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Tm P oru . and O bserver • J une 23, 1993
Noel Willis: Graduating
Honors
W illis said "B ut in my heart and soul
I'm as pleased as punch she made it
here.”
Noel W illis spoke w ith love and
admiration o f his grandparents, who
he said represented a crucial bridge
between the past and present He also
noted that his deceased grandmother
on his father’s side o f the family,
Bernice Mayfield, was there in spirit
"They’ re all great people, no doubt
Noel Willis
Like thousands o f college seniors
throughout the country, Noel W illis
recently basked in the lim elight o f
convocation ceremonies. But unlike
most seniors, the journalism major at
the University o f Missouri graduated
w ith honors— magna cum laudc, to be
precise.
“ It was a very, very, good feel­
ing,” W illis, 22, remarked o f walking
across the auditorium stage to receive
his bachelor’s degree. “Just having
fam ily members clapping made my
day.”
W illis, who is the grandson o f
John and T he lm a S ylvester o f
Portland was also named a member o f
Kappa Tau Alpha, an honor society
fo r a select group o f students
from among the top ten percent o f the
graduating class. The honor is a
prestigious one indeed, especially
when earned at the oldest and most
renow ned journalism program in the
country.
A number o f fam ily and friends
from across the country shared in
the moment, including the graduating
senior's "G randm a Syl, Thelma
Sylvester. “ Y o u r m ind te lls you
th a t th e re ’ s no w ay G randm a
Syl should make such a long trip.
Leon W illis ’ s letters from home
served as a lifeline for his youngest
son.
“ Dad’ s a man who docs not ex­
press his emotions as much as he
probably should." Noel W illis said ol
his iathcr "Just having him at the
graduation ceremony meant a lot to
about it.”
A number o f fam ily members and
friends gathered fora post-graduation
celebration dinner. The moment was
touching for all who were present, but
the dinner’ s honoree said that he was
especially overwhelmed.
“ I never experienced that type o f
emotion in all my life that I felt toward
every person in that room," he said
The honors graduate offered special
praise fo r h is m other, V c rlc a n
Sylvester W illis. “ Sheconstantly read
to me as a child, and I 'll always re­
member our trips to the library,” Noel
W illis recalled. “ She’ s the one who
laid the foundation.”
She certainly did A single work­
ing mother for the better part o f Noel's
childhood, Vcrlcan Sylvester W illis
stressed the importance o f reading. A
stack o f library books could often be
found in the back scat o f her car.
"M y advice for young mothers
w ith no money is that the library is the
best place to take your fam ily,” Ms
W illis suggests. "There arc so many
worlds to explore. And it docsn t cost
anything.
"Besides, i f a child can feel free
w ith a book.” she said, “ it w ill be
much easier for them to learn in
school.”
Noel W illis w ill be the first per­
son to p oint out that his father,
Leon W illis, and stepmother. Harriet
P a lm e r- W illis , were there fo r
him . too. W illis recalled that his
father helped to erase whatever
doubts the journalism student had
co n ce rn in g his a b ilitie s . O ften .
32 Youth Get Sworn In As
Drug Free Marshals
me.”
The years o f family encourage­
ment obviously paid dividends. But
Vcrlcan Sylvester W illis is quick to
give ultimate credit where it is due.
"W e were a support group for Noel.
But he did it.”
Not long after experiencing the
euphoria ofgraduati ng. however, Noel
W illis said that this is a crossroads
period in his young life. “ I ’ m going to
have to sit down and take a hard look
at who I am,” he said The journalism
graduate said that the predicament o f
many young Blacks has been o f con­
cern to him also.
" I t just proves how screwed-up
this society is. 1 think oflhoscbrothers
in ja il,” he said. "They are people who
arc as bright as I am— no brighter.
Kids from all around the Portland
There is an Einstein out there.”
The honors graduate argued that area were in sworn in as Drug Free
through our labor and bloodshed in Marshals and received their marshal
battle, among other contributions. badges in a celebration attended by
Blacks arc “ more American” than Chuck E. Cheese and the Multnomah
practically any other group o f people County Sheriff Department.
After participating in the Drug
in this country. Yet, despite that, he
Free
Marshal contest, creating essays,
noted that we continue to live in “ a
songs,
pictures, etc., on how to
system that doesn’t recognize what an
create
a
drug-free comm unity, 32
individuals promise is.”
