long-standing commitment to the goals and activities of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) through a donation of $75,000. Marking 35 consecutive years of Revlon support for UNCF, the dona tion includes both a $25,000 contribu tion from the Revlon Foundation, pre sented by James T. Conro, Senior Vice- President for corporate Affairs and Spe cial counsel, Revlon, Inc. to the Rev- lon/UNCF Student Emergency Assis tance Fund and a $50,000 contribution presented by Joshua Givens, Vice Presi dent, Director of Marketing, Retail Eth nic Markets, Professional Products Group for distribution to UNCF Col leges. The Revlon/UNCF Student emer gency Assistance Fund contribution will provide financial support to students who have exhausted all other financial resources. The Professional Products Group’s contribution was made possible through the Group’s Black History Month Cel ebration, a retail promotion now in its tenth consecutive year, and will be used by UNCF colleges to expand curricula, hire teachers and help defray similar expenses. UNCF member institutions cur rently includes 41 historically black colleges and universities, enrolling 50,800 students. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY STORE IT’S A MUST. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM DRINKING ON THE STORE GROUNDS AND ON THE OLD FRED MEYER PARKING LOT. IT CAUSES MANY UNNEEDED PROBLEMS. COME BY FOR ALL YOUR SHOPPING NEEDS. WE WORK WITH OLCC. LOCATED AT 726 N.E. KILLINGSWORTH 282-6776 Solicitation of Proposals for Elderly and Handicapped Transportation Services THE FRIENDLIEST STORES IN TOWN SINCE 1908 SPECIALS EFFECTIVE TUESDAY through SUNDAY MARCH 10 through 15, 1992 MEMBER OF UNITED GROCERS KRUSTEAZ* PANCAKE MIX LOG CABIN J- — S.‘W > — __ ORIGINAL KIENOW’S COUPON • DEAL #2-JABJ2 and get a two pound box of BUY i LOG CABIN --- sipvp 24 oz. Value up to $1.69 ONE COUPON PER FAMILY-OFFER EXPIRES 3/IG/92 GFC fUdwceop Pdry C-l id Gw w il I Corporata* PO Bo« «?' ' « « * * I «W B KIENO W 'S FUND RAISER WE HELP NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS RAISE MONIES CALL 6 5 9 -5 2 2 0 , i «4 » - . • « V. * ’ ’• Funds are available through the Salem Area Mass Transit District for provision of specialized transportation services for elderly or handicapped persons. The funds may be used to plan services, purchase equipment, and op erate service. Area o f operations must be limited to Marion or Polk County. Approx imately $503,000 is expected to be available in FY 92-93 in the Special Transportation Fund (STF). Any person or organization, public or private, interested in providing spe cial transportation services and apply ing for STF funds should contact John Whittington, Planning & Marketing Dept., Salem Area Mass Transit Dis trict, 3140 Del Webb Avenue NE, Sa lem, OR 97303 (503) 588-2885. An application package is available, which must be executed and returned by 3:00 p.m. local time Monday, March 23, 1992. Minority Coordinator to Speak at Women’s Caucus Shelley Matthews, Minortiy Out reach Coordinator to Speak at Women’s Caucus for Art Shirley Matthews, minority out reach coordinator from the Metropoli tan Arts Commission will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Women’s Caucus for Art On March 23rd at 5 PM. Her topic “ MAC: What it is and what it can do for you” will be relevant to women artists at all levels of accomplishment. The WCA, which meets thc4th Sunday of each month, is a networking organization promoting the political and financial parity for women artists. The meeting will be held at the downtown YWCA. 111 SW 10th Avenue, in conference r<x>m 2, main floor. Can Penicillin Really Prevent Fatal Infections in Infants with Sickle Cell Anemia? Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder causing frequent bouts of pain and in some cases causes fre quent hospitalization. The Sickle Cell disease branch of the NIH established a Study Group in 1983, utilizing 23 medical centers, to find out if daily doses of oral penicillin could prevent severe bacterial infec tions in young children with Sickle Cell Anemia. Investigators sought a way to re duce the death rate in young children with sickle cell anemia. Despite great improvements in detection and treat ment during 20 years, there has been almost no reduction in the incidence of the severe infections which can kill Sickle Cell Children under 3 years of age. Young children with Sickle Cell Anemia often may develop a serious complication called bacteremia caused by pneumococcus bacteria. The pneu mococcus bacteria is one of the germs that causes pneumonia. Bacteremia means bacteria in the blood. Young ch ild ren w ith p neum ococcus bacteremia can go from fever to death in less than 12 hours. About a third of the young children with bacteremia die from it. Young children with Sickle Cell Anemia arc also likely to develop other life-threatening infections from the pneumococcus germ such as pneu monia and meningitis. There were 215 children ranging from ages 3-36 months participating for 15 months. 105 children were given 2 small (125 mg) daily doses of penicil lin pills and 110 received a placebo, that means a substance that could not prevent infections. ViuuninC was used in this study. Neither the medical center staff nor the parents knew which chil dren were getting penicdim and whieh ones were getting vitamin C pills. Upon completion of the study they found that the preventive treatment worked in their study. Only 2 of the 105 children who received penicillin devel oped p n eu m o co ccal in fectio n s. Whereas 3 of the 110 treated with vita min C developed a pneumococcal in fection. There were 3 deaths-all in the group receiving the placebo or Vitamin C. Over 2,000 children are born with Sickle Cell Anemia in the United States yearly and only a very small percentage of them are allergic to penicillin. Should the child be allergic to penicillin, your doctor can prescribe another effective antibiotic such as erythromycin. We recommend that treatment begin when babies arc 4-6 months old and until at least their 6th birthday. If you know your child has Sickle Cell Anemia, contact the Portland Sickle Cell Ane mia Foundation immediately, if you have not already done so, at 249-1366. Many people confuse Sickle Cell Disease with Sickle Cell trait. These are two different conditions. Sickle Cell Trait is a condition in which a gene for sickle hemoglobin is inherited from one parent and a gene for normal hemo globin from the other. This is what we call the carrier state; it cannot change to become the disease and is not conta gious. Persons with Sickle Cell Trait should avoid unpressurized planes and high altitudes, and should remember tirai should theircompanion have Sickle Cell Tran, they become a couple at-risk for having a child born with Sickle Cell Anemia. The other condition is the result of a person inheriting a gene lor sickle hemoglobin from one parent and a gene lor either a normal hemoglobin or a gene that limits hemoglobin production from the other parent. Examples are Sickle Cell Anemia, Sickle Cell C- H em oglobin D isease and Sickle- Thalassemia Disease respectively. In patients with Sickle Cell Dis ease, stroke typically develops between the ages of 9 and 15, with a picture of ischemic infarction that mimics what is seen in older patients with carotid oc clusion from atherosclerotic disease. Infarction occurs mainly in younger patients and hemorrhage in older ones. A study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, Adams et al., re veals that future studies can provide further validation of the transcranial Doppler ultrasonography technique, per haps, by using magnetic resonance angiography, and can assess the effects of transfusion therapy to prevent strokes in patients with Sickle Cell Disease. The racial groups with Black Afri can ancestry whether living in the United States, Caribbean, South America or Pan American countries are groups at- risk. In addition, Italians, Sicilians, and East Indians arc affected as well. The incidence of Sickle Cell Trait varies tremendously in these racial groups, being very low in the latter group. Sickle Cell Trait is present in 10-12 percent of Black Americans and Sickle Cell Ane mia occurs in one out o f400 to 500. The Portland Sickle Cell Anemia Founda tion hopes to have the incidence rate in other races upon the completion of a research project. The Foundation is seeking volun teers lor their speakers bureau, for grant writing, fund-raising activities, out reach, and telethon. They are also hop ing to have a van donated to be utilized as a small mobile unit for testing in the community. Persons who desire to be tested or who are seeking additional information should call 249-1366.
