Volume XXVI, N n in ber 33
Committed to cultural diversity.
August 14, 1996
^ o rtla n ò (©bseruer
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SECTION
: t
■H M
n n t n t it it i t o
-a I v i t it a r
Watercolor
painting course
Mt. Hood Community College is o f­
fering a watercolor paint ing class, “ Paint­
ing N aturally,” at various outdoor loca­
tions on Wednesday, Aug. 21,9:30 a.m.-
1 p.m. A rtist Kathy A lleg ri w ill teach
participants how to paint lush summer
landscapes and enjoy lively lunchtime
dialogue. The first session meets at Gre­
sham C ity Park, followed by sessions at
other community locations. The course
fee is $37. Register fo r Painting Natural­
ly (course number ART5PN-91) in the
college’ s admissions office. M HC C is
located at 26000 S.E. Stark St. in Gre­
sham. For more inform ation see page 3 1
o f the Summer 1996 Schedule o f classes
or call the Continuing Education Center
at 699-6979.
left is Jerry Walker, co-chairperson
o f the Portland area HIV Services
Planning Council (Ryan White CARE
Act. Title 1). The Council wants to
hear from people living with HIV,
their providers, caregivers, and
family members to find out how
service needs are being met, for
their 1996 Needs Assessment of
HIV Services. If you would like to
complete a survey; be included on a
list o f possible participants for focus
groups or the provider/caregiver
forum; or receive a summary o f the
results (available Nov., 1996) call
the HIV Services Planning Council at
(503) 306-5730.
Sax, sun & H2O
The W ater T o w e r M a ll in Johns
Lan ding , 533 1 SW M acadam , to host
the annual N oon Tunes C oncert Se­
ries, sponsored by K K J Z & S outh­
west A irlin e s , Saturdays, A ugust, 17
& 24 1996, 2 :00 to 5:00 p.m. to ben­
e fit C o m m u n ity V is io n , Boys & G irls
A id S ociety & O M S I (O regon M use­
um o f Science & In d u stry).
Photo by Timothy Collins
Family
picnic night
The intoxicating chamber jazz style o f
Jim Brown and his orchestra is heaven on
earth. Get the kids together and bring the
whole fam ily for an evening o f picnick­
ing, music, kids activities and games.
Clowns and face painters w ill be on hand
to add excitement to this special event.
Tuesday, Aug. 20,5:30-8:30 pm, Jenkins
Estate, 8005 SW Grabhom Rd., Aloha,
OR.
Earth in mind
Environm ental author, David O rr,
(E cological Literacy and Earth in M ind)
w ill present “ Reconnecting the Pieces:
Ecological Design and Education in the
21st Century," at 7:30 pm, Wednesday,
A ug. 21, in the C ou ncil Chamber,
Templeton Student Center, 0615 SW
Palatine H ill Road. Tickets are $15 and
are available at the door. Seating is lim ­
ited.
Ski tour
& ski doo
Blue Lake Park (Portland) hosts the
1996 Cafe de Colombia Water Ski Tour
& Sea Doo Wakeboard Series “ Budweiser
Championships” on August 16, 17, and
18. Admission free on Friday (2pm-6pm),
and $9 Adults, $4 Children at the gate on
Saturday (8am-4pm) and Sunday ( 10am-
4pm). For tickets call Overton’s Ticket
Hotline 800-334-6541.
Breast cancer
awareness
As a part o f its commitment to the
greater Portland community and the Port­
land Racefor the Cure taking place Sun­
day, September 8, Chevron is supporting
a breast cancer awareness program which
features a variety o f educational and fund­
raising activities from August 18 to Sep­
tember 8, 1996.
SU B M ISSIO N S: Community
Calendar information will be given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
»
Human
rights
salute
T
he M e tro p o lita n Human |
Rights Commission (MHRC)
is seeking nominees for its
annual Human Rights Awards.
The awards recognize people and orga­
nizations who have made a contribution to I
the acceptance o f diversity and support o f
human rights that are so important to Port- [
land and Multnomah County.
The awards w ill be presented at the I
MHRC Awards Dinner, Wednesday, Oc- [
tober 16 at Beaumont Middle School.
Nominations for these awards may be
submitted to M HRC by w riting an account
one page in length, and sending it to the |
MHRC office. Businesses and non-profits
nominated must be located in Multnomah
County.
A committee o f M HR C Commissioners I
w ill make the final choice. The deadline |
for submissions is Tuesday, September 3.
The following awards will be present­
ed:
Russell A. Peyton Award. The Russell
A. Peyton Award is presented each year I
for “ outstanding service and commitment |
Highlighting
Hawthorne
W ith a 11 foot long, 7 feet high model
o f Cinderella’s shoe parading gracefully
up Hawthorne Blvd., the parade kicks o ff
the 12th Annual Hawthorne Street Fair,
Saturday, August 17 from IOam-6pm,
and Sunday, August 18 from 11-5. I t ’s a
fun, fam ily event, enjoyed by the neigh­
borhood, the business people, the com­
munity, and the participants.
B
Oregon’s helmet law
by T he B icycle T ransportation
A lliance _______________________
n 1993, the Oregon Legislature
passed a mandatory bicycle
helmet law requiring that all
riders under 16 years of age wear a
helmet when cycling on a public way.
I
One o f the first statewide mandatory hel­
met laws in the country, Oregon’s experience
interests bicycle and safety advocates around
the country.
