Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, February 18, 1998, Page 4, Image 4

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    4
Page A4
FEB. IX, 1998
(The IJortlanò (©bseruer
Contract Awarded for Tobacco
Awareness Campaign
T he O reg o n H ealth D iv isio n
an n o u n ced th at a c o n tra c t fo r the
S tatew id e A w a re n e ss and E d u ­
c a tio n C am p aig n , an im p o rta n t
c o m p o n e n t o f the T o b a c c o P re ­
v en tio n and E d u catio n P ro g ram ,
has b een aw ard ed to the O reg o n
T o b a c c o P r e v e n tio n A llia n c e
(O T PA ).
“ I am p le a se d th a t we are able
to p resen t this h ig h ly v isib le e d u ­
ca tio n a l p ro g ra m to h elp in fo rm
O re g o n ia n s o f the d an g ers to to ­
b a c c o ,” said G ary W eeks, d ir e c ­
to r, D ep a rtm e n t o f H um an R e ­
v e rtisin g and R ogers & A sso c i­
ates Public R elatio n s (L o s A n g e ­
les) and H ouston H erstek F avat
A d v ertisin g (B o sto n ), n a tio n a lly
re c o g n iz e d leaders in to b a c c o
aw aren ess ed u c a tio n e ffo rts.
“ This is the first m ajor tob acco
aw aren ess cam p aig n to h ap p en
in O reg o n , and we have tak en
great care in our se le c tio n o f the
firm that w ill do this w o rk ,” said
E linor H all, H ealth D iv isio n a d ­
m in istra to r. “ We are c o n fid e n t
that O TPA can d eliv er and e ffe c ­
tive pro g ram for u s.”
s o u rc e s . “ S tu d ie s fro m o th e r
sta te s show that m edia and p u b ­
lic relatio n s are an im portant part
o f a c o m p re h e n siv e to b acco p re ­
v en tio n p rogram .
T his cam paign, com bined w ith
the o th e r to b acco p re v e n tio n a c ­
tiv itie s tak in g place th ro u g h o u t
the state, w ill help red u ce to ­
b a c c o c o n su m p tio n and im prove
the h ealth and p ro d u c tiv ity o f
O re g o n ia n s."
T he O TPA is led by P o rtland-
b ased Pac/W est C om m unications
and in clu d es A sh er/G o u ld A d­
HUD Initiative Supports Oregon’s
Successful Welfare-to-Work Efforts
The latest U S. Department o f
Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) Neighborhood Networks
center in Oregon opened the newly-
named Margaret Carter Apartments
on Thursday, January 29 from 5
p.m. to 8 p.m. the ceremony was
held in the Neighborhood Networks
center at 626 NE Brazee St., Apt.
#47, in northeast Portland
Launched in September 1995 by
HUD, Neighborhood Networks is
a com munity-based initiative that
provides residents o f HUD-insured
and-assisted housing with on-site
access to computer technology, re­
sources and job training skills as a
vehicle to im proved self-suffi­
ciency.
More than 330 Neighborhood
Networks centers nationwide offer
housing residents a variety o f re­
sources such as computer training,
Internet access, job readiness sup­
port, microenterprise development,
GED certification, health care and
social services, adult education
classes and youth services.
Representative Margaret Carter,
after whom the Neighborhood Net­
works center is named, spoke at the
grand opening along with repre­
sentatives from the local Portland
HUD office and Housing Our Fami­
lies, the nonprofit owner o f the hous­
ing development.
The Neighborhood Networks cen­
ter at Margaret Carter Apartments
will provide nine computers for about
75 families. The developm ent is
owned by Housing Our Families
(HOF), a nonprofit organization dedi­
cated to empowering low-income
families, with special support for
single parents.
Ten Neighborhood Networks Cen­
ters Now Open in Oregon
On January 27, a Neighborhood
Networks center also opened at 3983
N. Mississippi Avenue in Portland.
This new center serves more than
200 residents o f several nearby hous­
ing complexes, including the Betty
Campbell, Albina Plaza and C.A.
W hite developm ents. Five other
Neighborhood Networks centers are
open in Portland: Avenue Plaza apart­
ments, Estates Plaza Apartments,
Emerson Plaza Apartments, Alberta
Street A partm ents and K irkland
Union Manor III.
Neighborhood Networks centers
are also in operation at Glen Ridge
Apartments and Glen Ridge Terrace
in Medford and Aloha Park Apart­
ments in Aloha. With the addition o f
the centers opened this week, ten
Neighborhood Networks centers are
now in operation in Oregon. Plans
are underway for at least a dozen
more Neighborhood Networks cen­
ters in the state.
