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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 1997)
» ■ ■ . •" - ■«Ä! 1 W W , . a n ? :/;-« ,5 -.- • ; / ' ’ j f * L < & * Í » W i Page A4 DEC. 30. 1997 ÍElir ^Jortlanò (Ohscrucr Minorities May Be key To Reducing Number Of Blood Shortages African Americans and Hispanic Americans are donating blood more often than they did in the beginning ol the decade, according to two blood donation surveys Accelerating (Ins interesting trend c an help prevent seasonal blood short ages, s a id Byron Buhner, president o t American's Blood Centers I AB( ’ ). the nation's largest netw ork of inde pendent, non-prolitconmiunity blood centers "While this news is encouraging, our members are always looking for ways to increase minority participa tion in their community blood donor programs, especially during the holi days when many blood centers across the country experience shortages.” Buhner said A November I 9 9 6 Louis Harris & Associates survey commissioned by American s Blood Centers showed that 3 7 '/ ol both African Americans and Hispanic Americans had donated blood in their lifetime. Separately, a survey conducted by the National Heart. Lung and Blood Institute in 1993 showed that 33% ol African Americans had donated blood at least once, while 28% of Hispanic Ameri- cans have donated blood. To summarize, the findings show that 4% more African Americans are donating blood (from 33% to 37% ). which represents a 12% increase in the rate ol blood donation. Likew ise. 9% more Hispanic American are donating blood (from 28% to 3 7 '/ ), which represents a 32 '/ increase in the rate ol blood donation. Overall, there has been a 2 1% rate of increase in blood donation among A m erica’s leading minorities, the reports show. A frican A m ericans and H is panic A m erican s are the U nited S ta te s ’ tw o largest and fastest- grow ing m in o rities, acco rd in g to the 1990 U S C ensus W ith popu latio n s o f 10 m illion and 22.4 m illio n r e s p e c tiv e ly , A fric a n A m ericans ( 1 2 '/ ) and H ispanic A m ericans (9% ) c o n stitu te a p p ro x im ately 21% of the p o p u la tion. In c o n tra st, a c c o rd in g Io the L ouis H arris & A sso ciates fin d in g . C a u c a s ia n s m ake up about 79% ol the U S. p o p u la tion and 53% have d o nated blood in th eir lifetim e. Rare Blooil Types While blood compatibility is not Innovative Teaching at Madison High School based on race, rare blood types often are. Numerous blood subty pcs exist within the traditional and most well known A, B and O blood types. For example. U-negative, Dutfy(a, hi negative and J s( b)-negative are bloi id antigens lound almost exclusively among African Americans. One in I ,(WM) African Americans has these rare blood antigens, except for Dully-negative, which is more common. “The jobol saving African Ameri can lives is a special-though not exclusive—responsibility of African Americans,” said Washington. D.C co u n cilm em b er C h arlen e Drew Jarvis. Councilmember Jarvis is the daughter ol Dr. Charles R Drew, a well known African American pio neer in blooil banking. “Each one ol us can save the lives ol three or four people by simply taking one hour out of our busy holiday schedules to do nate one unit ol blood. It’s safe: it’s easy; and it is one ol the most per sonal gifts one person can give to another." M ore particip atio n in Blood Drives is key to Ending Blood Short ages. Appollonia Ponce is the head instructor of an innovative bilin gual program at Madison High School. She ise.xcitedly involved in the school's pioneer project. I'he Spanish speaking students are taught from texts w ritten in their native language. T his is based on a common sense ap proach of teaching basic English e f f e c tiv e ly and e f f ic ie n tly . Appolloma explains. "If you teach them in their language, it enhances their English." Ihe two courses. Health and Global Studies are taught by her in Spanish There are many practical v alues to this new program According to Appolloma. "When you teach the youngsters in the maintenance ol their language, they hav e developed another job skill that they can use when they enter the world of work. If you only teach them English, then you have not developed their lan guage and they then lose their lan guage and their learning time." A basic prem ise o f the pro- gram is to involve the stu d en ts in th e ir fu ller role in so ciety . They are being p repared to be c o n trib uting citizen s. A ppollom a shares th is g r e a te r v is io n w ith the School B oard so they can act for the good ol the w hole. If this can n o t be ach iev ed as a team e f fort. she raises the c h a lle n g in g q u e stio n . "W hat co ntext