M ay 7, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
P ahe A4
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RWA
Kaiser
helps
battered
women
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In a society increasingly plagued
by violence, several organizations
are working with Battered W omen’s
A Itemati ves (BW A ), a domestic v io-
lenceagency inC ontraC ostat ounty,
to help young people and their fam
ily members learn appropriate con
flict resolution skills.
A comprehensive Violence Pre
vention Education Program is slated
to begin soon for all seventh graders
in the Mt Diablo Unified School
District (MDUSD). The 30-month
project — starting in May as a pilot
program at Foothill Middle School
in Walnut Creek — will involve
5,000 seventh graders at the district’s
FACTS ABOUT PEER RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE
. Battering is the leading cause o f injury to women. (The National
Committee fo r Injury Prevention and C ontrol 1989)
. Every 9 seconds a woman is battered in the U S. (W om en’s Action
Coalition 1996)
. One in three teens experience violence in their dating relationships.
(Family Research Laboratory, University o f New Hampshire 1996)
• Eighty-seven percent o f teen dating violence perpetrators are males 16
to 17 years o f age. (Education Development Center 1996)
. Violent juvenile delinquents are four times more likely than other
youths to come from homes in which their fathers beat their mothers
(W om en’s Action Coalition 1993)
• Sixty-three percent o f boys 11 to 20 years old who comm it homicide k ill
a man who is abusing their mother. (Uniform Crime Reports, E BI 198.)
nine middle schools over a two-year
period.
The Violence Prevention Educa
tion Program began in 1995 when
BWA and the Junior League o f Oak-
land/East Bay began a partnership
to create curriculum materials cen
tering around the theme "You Never
Win With Violence.” The content
emphasizes the importance o f re
spect, fairness, and teamwork in re
lationships as in sports. Junior
League o f the East Bay will provide
a minimum o f 1500 volunteer hours
through 1999.
Kaiser Permanente and John Muir
Medical Center each contributed
$40,000, and the State o f California
another $350,000 for implementa
tion in the larger community, pa
renting classes, and evaluation. I his
is one o f 13 domestic violence pre
vention programs funded by the State
Department o f Human Health Ser
vices, Maternal and Child Domestic
Violence Section.
Project leaders hope to break the
cycle o f domestic violence by reach
ing children before dating begins.
lence is
is a a growing
•‘Violence
growing social
social and
and
_ tiiiu ^
hoo|isem husias.
Foothill Middle School is enthusias
tic about the pilot program.
“Although we have tew problems
with violence at ourschool, students
are confused about what the real
world is like,” she said. "They won
der whether it’s as violent as the
media and movies they see and the
rap music they hear. They re testing
family values and getting ready to
make important choices. We believe
that if we reach them early enough,
Relationship violence is defined as “a pattern o f assaultive and coercive
behaviors that adults and adolescents use to achieve power and control
over a past or present intimate partner.
Information provided by Battered Women's Alternatives and Youth
Education and Support Services
community health issue.’ said Bob
Eisenman, Ph.D., External Atfairs
Director for Kaiser Perm anente’s
North East Bay Local Market. "By
intervening in early adolescence, we
hope to prevent many ofthe negative
outcomes w e’re seeing in our hospi
tals and Emergency Rooms.’
This new program is far more
comprehensive than existing pro
grams to promote safe and drug-lree
schools, according to Ken Duckert,
Assistant Director for Student Ser
vices for MDUSD.
Starting this spring, project orga
nizers will be in the schools, on the
airwaves and in the community to
send a message that violence is not
acceptable or “cool.” The goal is to
enlist students and their peer lead
ers, parents, teachers, coaches, -------
coun
ers,parents,
t tion
o o o f f c conflict
o „ n i a u is n now
« « the language
spoken,” said Principal Michael
we can make a difference.
"M ost guys think its womanish to
go to a counselor and that it s more
manly to duke it out," said Spike
Moeser, 13, a seventh-grader at Foot
hill Middle School. "You know when
Roth.
Turner’s dream is to "help stu
dents envision a world where per
sonal violence doesn't happen We
want to start young people thinking,
Maybe this is a possibility.
JLOEB is an organization of
women com m itted to promoting
volunteerism, developing the poten
tial o f women and improving com
munities through the effective ac
tion and leadership o f trained volun
there’s going to be a fight. 1 he per
son picking the fight brags about
how he’s going to beat the other guy
so hard. Kids here have mostly little
fights. T hey're usually after school
and off school property so they can’t
selors and other community mem
bers in the effort.
“To improve our community, we
must change attitudes at every age
level,” said Sharon Turner, BWA
Project Director. “ We will involve
teachers and parents as significant
role models in training workshops
Adults and young people will work
together to create youth-centered
messages in expressive arts events
and for media campaigns.”