“The Neighborhood Networks
centers that are developing through­
out Oregon are giving HUD-insured
and-assisted housing residents an
opportunity to learn computer skills
that they need to compete for jobs
in this technological age,” said Port­
land HUD director Tom Cusack.
“These and other HUD welfare-to-
work initiatives complement the
highly successful efforts o f the
state.”
Welfare caseloads in Oregon
have dropped more than 54 percent
since January 1993, the fourth high­
est reduction in the nation behind
only Wyoming, Idaho and Wiscon­
sin, according to U S. Department
o f Health and Human Services sta­
tistics.
B ecause N eig h b o rh o o d N e t­
w orks re c e iv e s only m inim al
fed eral fu n d in g and re lie s p r i­
m arily on local su p p o rt, cen ters
develop strong p a rtn e rsh ip w ith
lo c a l b u s in e s s e s , n o n p ro fits ,
e d u c a tio n a l in stitu tio n s, faith -
b ased o rg a n iz a tio n s, fo u n d a ­
tio n s, h o sp ita ls, and fe d e ra l,
c o u n ty and state g o v ern m en ts.
lalmer To Speak At Political
Science Inaugural Lecture
Donald G. Balm er, who has
served on the faculty o f Lewis &
Clark College for nearly half a cen­
tury, will present the U.G. Dubach
Professor o f Political Science Inau­
gural Lecture, “Notes from a Jour­
nal,” Sunday, Feb. 22, 4 p.m., in
Agnes Flanagan Chapel, Lewis &
Clark College, 0615 S.W. Palatine
Hill Road. The lecture is free and
open to the public.
Balmer, who came to Lewis &
Clark College in 1951, is widely
recognized and respected for his
teaching, his public service and his
persistent interest and astute analy­
sis o f the political and electoral
process.
“Professor Balmer is a pillar o f
the institution and more,” said Curtis
Johnson, dean o f social sciences
and professor o f political science.
“He has helped to elevate the Col­
lege too its present stature as a
liberal arts college o f top rank na­
tionally. His guidance, wisdom,
time, and dedication have been in­
valuable.”
The U.G. D ubach P rofessor­
ship in Political Science is nam ed
for U lysses G rant D ubach, whom
The O regonian nam ed in 1951 as
one o f 100 men who had made the
greatest contribution to the de­
velopm ent o f O regon in its first
Donald G. Blâmer U.G. Dubach Professor o f Political Science
100 years. D ubach was professor
and chair o f Lew is & C la rk ’s po­
litical science d epartm ent from
1947 to 1958.
He joined Lewis & Clark retir­
ing as dean o f men and chair o f the
political science department at Or­
egon State University.
Employment Department increases fraud
convictions in 1997
The Oregon Employment Depart­
ment cracked down on unemploy­
ment insurance fraud in 1997, in­
creasing convictions by 46 percent
over 1996. The department received
convictions on 82 individuals who
illegally collected money from the
state ’ s unemployment coffer, result­
ing in $363,576 in restitution to be
paid to the unemployment insurance
trust fund. In addition to restitution,
20 individuals were sentenced to jail
time for up to 105 days. Most o f
those convicted were sentenced to
probation, and several also received
fines, community service, and work-
crew assignments.
The unemployment insurance trust
fund consists o f taxes paid by Oregon
employers for the purpose o f paying
unemployment benefits to workers
who lost their jobs through no fault of
their own. Last year, the Employment
Department paid more than $380 mil­
lion in unemployment insurance ben­
efits to more than 170,000 people.
In a regional breakdowns, the Em­
ployment Department received con­
victions in 17 o f the state’s 36 coun­
ties in Clark County, Washington.
The most conviction were in Mult­
nomah County (26), followed by nine
I
each in Land and Marion counties,
seven in W ashington County, and
five each in Linn, Josephine, and
Clackamas counties. Clackamas and
Jackson counties took a hard line on
sentencing individuals convicted o f
unemployment fraud; o f the nine con­
victions in those countries, seven in­
dividuals received jail time.
In 1996, the department received
convictions against 56 individuals,
returning nearly $250,000 to the trust
fund. Unemployment insurance fraud
is a Class C felony, punishable by a
maximum fine o f $ 100,000 and five
years in prison.
At Pacific Power, service means more to us than providing
I
low-cost, reliable power. It also means helping this community
through our support of its activities and the people in it.
he power to serve
It's no secret. As this community
prospers, so do we. That's the
definition of a true partnership. So why do we do what we do?
Because it's important to all of us. And, we live here too.
For a copy of The Power to Serve Communities, a booklet
outlining our commitment to community, call 1 -888-221-7070.
# PACIFIC POWER
A Pin ifiCorp Company
V
I
t,