five
to
twelve
y ear olds were awarded
“ 1 thank God that 1 was able to get
the
o
ffic
ia
l
status
o f M arshal by
through the cracks,” he said. Denise
LaCour, who made the trip along w ith Deputy Way ne McDonnell, a M u lt­
her daughter Cry stal, has dubbed her nomah County S heriff and D A R E,
nephew “ The Magna M an” in recog­ officer. After hearing from Deputy
nition o f his accomplishments. The M c D o n n e ll on ways to resist
specific honors do not mean as much drugs, and presentations from some
for Vcrlcan Sylvester W illis , how­ o f the contest p a rtic ip a n ts , the
ever, as she watches "the last child youths were asked to raise their
leaving the nest,” she said philosophi­ right hands and repeat back a drug-
c a lly " I t ’s the icing on the cake,” slu free marshal pledge. The pledge had
said “ But. you know, I ’ve alwayi the kids promise to live a drug-free
scraped icing o ff cake when I cat it life , show th e ir frie n d s that a
drug-free life is more fun, help their
anyway. But that's just me.
fellow Drug Free Marshals, learn
more about how drugs really harm
people, tell people the truth about the
harmful effects o f drugs, help their
family and friends be drug-free and
set a good example to a ll children by
leading the way to a drug free USA.
The kids were then deputized with
gold Drug Free Marshal badges by
Deputy M cDonnell and Chuck E.
Cheese, both o f whom had become
Marshals themselves earlier in the
celebration.
Angie Mann, spokesperson for
the Church o f Scientology’s" Lead the
Way to a Drug Free USA" program,
commented. "The kids were very ex­
cited about thcaward ceremony. They
really wanted to do something about
drugs and communicate to other kids
that living drug free lives is the only
way to live.” The Church was the
coordinator in the Drug Free M ar­
shals contest, getting contributions
from local businesses and setting up
the awards ceremony.
In the upcoming months, the top
contest entries w ill be presented as
spokesmen Marshals and tour the
Portland area promoting the second
Drug Free Marshal contest and swear­
ing I local V I.P .’s as Drug Free M ar­
shals, upholding the drug free pledge.
“ Because the purpose o f the Drug
Free Marshal Program is to get kids
being actively and directly respon­
sible for the condition o f their envi­
ronment. the spokesmen w ill be very
key to the program’ s continued suc­
cess and the deputizing o f future M ar­
shals,” stated Mann.
For more in fo rm a tio n about
the contest or how your school or
community group can participate in
the Drug Free Marshal program, con­
tact Angie Mann at the Church o f
Scientology Celebrity Centre Portland
at 228-0116.
_
The Oregon Arena Project Makes
Major Commitment To Recycling
How Asphalt Improves
Board Sailing
The Oregon Arena Project is go­
ing to recycle the bulk o f the waste
generated during the demolition and
construction phases o f the project It
w ill be one o f the first projects o f this
size in the nation to dev clop a compre­
hensive construct ion site recycling a nd
waste management plan.
“ It’s encouraging to see just how
seriously the Oregon Arena Project is
taking recycling.” says Jerry Powell.
Editor-in-ChicfofRcsourcc Recycling
magazine and Chairperson for the
National Recycling Coalition, "The
project has developed and w ill be
implementing one o f the most com­
prehensive recycling and waste man­
agement plans yet to be undertaken by
any large commercial construction
project in the U S. It w ill definitely be
setting the standard for other con­
struction projects to follow "
A ll contractors w ill be required to
source-separate and recycle wood
waste; concrete and masonry’ materi­
als; metals; dryw all and packaging
materials, such as cardboard and plas­
tics, according to Bob Collier, Project
Manager o f Oregon Arena Corpora­
tion. “ W ith over 200.000 tons o f con­
struction and demolition debris going
to Metro area landfills each year, the
Oregon Arena project is committed to
add as little to that number as pos­
tie.” notes C ollier
sible,”
W orking in partnership w ith the local recycling facilities and proces­
Oregon Arena Project Drake/Turner, sors. Portland is very fortunate to
Joint Venture, general contractors for have numerous facilities that take
the project, contracted w ith Palermini construction and demolition debris
and Associates, a local environmental and use the m aterials to create
consultant, to develop the waste man­ new products. M aterials w ill be
agement plan. The plan identifies tracked by type, tonnage, destination
those waste materials that have the and final end use.
Early estimates indicated that
potential to be recycled, where the
over
10,000 tons o f materials w ill
materials can be recycled and what the
potentially
be recycled from the O r­
potential cost benefits o f recycling
egon Arena Project. Materials that
might be.
In addition, contract specifica­ traditionally have gone to the landfill.
tion language was developed and in­ Many o f these materials can be re­
cluded in all bid packages sent out to cycled into new products such as steel
prospective subcontractors. The speci­ framing, new recycled content dry-
fication very clearly outlined that sub­ wall and new composite wood prod­
contractors w ill be required to source- ucts. Concrete and asphalt waste w ill
separate materials and place them in either be taken to the St. Johns Land­
the clearly marked recycling bins fill for use as f ill or w ill be crushed and
Drake/Turner w ill also provide on­ used as new aggregate base for road
site recycling education to all subcon­ construction. Cardboard w ill be re­
cycled into new cardboard Taking on
tractors throughout the project.