Each school will establish a con
flict management program with up
to 30 students trained to serve as
peer m ediators. Students having
conflicts at school could self-referto
a counselor or peer mediation. Ad
ministrative staff would step in only
if the problem remained unresolved.
Vice Principal Barbara Weil at
teers.
Its purpose is exclusively educa
tional and charitable. JLOEB has
been serving the Oakland-East Bay
community since 1935. and is part
ofthe Association of Junior L.eagues
International, Inc.
BWA’s mission is to eliminate
domestic violence and help families
.
Wednesday.
The analysis o f entertainment and
a d v e rtisin g fre q u e n tly sho w ed
women as intelligent and good prob
lem-solvers, but focusing heavily on
dating and rom ance, the survey
showed.
Random telephone interview s
with 1,200 children aged 10-17
showed the children agreed with the
conclusions, according to the groups
that released the survey: Children
Now, an advocacy group, and the
Kaiser Family Foundation, a non
profit health care philanthropy,
“ W hat w e 're learning is that
they’regettingboth some really posi
tive images and also some messages
that are limiting, and there's little
doubt that this is part o f the overall
fabric o f expectations that girls grow
up with,” said Lois Salisbury, presi
dent o f Children Now.
The groups looked at several top-
rated television shows,movies, three
weeks o f top 20 music videos and
several issues o f leading teen m aga
zines in fall 1996 for the study.
They found that 4 1 percent o f male
television characters and 60 percent
o f men in the movies were shown at
work, compared to 35 percent of
women in the movies and 28 percent
o f female television characters.
Nearly two-thirds o f female char
•
•
_ j
acters on television and m ovies
talked about romantic relationships,
while only 38 percent o f male char
acters in movies and 49 percent in
television talked about romance or
dating.
The study will be presented at a
conference entitled "Reflections of
Girls in the Media” at the Los Ange
les Public Library, where entertain
ment executives are meeting this
week.
In the survey o f boys and girls
conducted in the first week o f April,
seven out o f 10 girls said yes when
asked if they have ever wanted to
look like a television character. Only
four out o f 10 boys said they wanted
to look like a television character.
“The media is a powerful tool to
Mad cow disease threatens Europe
Mad cow disease may be quietly
spreading across Europe because
farmers and veterinarians are fail
ing to report sick cows, New Scien
tist magazine said Thursday.
It quoted officials across Europe
as saying ignorance and fear were
contributing to the spread, and urg
in g b e tte r c h e c k s fo r b o v in e
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or
mad cow disease).
“O f course we have had (unre
ported) cases o f BSE in Belgium,
the m agazine quoted Em m anuel
Vanopdenbosch, head o f BSE at the
N ational Institute for V eterinary
Research in Brussels, as saying.
He said anim als with strange
sym ptom s o f the central nervous
system
and
ICI 11 had been slaughtered
o
often ended up on superm arket
shelves.
“Frankly, 1 am worried,” he said.
The European Union banned Brit
ish beef exports a year ago, when
sc ie n tists sa id a new form ot
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a
normally rare human equivalent of
BSE, had been identified.
They said eating infected beef
products was the likely cause
But the BSE epidemic that rav
aged British cattle had by then raged
foradecade, with more than 167,000
cases. Many cattle or their products
were exported to Europe and other
countries.
New Scientist quoted officials as
saying the expected number o f Eu
ropean cases had not turned up.
They were not reported,” said
Bram Schreuder, head o f BSE re
search at the Dutch Institute for
A nim al S cience and H ealth in
Lelystad.
He said 57,900 British cattle were
exported to the rest ot Europe tor
breeding between 1985 and 1990
and at least 1,688 o f them should
have become sick. If they were not
reported, “they have entered the food
chain,” he said.
Marc Savey, head o f animal health
research at the French National Cen
ter for Veterinary Studies in Lyon,
said there was also a huge trade in
meat and bone meal — the ground
up and rendered slaughterhouse left
overs that are blamed for spreading
BSE in the first place.
---------_
Hormone replacement market
For more than three decades,
h o rm o n e re p la c e m e n t th e ra p y
(H R T ) has effectiv ely relieved
m en o p au sal sym ptom s and in
creased both length and quality o f
life in postm enopausal w om en.
Research conducted over the last
indicates i that
decade inaicaies
r u HR
n r . I i also re-
duces the incidence o f cardiovascu-
au
•
lar disease and osteoporosis.
A lthough HRT has many known
benefits, use o f estrogen replace
m ent therapy following menopause
has been associated with increased
incidence o f endometrial cancer and
.. .
._____. ____ __
possibly breast cancer
Given the recent controversy over
the use o f HRT, how will the market
for this regimen fare over the next
ten years?
