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Volume X X V I, Number 19
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C ommitted to cultural diversity,
May X, 1996
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King School Carwash
Symposium for Non-Profits
The two day symposium “Together: The
Community Sector,” is scheduled May 9
10 at the Oregon Convention Center. The
symposium is to help non-profits work
with other sectors to build and strengthen
the community. Twenty-seven seasons on
management, fundraising, leadership, phi
lanthropy and other hot issues are sched­
uled. Call 731-9051 for additional infor­
mation.
Lecture On Women’s Health
Medicaljoumalist Leslie Lawrence’s lec-
ture,“lfHelathcare Were Women Centered,
will be held May 9, at 7 p.m. at the First
Unitarian Church, 1012 SW 12th. Lawrence
is the Author of “Outrageous Practices; The
AlarmingTruth About How Medicine Treats
Women,” and her talk will cover topics
presented in her book. Childcare is provided
and the facility has wheel chair access. She
will also keynote at the Second Oregon
Women’s Health Network on May 10. Both
events are sponsored by the Oregon’s Wom­
en’s Health Network.
Union Station Turns 100
One of the largest displays of rail equip­
ment will be a part of Union Station’s
centennial celebration May 10-12. The
event will include displays of rail equip­
ment from ail over the country, building
tours, food and live music. The event will
run from 11:30 a.m. to midnight with a
Mother’s Day Brunch from 10 a m. to 6
p.m.
B
Good Kids To Receive Recognition
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Martin Luther King School is having a
carwash Saturday May 11 and 18 from 10
a m. to 4 p.m., at the US Bank at the
intersection o f MLR Jr. Blvd and
Killingsworth Proceeds will go toward a
bust o f Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The
sculpture is designated to be located at the
convention center.
SECTION
P r o m is e K
ing
loria DeLaCruz, and Henry
Minniewhearther are what you
would call good kids - excellent
school attendance, no gang affiliations,
no use of illicit drugs and a knack to
succeed.
Yet DeLaCruz and Minniewheather’s
names have never graced the pages of news­
papers. They have never had their faces splat­
tered all over television like their wayward
peers.
Not to worry, the good efforts of DeLacruz
15, and Minniewheather 18 and many good
kids in Portland will no longer go unrecog­
nized. That is, if the new achievement cam­
paign launched last week by the Urban
League, received the support o f area school
administrators, parents and the community.
Through out the year, the Campaign will
honor Youth for improvement and achieve­
ment in grades, attendance, community ser­
vice and leadership. The campaign will also
honor area children and families who have
made a difference.
This move by the no-profit organization
serves as good news to good students who
have been left out in the scheme of social
programs. It also seems to fulfill the yearn­
ings of local pundits who have made clarion
calls to society to start rewarding excellence
and moral behavior among its youth.
“The vast majority of youth who are nei­
ther ‘gifted’ nor ‘at risk’ are often ignored,
left to rise or fall depending on their own
initiative,” says Brian Black, the League’s
director o f education and project coordina-
Gloria Delacruz of Portland Street Academy.
tor. “Our program will work to encourage
such youth to achieve by celebrating their
achievement when they do the right thing"
A series of meetings is being proposed to
help develop a media Kit for Radio and T V,
highlighting positive youth and parent in-
volvement programs
The media meetings are expected to ex­
plore how to use the media more effectively
to show positive images. There is no word yet
on how and when these media meetings will
take place.
The National Urban League has identified
Saturday, September 2 1 as a day on which all
114 of its affiliates will gather communities
together to celebrate the achievements of chil­
dren who have excelled in academics, the arts,
athletics, community service and building.
The Portland League is one of the five
local affi liates to receive a five year, $ 100,000
grant from the Borden Foundation as part of
a National Campaign for Achievement by the
national body.
The campaign, named after the local league
ex-director E. Shelton Hill, will have student
corps drawn from schools in the Jefferson
cluster and other schools in North\Northeast
Portland.
“All too often, we see negative images of
our youngsters in the media, with the not-to-
subtle inference that they represent all Afri­
can - America youth and other youth o f color.
We know that’s not through.’’noted Jim
Boehlke, the local league chair.
“ 'Do The Right Thing’ campaign is on
today to recognize young people’s good
deeds, their accomplishments and determined
efforts to boost their grades in school. These
young people deserve to have their stories
told, loudly and clearly.” urged Boehlke, in
the midst of students of Portland street Acad­
emy, who had converged in a makeshift class
room down at the Urban League’s basement.
Portland’s Trees Find Friends
« »
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Group Plans To Develop Urban Forest
Mother’s Day Sale
A Mother’s Day pottery and craft sale
will be held May 9-11 from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. daily at the Sophia Center/Close Line
Studio on the Marylhurst Campus, Hwy
43. The sale will include clay sculptures,
pottery, cards and other art by the center’s
staff and volunteers. Call 636-5151 for
more information.
Stories and Crafts For Kids
Friends Of Trees
volunteers plant trees
along Alberta street.
Literature comes to life at Powell’s
Books for Kids Saturday, May 18 at 2 p.m
with Scary and Silly Stories preformed by
Kenneth Scales, Alyson Ayn Osborn and
David Heath. Also at Powell’s Wednes­
day, May 15 children will be able to make
a kale idoscope and hear Stories about stars.
PSU’s African
Cultural Night!