The Federal Center for Disease Control
fundedastudy, published in September, 1995,
that examined the law ’ s effect on bicycling
injuries and fatalities, using data from the
Oregon Department o f Transportation on
bicycle and helmet usage rates-gathered from
observation sites on stale highways around
the state-and telephone surveys, along with
injury and death data from the Oregon Trau­
ma and Vital Statistics Department.
The authors make strong claims as to the
law’s effectiveness; but, by making blatantly
false assumptions cast doubt on the report’s
conclusions that the law led to decreased
head injuries and increased helmet use among
youth riders. (Wearing a helmet may impart
a greater degree o f protection to a cyclist in
a crash; hut. mandating the wearing o f hel­
mets fa ils to effectively address the pub lic
health threat posed by traffic o r to s ig n ifi­
cantly improve cyclist safety.)
First, adult rider statistics are lumped with
that o f the target population, youth under 16.
In addition, falling ridership rates are ig­
nored.
These two assumptions severely skew anal­
yses and conclusions. Bicycle ridership was
assumed to be constant during the study
period (1989-1994).
ODOT observations show that actual num­
bers o f youth riders declined by 25% during
this time. Taking into account population
growth (approximately 10%), youth cycling
rates fell by almost 30% while total ridership
declined 6.5%.
Therefore, youth injuries and fatalities should
have fallen 30% simply due to less cycling by
and economic issue has stimulated many I
businesses to take bold steps to achieve a j
successful diverse workforce. M HRC w ill
recognize these efforts by presenting a
Business Diversity Award for outstanding
results in recruiting and maintaining a di- j
verse workforce.
The Non-Profit Diversity Award. The
Non-Profit Diversity Award recognizes a j
Photo by Timothy Collins
children (itself a disturbing health trend).
Health statistics show that bicycle-related
injuries for children under 16 fell from 78 in
1989 to 60 in 1994-a drop o f 23%.
Bicycle-related head injuries (BHI)--which
the helmet requirement should have affected
the most—fell from 40 to 29 in the same time
p erio d -a drop o f 27%.
Deaths due to BHIs actually doubled even
though youth helmet use increased from 6%
to 49% during this time period.
Ridership declined, the rate o f bicycle-
related injuries actually increased during the
study period, contrary to the report’s conclu­
sion that B H I’s fell abruptly.
The study also claims that the mandatory
helmet law caused an increase in he1 net
wearing by cyclists.
While helmet use doubled in the year
follow ing implementation, helmet use qua­
drupled in the year before the laws was
introduced in the legislature.
Was the helmet law a success?
I f the goal was to increase helmet use, then
it may have reinforced the trend to more
helmet use. Ifthe goal was to improve cycling
safety, then the law had no significant effect.
The greatest threat to the health and safety
o fchildren and adults in Oregon remains the
automobile.
The Center o f Disease Control has already
determined that car crashes are the leading
cause o f death for Americans aged
4 to 34 years old.
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Among a selected few
ortland artist Lisa Haven is one
ative open forum, the institute is an intensive
of eight artists from around the
week-long program to advance the artists’
world chosen to participate In
technical expertise in adaptive techniques for
this year's Yamagata International Visu­
people with disabilities.
al Arts Institute, a program of Very
The institute is named for H iro Yamagata,
Special Arts.
its founder and a long-time supporter o f Very
P
The institute w ill take place at the Corcoran
School o f A rt in Washington, D.C. Aug. 10-
17.
One o f the only international events that
brings professional artists together for a ere-
Special Arts.
During the week. Haven w ill jo in artists
with disabilities from the United States and
other countries to learn from each other
through presentations and studio sessions.
to protecting the human rights o f all per­
sons in the C ity o f Portland and M ult­
nomah County.” This year’s Russell A.
Peyton Award has special poignancy and
meaningsince Russell Peyton passed away
early this year.
M H R C 's Business Diversity Award.
The importance o f diversity as a business j
Haven’s road to the institute has been both
rewarding and challenging.
Formally educated in mathematical mod­
eling o f economic and natural resource sys­
tems, she found a way to incorporate her
intellectual and artistic talents into singular
artworks.
A fter a skull and neck fracture resulted in
partial paralysis and achange in her cognitive
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Continued to page A7
not-for-profit organization that demon­
strates its core values by incorporating
cross-cultural actions into its daily activi­
ties and maintaining a diverse workforce.
Community Harmony Recognition.
One o f the most uplifting events o f the
MHRC Award Dinner is the Community
Harmony Recognition. Throughout our
community there are many people and
organizations who cross ethnic and cultur­
al lines to respond to injustice and promote
harmony as a routine part o f their daily
lives. MHRC w ill recognize these efforts
in a booklet that w ill be distributed at the |
Award Dinner.
Multnomah County Chair Beverly Stein I
and Portland Mayor Vera Katz w ill present
the Multnomah County Chair Award and
M ayor’s Award for Human Rights, re- j
spectively.
This year. Miracle Theater w ill be pre-1
senting scenes from its Hispanic Heritage
month show “ Chavez” , honoring labor
leader Cesar Chavez at the M HRC Award |
Dinner. Cost for the dinner is $12.
Oregon’s
camping
adventure
S
ummer camping opportunities
In Oregon state parks for the
next two weeks should provide
campers with plenty of choices.
Campers w ill find abundant tent camping
at some parks on the coast and inland (fo r a
sure-thing, reservations need to be made at
least two days in advance by calling 1-800-
452-5687, 8 a m.-8 p.m., M-F).
Some sites also have campsites w ith facil-
ities-w ater and electrical hookups-avail-
able for walk-in customers. The fo llo w in g
campgrounds have some great sites:
Coastal: Electrical or full-hookup sites--
South Beach, near Newport; Cape Blanco
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