Hormone Replacement Therapy
rev ie ws current know ledge about the
pathophysiology and epidemiology
,......- r - s
of menopause and concomitant con-
ditions such as cardiovascular dis
ease and osteoporosis. It also de
scribes the benefits, risks, and treat
ment issues surrounding HR! as
well as current diagnostic techniques
and therapeutic agents A summary
the e
n o f th
clinical m anagem ent of
menopause in the w orld's seven
major pharmaceutical markets is
presented, qualified by a discus
sion o f unmet needs in HRT. The
study then identifies and evaluates
em erging therapeutics and de
scribes pharmacoeco-nomic trends
and factors that will affect clinical
practice. Finally, it presents a 1995-
2005 forecast of the HRT market in
the seven major markets (France,
Germany, Italy, Japan. Spain, the
United Kingdom, and the United
States)
While the devastation o f mas
sive loading in North Dakota will
be felt for months to come by flood
victims, their immediate needs for
safe water and foods have been
aided through the expertise of di
etitians and foodservice workers.
Discard all wooden spoons, plus
tic utensils and baby bottles and
pacifiers
Throw out practically every
thing, including meat, poultry, fish
and eggs
Throw out all fresh or frozen
flood-dam aged produce
Toss all foods in boxes, fo il or
cellophane
Discard spices and seasonings
including your salt and pepper
Get rid o f all foods stored in
canisters, including f o u r and
sugar
Toss any dented, leaking or
rusted cans
Undamaged can goods can be
salvaged, according to Kramer. She
suggests removing can labels and
using permanent marker to iden
tify the can’s contents, then scrub
bing w ith a brush and strong deter
gent If you have a dishwasher
available, run the cans through a
wash cycle similarly to how you
might normally wash glasses.
cal centers.
1997 GUN TURN-IN
3
B
3
o.
—
-1 -1
£
H
Saturdays, May 10 & 17
Noon to 4 p.m.
North Portland
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church
8501 North Chautauqua
Southeast Portland
Eastport Plaza
4000 S.E. 82nd Ave.
Southwest Portland
United First Methodist Church
S.W. 18th Ave. and Jefferson St.
Tualatin/Clackamas County
Legacy Meridian Park Hospital
' 19300 S.W. 65th
B
J
£
11
1
c
o -
O
food safety
tips
and national level.
The California Division o f Kai
ser Permanente is a prepaid, health
maintenance organization (HMO)
serving almost 5 million members
throughout the state. The Division
has approximately 6,100 physicians
and 55,000 employees. It is orga
nized into 12 local market areas
which are served by 26 major medi
O REG O N
of starting a fight."
A similar program with BWA
involvement at Carquinez Middle
School in Crockett has been highly
effective. 1 wo years after implemen
tation, aggressive acts and suspen
sions are now rare. "Peaceful resolu-
-------
t o n a t i v p « stereotypes
fp re n tv n
reinforce r negative
or
present strong role models for young
girls and boys,” said Matt James,
senior vice president o f the Kaiser
Family Foundation.
Meredith Masters, 13, said it’s
difficult to find positive role models
in the industry.
“ I don’t want to end up like a lot
o f women on TV,” she said. “ It s
really confusing. Here in school they
say go ou, there and be successful,
but on TV we see women who have
to pull their skirts up to get any
thing.”
The survey of boys and girls had
a margin o f error o f plus or minus
3.5 percentage points. It was con
ducted by Lake Sosin Snell & Asso
ciates.
Costa County.
BWA provides a variety of ser
vices including crisis intervention,
emergency and transitional hous
ing, counseling and prevention ser
vices for women, men, children and
teens. BWA has also been a leader in
formulating policy at the local, state
Gun violence is an epidemic • him in a gun for a $50 merchandise certificate
get suspended.”
Spike’s classmate Megan Harden,
13, adds that “word wars" and fights
happen between girls, too. She be
lieves that people-to-people efforts
are especially effective with teens.
“ It's helpful to talk to other kids our
age who understand and have sim i
lar problems,’ she said Both stu
dents look forward to taking part in
the program. They hope it can help
defuse the messages o f violence
which surround them every day.
“ Maybe kids can learn to talk things
out,” suggested Spike, "or they can
go home and punch a pillow instead
Women get mixed message from media
On television, in the movies and
in ads, men are more likely to be
working while most women are pre
occupied with romance and their
looks, according to a study released
flourish. Founded in 1977, BW A is
the largest domestic violence agency
in the Bay Area and the sole agency
serv ing the 800,000 people o f Contra
Gresham
Gresham Fire Dept. Station #4
N.E. 192nd and Halsey
POLICE SUPERVISED
NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Exchange a gun for a $50 gift certificate.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CALL 221-1054
I £ .w oniiw asjpuEipjaui os$ « JQJ un8 e u. m m . Jnunpjd;. un s. MU^OjA un9
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