Financial Planning
Roundtable
The Mt. Hood Community College Dis­
trict Foundation will host an estimate and
financial planning roundtable, May 14,
noon-1:30 p.m., in the college’s Board
Room. The roundtable is the first in a series
of free professional development sessions
scheduled to provide opportunities for
learning and networking. An RSVP is re­
quested by May 10. Call 667-7206.
Woman’s Day At PCC
The Portland Community College
Womens' Resource Centers will sponsor
Womens’ Day at PCC Saturday, May
from 9 a m. to 2 p.m. Women will have a
chance to sample PCC programs through
mini-classes, attend workshops on how to
get started and survive in school and meet
business and social service representatives.
The event will take place at all three cam­
puses. Child care is free.
Stamp Fair
The Semi-annual Portland Stamp Fair
will be held the weekend of May 11 - 12 at
heTravelodge Hotel, 1441 NE 2nd Ave.,
just off Interstate 5 and Weilder. Sixteen
dealers from through out the country will
attend and give free appraisals. Door priz­
es will be given away hourly and collectors
16 and younger will receive free gifts. Call
-800-783-7589.
SU B M ISSIO N S: Community
Calendar information will be given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
A poster o f Ken Griffey Junior
replaces one o f Rod Strickland
on downtown building.
ven If I were certain the world
neighborhood associations, churches, youth
would end tomorrow, I would
groups and civic organizations to “strengthen
plant a tree today,” said Ger­
neighborhoods and create a healthy environ­
man religious leader Martin Luther.
ment and enhance the quality of urban life.”
Friends of Trees want to plant 1 4 0 ,0 0 0
Many trees were lost in this years harsh
trees through out Portland by 2001.
weather and according to a report by the
E
The non-profit group has teamed up with
Portland General Electric to “Seed the Fu­
ture, a campaign to plant trees along streets
and in yards, also in parks and natural areas.
The organization plans to work with schools.
Metropolitan Group, cities loose trees four
times faster than they can be replaced.
Friends of Trees has planted 3,000 trees
and 30,000 seedlings since 1989. April 21st
about 70 volunteers planted 55 trees along
NE Alberta Street between Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd and 29th Ave. The project was
cosponsored with Sabin Community Associ­
ation and Friends of Alberta Street. The
group also planted trees along Sandy Blvd.
Shade trees can reduce cooling costs 10 to
50 percent depending on climate while hous­
es on tree lined streets can bring as much as
2 1 percent higher selling price than ones on
street with no trees, the report says.
New applicants may Call 282-8846.
T r i- M e t S a y s S y s t e m S a f e
fter two separate shooting inci­
stop slapping a woman. He said his client was
dents on Tri-Met vehicles, the
all but ignored by the driver.
company insists the system is
•here were 86 assaults on busses and
safe. Officials, however, will increase
trains in 1990. They dropped each year to 54
security measures.
in 1993. In 1994 the counting system added
A
On May 3 three men were wounded during
a shooting at the Max’s Convention Center
station. A week earlier a man was shot and
killed on a Tri-Met bus on Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd.
Incidents are going down, and down sub­
stantially,” said Tri-Met general manager
Tom Walsh.
Walsh said the downward shift of inci­
dents and the significant increase in riders,
make for a safe system, but admits Tri-Met
still has a ways to go to improve safety.
Portland attorney Thomas D’Amore thinks
the transit company should provide data to
prove the system is safe. D’Amore is repre­
senting a man who was beaten unconscious
on a bus when he asked another passenger to
K
new statistics to include cities like Beaver
ton, and Hillsboro. That year there were 120
assaults and the number dropped to 77 in
1995.
“Our goal remains pretty simple, and that
is a goal of guaranteeing absolute safety for
our customers,” Walsh said
Tri-Met will install automatic vehicle lo­
cator systems on all 600 busses in two months.
I he new systems will also allow dispatchers
to hear what happens on the busses.
Forty TV cameras have been added to Tri-
Met busses, and closed-circuit TV cameras
have been installed at three isolated MAX
platforms along the Banfield freeway. It was
there that a 44-year-old man was beaten to
death
A lieutenant will be added to the police
unit and will be responsible for developing a
four year plan for the unit.
After a meeting with the Northeast Coali­
tion of Neighbors, 10 rider advocates were
hired to ride loules, 4, 5 ,6 ,8 ,4 1, 72, and 75.
I he rider advocates are not armed but they
wear uniforms and carry two way radios.
The company has a grant to hire another
nine rider advocates and will hire additional
security during events like Cinco de Mayo
and the Rose Festival.
Walsh said a few years ago he would have
identified a handful of “problem lines.” But
reports of assaults have dropped on those
lines.
Problems seem now to center in areas like
downtown known for drug dealing until a
recent crackdown.
Wash urges passengers to take normal
precautions and evaluate and recommend
changes to neighborhood groups.
Ali Mazrui
Friday, May 17, Portland State Univer­
sity’s Association o f African Students pre­
sents the 16th Annual African Cultural
Night, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Smith
[ Center Ballroom (Room 355, 1825 SW
! Broadway) at PSU.
The evening’s events include a dinner
with African cuisine; entertainment by Or-
| chestra Afri-Sound from Seattle; dance
performances by Groupo de Capoeira and
the Harambee Kids; a fashion showdirect-
| ed by Wambui; and a brief lecture on
‘African Current Affairs: An African Per­
spective" by Ali Mazrui, director o f the
Institute o f Global Cultural Studies at
Binghamton University in New York.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Dinner is served
from 7 to 8:30 p.m Tickets-available at
the door. For information call the Associ-
I ation of African Students at 725-5659