do they (the stu d e n ts) have for a full en Ira n c h ise m e n t into so ciety ?" flic textbooks used in class are up-to-date and appropriate. It took Appollonia two years to acquire them Based on the Spanish textbooks, she teaches meaningful matters like conflict resolution. AIDS awareness, stress management, current events and other interesting topics I'he students are lead through the user-friendly Internet. They arc- taught how toaccess information to help themselves fhe two resources needed to tur- tlier this model program is money anil tune Its successes are worth repealing throughout O regon s school system More money is needed for books and more tune is needed by Appolloma to provide data proving the effectiveness ol the program If the School Bo,ml and State- can give assistance, a w in-win situ alion would result. "Students who have a sense ol themselves as lilc-long learners and the validation of who they are and what they can contribute to our so ciety is definitely a win-win situa tion," says Appolloma. If you would like inserviee or staff development, you may con sult with Appollonia Ponce at 281- (1601 or Madison High School at 916-522». a n d S p ir it Bv J o y R vm o s T h ere is a “d a n c e " betw een m an a n d N a tu re as s e a s o n s ch an g e. We m ove w ith N a tu re ’s forces in ad ynam ic way On many lev els, we seek b alan ce in ad lu stin g to each seaso n al change. W in ter is here. A ceo rd in g to ( h iñ ese m edical th in k in g , the Yin force o f the U niverse is do m i nant at this tim e. E lson Haas. M l ) d e sc rib e s the Yin p rin cip le at w ork in w inter as "N atu re in her restin g seaso n , q u ie t, w ith d ra w n , d eep in the e a rth and ro o ts, p rep arin g for S p rin g ." As N ature c h a ra c te ristic a lly becom es m ore Yin, so do our b o d ies re fle c t the c h a n g e .W e start to go m ore w ithin ourselves, co nserving our en erg ies and re sources T here are som e b asic p rin ciples of eating in harm ony with N ature M acro b io tic d ie titia n s. Ki -istina I'ui n e re x p la in s that “lo cally grow n, seasonal fruits and vegetables help you adapt to your su rro u n d in g s by subtly c o n n e c t ing you to the rhythm o f the se a so n s.” She adds that we should eat w hole, u n refined foods that YOU ARE INVITED TO "I Have A Dream” A Tribute to are cooked appropriately for each season. E ating according to the s e a sons is optim al as well as e c o nom ical. F ruits are not as plenti ful in the w inter m onths. The w inter fruits are apples, oranges, pears and kiw i. Many w inter vegetables have th eir "e n e rg ie s" deep w ithin the earth. This is especially true with ed ib le roots and tubers. T he win ter veg etab les are carro ts, tu r nips, a rtich o k es, onions anil p o tatoes. The E a rth 's energ ies as w ell as our own are also m oving in w ardly in the w inter. We req u ire m ore rest, feeling w ithdraw n and se n sitiv e . We draw upon inner re a litie s through dream ing and quiet re fle c tio n during w inter. I hey help us to reg enerate s p iri tually. T he in te rp la y betw een o u r selves and the seasonal forces of N ature are unique. W hen the se a sons change, we change. As we work in harmony with Nature's laws during winter, this pre pares us for Spring. Spring is a time of rebirth and an inner cleansing of our bodies. We also move energeti cally outward with renewed creativ ity and inspiration. D isclaim er: I am not a m ed i cal doctor and cannot prescribe or make any medical claim s. I am a student of the H ealth Sci ences. I f you have a health con cern, please consult w ith a l i censed m edical p ra c titio n e r. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968 Reverend John W. Garlington, Jr. 1937-1986 livitéfa Destri' "The Bridge Builder" in our community Special Music / Special Speakers 13™ AMNÜA1L Sunday, January 11,1998 4:00p.m. at Maranatha Church 4222 NE 12th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97211 T. Allen Bethel, Senior Pastor For more information, contact John Parker at 288-7241 or 284-7563 BEAUM ONT CLEANERS •4217 NE Fremont Portland, Oregon 97213 (503) 249-5972 $12 off of $30 or more $8 off of $20 or more $4 off of $12 or more 25% off Blankets 7:30 - 6:30 M-F 9:00 - 4:00 Sat. MAKTON LUTHER r a t e , j R. Monday, January 19, 1998 Jefferson High School Perfonning Aits Center 5210 N. Kerby 12:00 - 6:00 pan. ADMISSION: «$1 donation or 2 cans of non-perishable food A Production ol World Arts Foundation, Inc. Sponsored by Portland Association of Teachers. Portland Schools. Nike Inc., Tucker Charitable Trust, Black United Fund of Oregon. Jefferson High School, and Oregon Education Association. For Information Call 222-1457 I 1 t