Drake/Turner invited five local a recy cling project this large is quite a
disposal companies to submit propos­ challenge, but the project owners feel
als for implementing the recycling that it is the right thing to do, espe­
plan and for collecting the remaining cially w ith landfills fillin g up so rap­
trash. The successful bidders for idly and the need to be more resource­
the project are A.G.G. Enterprises, a ful w ith natural materials, such as
local m in o rity -o w n e d com pany, wood.
Basically, everything from the
and Waste Management Company o f
demolition
o f the old Hanna Building
O regon. W o rk in g close ly w ith
to
the
mountains
o f construction dc-
r Palermini
d l U I l U l l U U and
i i u Associates,
n s a w u i i v o . the selected
----------
haulers w ill make sure the source- bns and office paper produced during
c n n a r o lo d tn o lo r ia lc n ro l i l p n In
l l lf - n r o ic r l w ill find 3 nCW life
..
“
Acclaimed Poet Introduces
Rosemont Girls In Benefit
The wind has been good for Gorge eco­
nomics. It’s been boom tim es for Hood
River, thanks to 10.000 boardheads and
their multitude of fans. Trouble is, where
do they all stand when they bring their
sails to land?
t itv otfieials have a keen interest in the
sp o rtin g crow d. So they schem ed
and p la n n e d , th e n called about
O reg o n 1 o tle r v fu n d s for p o rt
im provem ents Board e n th u sia sts
mav not have understood the techni­
cal jargon, but they sure appreciated see­
ing what it meant. A way bigger parking
lot, more beach, and .. . yrs, a new building
with excellent rest rooms and food conces­
sions. All told, a $(’.(X),(XX) project, about a
third of it paid for by L ittery dollars.
And why not? Board sailing has brought
th e b ig tim e to a sm all tow n.
For that they should be rewarded.
The Oregon Lottery is just happy
th at w h e re th e r e w as a w ind,
there was a wav.
It Does Good Things
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On Friday. June 25, at 7pm,
Conant & Conant. Booksellers pre­
sents acclaimed Oregon w riter Sha­
ron Doubiago in a benefit for Rosemont
School, the Pacific Northwest’s only
residential treatment center which
specializes in treating adolescent girls.
Doubiago reads from her own
w orks and introduces g irls from
Rosemont, who w ill read from their
poctrv. in Sun s ta lc , next to the
bookstorcat 1001 SW 10th*S alm on
Admission is free, hovveverdonations
and proceeds from sale ol Art * Po­
etry By th cG irlsa t Rosemont School,
1991-1993 w ill benefit Rosemont
School
Sharon Doubiago was teaching at
Rosemont School the week she com­
pleted South America M i Hija, which
is a bool -ic n g li poetic response to her
own daughter s query. Arc there any
good men .’ ’ As many o f the girls at
Rosemont had been physically , sexu­
ally and emotionally abused by men at
home and on the streets, they too
wondered Her reply holds hope to
"these lonely, deserted, betrayed
daughters" in recovery .
When the girls at Rosemont pub
fished their own collection. A rt *
Poetry. Doubiago enthusiastically
wrote the introduction, saying:
It is a great pleasure now to intro­
duce this little book,... to pay back a
little o f what I was given that week It
is a great privilege to introduce the
work o f these daughters, who need us
as much as we need them
you. daughter, so far from your­
self
you. daughter, so far from me
you. daughter, so far from the
world
in every human being
M ost o f the teenage g irls
who come to Rosemont arc chronic
runaways whose myriad problems—
personality disoiders. depression,
severe behavioral problems, alcohol
and drug dependency—stem from
the abuse they have suffered No
wonder that their poctrv reflects the
pain, anger and confusion they feel
W ith the work they do at Rosemont
School, no wonder it also contains the
love and the hope that they discover
process
there
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G irls become at-risk in much
higher numbers than boys, yet the
Oregon Children’s Serv ice Division
dev otes 60% o f its strained resources
to troubled teenage boys: Boys typi­
cally act-out their distress in ways
which victimize the comm unity-m ug­
ging. street fighting, and gang activi-
tie s-w lu lc girls arc more likely to
endanger themselves through suicide
or their own sexual exploitation Ig­
noring the problems o f seriously dis­
turbed teenage girls potentially en­
dangers two generations-3 out o f 10
girls in Oregon become teenage moth­
ers—as abuse and emotional dysfunc­
tion cycles through every generation
until recovery take place
Rosemont School works hard to
break this cycle and effect indiv idual
recovery, specializing in the i eat-
ment o f adolescent gnls Now loc.it.d
in North Portland, thev are complet­
ing Phase 1 o f renovating ils new
home, the former Care Vista Nursing
Home site, and plan to move its I,
itv this summer The School s budget
still needs funding to complete this
. c U X t . ’ !<